Former NFL linebacker London Fletcher won Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000 with the St. Louis Rams and made the Pro Bowl from 2009 to 2012. He knows what it takes to win.
Fletcher ended his career in Washington after signing a five-year, $25 million deal in 2007. He found a home there and was a key part of the run to the playoffs in the 2012 season. Fletcher still holds the NFL record for most consecutive starts at the linebacker position with 215.
For all of Fletcher’s accolades, there’s a major regret that he holds from his playing days. He shared that on Audacy’s “Take Command” podcast with Craig Hoffman and Logan Paulsen.
Fletcher was a leader on Washington’s defense. He was named a co-captain in 2008 and remained in that role until his retirement in 2013. Fletcher was dealing with an ankle injury in 2012 that he later had surgery on, but he made sure he was out there for the team.
“My ankle was jacked up and I literally had to take painkillers and injections for every game – probably in the second half of the season – just to be able to play,” Fletcher said (9:32 in player above). “You get through the game and then I’m paying for it on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. The reason why I practiced that one day a week. It wasn’t necessarily for me, Logan, it was more about for I felt like the team and also the defense, they needed to hear my voice. They needed to have me out there barking out the commands. Just my mindset of how we need to practice. And why we need to practice in a certain way.”
Fletcher’s voice definitely carried a lot of weight in the Washington locker room. He was a Super Bowl champion and had a lengthy career for a reason.
Washington rattled off seven straight wins to end the 2012 season and secure playoff spot. They were rolling into the playoffs and perhaps that momentum could’ve carried them. But it didn’t.
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“I can remember when we were getting ready to play Seattle in the playoffs, that Wednesday practice was one of the worst practices I can remember… I mean the receivers were dropping balls all over the place. Defense looked a mess. Normally, if I had been practicing, I would’ve MFed everybody with a ‘Hey, let’s start this thing over,’ and I’m sitting there and I’m watching the practice, and I’m like ‘You know what, man, maybe just it’ll be OK.’
“The next day, Thursday, I practiced,” Fletcher said. “Typically, I wouldn’t have practiced until Friday. I said ‘You know what, I need to be out here because this practice is awful. I’m gonna practice the next day. We need to practice better.’”
Even though he got out there a day earlier than he normally would, Fletcher has regrets about not speaking up.
“I felt like I should’ve said something that Wednesday. When we played that Sunday game, if you think about it, there were several drops that happened in that ballgame. Defense, we had some busted coverages or things that happened throughout the course of the game that I felt like happened that Wednesday in practice that I should’ve addressed,” Fletcher said.
“That was like man, me as a leader, I should’ve stepped up and said something. Because I knew what a championship practice looks like and that Wednesday practice did not look like a championship type of practice.”
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