Is Redskins' New Safety a Psychopath?

I'm all for football players being football players.  This ain't lawn tennis.  But the Washington Post's lengthy feature on first-round draft pick LaRon Landry makes you wonder how the guy functions in normal society.  Consider these points:

Rhonda [LaRon's mom] has heard it before, almost daily. The source is not a train or an earthquake, but a ghost-white Hummer H2 with blindingly shiny 30-inch rims loaded with enough subwoofer power to devour the remaining fragments of Frank Landry's story of integration, which succumbs to the generation gap and an overwhelming dose of bass.

"Oh," Rhonda says. "That's just LaRon."

...

"If they go over the middle, I'll bet on him. I'll give him a dollar if he take T.O. out," said Lou Valdin, Landry's coach at Hahnville High. "He'll shut him up because he can hit you and hurt your whole family. Interception for a touchdown or put a guy in the hospital? That's a tough decision for LaRon."

...

At LSU, he won a national championship as a freshman under Nick Saban in 2003, drew the nickname "Dirty-Dirty" because of his frequently borderline hits...

...

He stares through the lens, now in game mode, the fiery player his high school coaches say took something of an odd joy in crushing even his own teammates during practice.

"I just don't smile," he says. "Sometimes, I'll give a smirk. That's as close as I get."

...

In the days following the draft, Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott has called to congratulate him, perhaps as many as five times.

Yet days have passed, and Landry, perhaps not wanting to seem too eager, hasn't returned the phone call from the man he has called his idol.

...

Barbara Fuselier, the principal of Hahnville, remembers the tense game against South Lafourche when, playing quarterback, Landry was ejected after kneeing a defender he believed hit him with one cheap shot too many. Landry still knows the sequence.

"It was the only time," he says, "I ever let a player make me lose my control. I still hate that."

...

"We had one of the top receivers in the South being recruited everywhere and one of the first plays of training camp, LaRon puts him in the hospital. Put his feet over his head, and so, we found a safety."

...

If Frank and Derick Landry were good players and Dawan a cut above, then LaRon was the prodigy.  "He was different," Valdin said. "Dawan led by example. LaRon led by fear."

The Ronnie Lott thing seems particularly egregious.  This is the best safety of all time and LaRon doesn't want to seem too eager to get back to him?  Way to respect your elders, big guy.

Of course, we have to remember how young the guy is.  Lots of guys come into the league with attitudes (Hi Brodrick) -- few last very long (Bye Brodrick?).  There's time for him to grow out of it.  But based on this one article, I wonder.

Bonus Redskins safety news.  Here's some more news that doesn't make that much sense.  Redskins' defensive coordinator Gregg Williams announced this week that Sean Taylor would be the free safety while Landry would play more in the box at the strong safety position.

Am I the only one a little bit confused by why you'd want to put the fearsome hitting / poor covering Taylor way off the line where he can't do the things he does best?  Keep in mind, Taylor is 6-2, 232 pounds (or about the same size as former Eagle Michael Lewis) and struggled mightily last year in coverage.  Landry is much smaller, at 205 pounds, and ran a 4.37 40-yard dash at the combine.

Seems odd, to say the least.

UPDATE: Bonus Bonus safety news: 

"While the majority of the Washington Redskins' regular players were in attendance at the team's first organized activities of the offseason yesterday, two absences were noteworthy: Neither safety Sean Taylor nor cornerback Shawn Springs was at Redskins Park... [N]umerous players suggested that Taylor likely would not be in attendance, a byproduct of his possible displeasure with his contract.  Sources said that team officials were hoping Taylor was merely taking personal time and preparing to join the workouts.  [Me: Right] Sources added that Director of Player Personnel Vinny Cerrato and Taylor's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, had been in discussions in recent weeks regarding a contract extension for Taylor, whose contract expires after the 2008 season."