The Las Vegas-Oakland-Los Vegas Raiders have had so many great cornerbacks, including Hall of Famers Willie Brown and Mike Haynes, that it’s easy to overlook a player like Lionel Washington, who played nine seasons on the corner the Silver and Black.
In addition, the Raiders have had Lester Hayes, Fred Williamson, Terry McDaniel, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eric Allen, Dave Grayson, and others. Still, Washington was good enough that he fits in there somewhere.
“He’s been a consummate pro,” Coach Art Shell said when Washington was moved from one side of the field to another in the 1990s. “When the change was made, he said that he didn’t like it, but instead of feeling sorry for himself, he has continued to work and has made himself and the team better.
“I think both of them (Washington and fellow cornerback McDaniel) deserve some Pro Bowl recognition. They do an outstanding job week-in-and-week going against the best wide receivers in the NFL.”
The 6-foot, 185-pound Washington was selected in the fourth round (No. 103 overall) of the NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals out of Tulane and spent four seasons with the Cardinals before signing with the Los Angeles Raiders, where he spent the next eight seasons.
In the long history of great Silver and Black corners, Washington was among the best and longest-tenured Raider cornerbacks.
In 122 games with the Raiders, including 99 starts, Washington intercepted 19 passes that he returned for 200 yards and three touchdowns. His best season came in 1991 when he made five interceptions and had a career-high 72 tackles.
Oh yes, Washington also was a tackler, making 454 stops in his career with the Raiders, turning four into safeties.
“When I was a veteran player, it was hard for a coach to say something to me,” said Washington, admitting he did things his way on the field. “I never tried to change the way they played the game because there is a reason why they reached the highest level. I just tried to tweak it and ask them what they thought. But, basically I just went out onto the field and played the game the way I knew how to do it. That usually worked out pretty good.”
Washington also tutored outstanding younger cornerbacks Asomugha, Woodson, and Al Harris during his career.
However, he doesn’t take any credit for what they achieved.
“What was I going to tell them?” Washington said. “I just told them go out and make a play. They were smart, understood the game. Tremendous athletes with great ball skills. That was easy.”
So Washington told them to play the game the way he did.
Washington moved on from the Raiders in 1995 and spent two seasons with the Denver Broncos, adding four interceptions and 102 tackles to his career totals. Then he returned to the Raiders, who were now back in Oakland, for one last season and played in nine games, intercepted two passes, and returned one of them 44 yards for a touchdown.
That was it, as Washington called it a career and ended it with the Raiders, for whom he would become defensive backfield coach in 2009-10. These days, he is a defensive coordinator and defensive backfield coach at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.
Washington’s 15-year career is one of the longest by a defensive back in NFL history. He played in 205 NFL games during his career, with 165 starts, and recorded 37 interceptions, returning four for touchdowns.
As Shell pointed out, Pro Bowl and All-Pro recognition never came Washington’s way, although many observers believed he deserved it.
Washington, a standout cornerback at Lutcher High outside New Orleans, was inducted into the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, on Aug. 2, 2014.
The Raiders' offseason workout schedule is as follows:
OTA Offseason workouts: May 22-23, May 25, May 31-June 2, June 12-15
Mandatory Minicamp: June 6-8
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