In 2005, back when I still played for the Redskins, we were 5-6 and fighting for our lives. Ray Brown called a players only meeting, words were said, and issues were put out into the open. Suddenly, we started playing Redskin football again. Five in a row and the playoff checks started rolling in. I like to think this year will be no different. This group of Redskins has too much pride to let a good start, and a season for that matter, slip away.

But who will make the big plays to turn it around? From my own experience of playing with him in two stops, I have to believe one of the guys they’ll lean on is linebacker London Fletcher.

He’s the real deal. I’m not talking about making plays in Gregg Williams’ blitz schemes, but what he does as a leader.

When he’s in the huddle, no one else talks. He commands the huddle and is always talking, always encouraging. He’s not afraid to call someone out and say, ‘Hey, Matt you’ve got to be better than that.’ He doesn’t downgrade you and you want to play hard for a guy like that.

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In Buffalo last season, if we weren’t playing up to his standards in the seven-on-seven drills, he’d ask to start it over. He demands perfect practices. Linebacker Takeo Spikes had a bigger name; guys listened to London more.

He runs Williams’ complex defense on the field, never missing an assignment, all the while knowing where each of his teammates is at all times. Yes, I know he is a playmaker and he hits like a truck with no brakes, but it is the professional nature he displays when he goes about his business. Players like to say that about themselves, but those same guys are the ones who show up taking plays off in the film room. Not Fletch.

This is the fun stuff about the NFL. It is what makes players like Fletcher play for 12 seasons in the league. I don’t know how this season will end up, but if the Redskins do start a new winning streak and push toward January, Fletch will be the one leading the way.

I can guarantee that.

Former Redskins safety Matt Bowen, a seven-year NFL veteran, contributes a weekly column to The Examiner during the NFL season.