Everybody Hates Albert Haynesworth

I usually don't buy the notion that Americans love to tear down people on top -- nor am I particularly predisposed to classify Albert Haynesworth as at top of anything -- but it does seem like that big offseason contract Haynesworth signed with the Redskins has caused him to catch an unfair amount of flack this year, doesn't he?

The latest example? NFL Network Analyst Marshall Faulk's Sunday morning takedown, as transcribed by Dan Steinberg:

"The thing is, any time that you're the Washington Redskins and you come in as a free agent, and guess what, you miss the Dallas game and now you're about to miss the Philadelphia Eagles game?" Faulk began. "You can't miss games in the NFC East when they pay you $100 million. You've got to tape it up. You've got to tape it up and go, my friend. You have to tape it up and go. These are the games that they signed you for, and it just surprises me that whatever the injury is, you have to at least try to go. Unless, like we said, it's a head injury, and we know it's not a head injury."

Steinberg feels differently, and his rebuttal is just about as good as can be:

I mean, there are players all over the NFL who are not playing on Sunday, and who are not suffering from head injuries. Cedric Benson. Julius Jones. Marc Bulger. Dwight Freeney. Are they all soft? Does having a higher salary mean the laws of biology do not apply to you? In Faulk's final five years as a starter, he never played more than 14 games; in his last two years as a starter, he missed three games against division rivals.

Marshall Faulk, you just got Steinberg-owned. Please pick up your prize at reception, and refrain from calling guys soft for the rest of your NFL broadcasting career. Deal? Deal.