ESPN’s latest “30 for 30” documentary, “The Year of the Scab,” premiered Tuesday and told the fascinating tale of the replacement players who crossed the picket line to play for the Redskins during the 1987 NFL strike. Washington’s scabs, as the Redskins’ regulars derisively referred to their replacements, went 3-0 during the labor dispute, including a win over a Cowboys team that featured Tony Dorsett, Randy White and more than a dozen other veterans, on “Monday Night Football.”
Thanks to the Scabskins, Washington stood alone atop the NFC East at 4-1 when the NFL players’ union voted to end the 24-day strike and the regulars returned. The Redskins would go on to finish 11-4 during the regular season and capture their second Lombardi trophy with a 42-10 win over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. Most of the Redskins’ replacement players were released after the strike, and while they all received playoff shares worth about $27,000, only those who were kept on the roster and appeared in at least one more game received Super Bowl rings. That slight was the focus of the final few minutes of “Year of the Scab.”
