--In January, the Redskins also signed: former St. Louis/Kansas City receiver Marques Hagans (eight career catches) and guard Rueben Riley, both of whom ended 2008 on their practice squad; as well as fullback Jonathan Evans and cornerback Michael Grant, neither of whom has yet to play a snap in the NFL.
Then on Feb. 11, they re-signed cornerback Byron Westbrook, who was on their practice squad the past two seasons.
--Mel Kaufman, a starting linebacker on Washington's Super Bowl teams of 1982, 1983 and 1987, died Feb. 7 at his home in Santa Margarita, Calif. No cause of death was announced for the 50-year-old Kaufman, who had begun coaching last season at his alma mater, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
"Mel was a special guy," said former Redskins general manager Bobby Beathard, who discovered Kaufman, then a 204-pound senior when he went to work out another player at his alma mater in 1981. "He wasn't big, but he had such explosion in his hips, he could hit like a much bigger guy."
Charley Casserly, who succeeded Beathard as Washington's GM, said he'll never forget Kaufman's critical interception that helped the Redskins beat archrival Dallas to win the 1982 NFC Championship Game at RFK Stadium and reach their first Super Bowl in a decade.
After Kaufman retired on the eve of training camp in 1989, Casserly hired him as a scout, a role he filled for 10 seasons.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Mel really exemplified what the Redskins were all about, a guy who wasn't drafted but wound up starting in Super Bowls. Mel was such an unassuming guy. Even after all his success, he was still like the guy next door." -- Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green on his late teammate, Mel Kaufman.
