“This was my year. This was my year.”
Tight end Niles Paul spoke those words over and over while sitting on the turf at FirstEnergy Stadium. He was telling them to fullback Darrel Young, to left tackle Trent Williams, to tight end Jordan Reed. He was telling them to himself.
All too quickly, Paul’s year turned to the past tense. It wasn’t supposed to be that way.
He signed a three year contract with the Redskins five months before, began bulking up more than he ever had in the spring, and a couple weeks into training camp was named first on the team’s depth chart.