MINNEAPOLIS -- Linebacker Matt Millen was the unluckiest member of the Washington Redskins in the playoffs.
Millen, who signed with the Redskins as a Plan B free agent this year, didn't get a chance to put on a uniform for the playoffs.
He was one of the two players on the 47-man roster who was put on the two-man inactive list for Super Bowl XXVI yesterday. He had the same status for the playoff games against the Atlanta Falcons and the Detroit Lions.
Millen's problem was that the Redskins played two run-and-shoot teams before playing the Bills and their no-huddle offense.
Millen seemed resigned during Super Bowl week. "Who am I going to play, the guard?" he said.
Millen said the disappointment is not that he didn't get a chance to play in the Super Bowl but that he didn't get to play in a game. He said he just likes to play, regardless of what the game is.
The Redskins signed Millen to be their starting middle linebacker on first downs against the NFC East teams because they are teams that rely on power running.
Millen will get a Super Bowl ring, making him the first player to get rings from three teams. He was on the 1980 Oakland Raiders and the 1983 Los Angles Raiders. The 1983 team was the last AFC team to win the Super Bowl.
The Raiders routed the Redskins, 38-9, in Super Bowl XVIII. Late in the first half of that game, the Raiders made a last-second substitution of Jack Squirek for Millen. Squirek intercepted Joe Thesimann's "Rocket Screen" for a touchdown that made it 21-3 at halftime and turned the game into a runaway.
* The other inactive player for the Redskins was third-string quarterback Stan Humphries, but he was in uniform because he was eligible to play if Mark Rypien and Jeff Rutledge were injured.
* Rutledge, the Redskins holder for place-kicks, also was on his third team to make the Super Bowl. He was on the Los Angeles Rams 1979 team that lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIV and the 1986 New York Giants team that beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI.
* As expected, the Redskins activated safety Terry Hoage, who went on injured reserve with a broken arm, for the Super Bowl. He replaced Alvin Walton on the roster.
Walton was unhappy with the move and, according to his agent, Tony Agnone, probably will to be asked to be traded after the game. He was the team's starting strong safety when the season started, but when he suffered a shoulder injury, he not only lost the starting job to Danny Copeland but he also lost the backup job to Sidney Johnson.
