1981 Washington Redskins season

1981 Washington Redskins season
Head coach	Joe Gibbs
General manager	Bobby Beathard
Owner	Jack Kent Cooke
Home field	RFK Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	4th NFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1981 Washington Redskins began with the team trying to improve on their 6–10 record from 1980. The team posted an 8–8 record, but missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. This was Joe Gibbs' first season as head coach.

Offseason

NFL draft

1981 Washington Redskins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	20	Mark May *	Guard	Pittsburgh
3	69	Russ Grimm * ^†	Guard	Pittsburgh
4	90	Tom Flick	Quarterback	Washington
5	119	Dexter Manley *	Defensive end	Oklahoma State
5	132	Gary Sayre	Guard	Cameron
6	148	Larry Kubin	Linebacker	Penn State
8	201	Charlie Brown *	Wide receiver	South Carolina State
9	231	Darryl Grant	Guard	Rice
10	257	Phil Kessel	Quarterback	Northern Michigan
10	267	Allan Kennedy	Offensive tackle	Washington State
11	284	Jerry Hill	Wide receiver	North Alabama
12	314	Clint Didier	Tight end	Portland State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff

1981 Washington Redskins staff
	Front office Chairman of the Board/Chief Executive Officer – Jack Kent Cooke President – Edward Bennett Williams General Manager – Bobby Beathard Assistant General Manager – Bobby Mitchell Assistant General Manager – Joel Margolis Assistant General Manager – Dick Meyers Director of Player Personnel – Mike Allman Director of Pro Scouting – Kirk Mee Director of College Scouting – Dick Daniels Personnel Scouts – Charley Casserly, Charley Taylor Head coaches Head Coach – Joe Gibbs Assistant Head Coach – Dan Henning Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Joe Bugel Offensive Backfield – Don Breaux Tight Ends/Offensive Scouting Reports – Rennie Simmons			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Richie Petitbon Defensive Line – LaVern Torgeson Linebackers – Larry Peccatiello Admin. Asst./Defensive Scouting Reports – Bill Hickman Special teams coaches Special Teams – Wayne Sevier

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Roster

1981 Washington Redskins roster
	Quarterbacks 12 Tom Flick  7 Joe Theismann Running backs 35 Rickey Claitt 30 Nick Giaquinto 38 Clarence Harmon 40 Wilbur Jackson 26 Terry Metcalf 44 John Riggins 25 Joe Washington 39 Otis Wonsley Wide receivers 89 Alvin Garrett 81 Art Monk 80 Virgil Seay 83 Ricky Thompson		Tight ends 82 Rich Caster 84 Greg McCrary 91 Bob Raba 88 Rick Walker 85 Don Warren Offensive linemen 53 Jeff Bostic C 68 Russ Grimm G 61 Melvin Jones G 66 Joe Jacoby T 73 Mark May T 64 Ron Saul G 76 Jerry Scanlan T 74 George Starke T		Defensive linemen 79 Coy Bacon DE 69 Perry Brooks DT 65 Dave Butz DT 75 Mike Clark 77 Darryl Grant 78 Dallas Hickman DE 71 Karl Lorch DE 72 Dexter Manley DE 76 Mat Mendenhall DE 79 Pat Ogrin 99 Wilbur Young DE Linebackers 51 Monte Coleman OLB 54 Pete Cronan 59 Brad Dusek OLB 58 Dave Graf 55 Mel Kaufman OLB 56 Quentin Lowry 57 Rich Milot MLB 52 Neal Olkewicz MLB 54 Kevin Turner 58 Charlie Weaver		Defensive backs 28 Trent Bryant 28 Cris Crissy 22 Curtis Jordan 20 Joe Lavender CB 46 LeCharls McDaniel 29 Mark Murphy FS 21 Mike Nelms FS/KR/PR 24 Lemar Parrish CB 23 Tony Peters SS 45 Jeris White CB Special teams 10 Mike Connell P  3 Mark Moseley K Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 6, 1981	Dallas Cowboys	L 26–10	55,045
2	September 13, 1981	New York Giants	L 17–7	53,343
3	September 20, 1981	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 40–30	47,592
4	September 27, 1981	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 36–13	70,664
5	October 4, 1981	San Francisco 49ers	L 30–17	51,843
6	October 11, 1981	at Chicago Bears	W 24–7	57,683
7	October 18, 1981	at Miami Dolphins	L 13–10	47,367
8	October 25, 1981	New England Patriots	W 24–22	50,394
9	November 1, 1981	St. Louis Cardinals	W 42–21	50,643
10	November 8, 1981	Detroit Lions	W 33–31	52,096
11	November 15, 1981	at New York Giants	W 30–27	63,133
12	November 22, 1981	at Dallas Cowboys	L 24–10	64,587
13	November 29, 1981	at Buffalo Bills	L 21–14	59,624
14	December 6, 1981	Philadelphia Eagles	W 15–13	52,206
15	December 13, 1981	Baltimore Colts	W 38–14	46,706
16	December 20, 1981	at Los Angeles Rams	W 30–7	52,224

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys^(2)	12	4	0	.750	6–2	8–4	367	277	L1
Philadelphia Eagles^(4)	10	6	0	.625	4–4	7–5	368	221	W1
New York Giants^(5)	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–6	295	257	W3
Washington Redskins	8	8	0	.500	3–5	6–6	347	349	W3
St. Louis Cardinals	7	9	0	.438	2–6	4–8	315	408	L2

References

1. "1981 Washington Redskins draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
2. Washington Redskins 1981 Press Guide. pp. 2–21.
3. "1981 Washington Redskins starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 16, 2014.

External links

• 1981 Washington Redskins at Pro-Football-Reference.com