Light for old DC
For the first time in my 25 years of life, it's really, really good to be a Washington fan, and I've never been more excited for the start of a new season
This is a new feeling for me.
I’m not accustomed to being optimistic about my football team. I’m not familiar with watching each game actually expecting to win. I’m not attuned to not being embarrassed about rooting for Washington.
Simply put — Jayden Daniels has changed my life.
Last year, my beloved Washington Formerly Known as the Redskins (I still don’t like the name “Commanders,” but I certainly hate it a bit less than I once did) stunned the football world by finishing 12-5 and reaching the NFC championship game, a pair of feats the franchise hadn’t achieved since nine years before my arrival on this earth.
Daniels, the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and No. 2 overall draft selection, was the face of the surprising surge, enjoying not only the greatest rookie campaign in NFL history, but arguably that of professional sports as a whole. He turned the Commanders into must-see TV, leading one of the league’s most dynamic, high-scoring offenses, orchestrating one dramatic comeback after another and becoming a superstar in the process.
Last year was an absolute thrill for me and the most fun I’ve ever had as a sports fan — and the party may just be getting started.
Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my life, I actually believe Washington can reach the Super Bowl.
I’m not saying they will, but rather, that they can, which is so much more belief than I’ve ever experienced before. Like I said, this is a new feeling for me!
From my birth in 2000 to the last pre-Daniels season of 2023, the Redskins/Football Team/Commanders posted a 158-227-2 record, good for the fifth-worst mark in the NFL over that span. Before last year, Washington had won just a single playoff game in my lifetime (it happened in 2006, and kindergarten-aged me didn’t fully understand or appreciate it at the time).
I loved the Redskins growing up, but such love never carried any actual hope. They always landed somewhere between mediocre and laughingstock — with a handful of uninspiring exceptions — and any trips to the postseason were always expected to end immediately, which they did.
But man, I loved the Redskins.
I used to sneak out of church before Sunday school, hop the fence behind our chapel and walk to my grandparents’ house down the street to watch some of the Skins game with my Grandpa before heading back in time for third hour (remember when we had three hour church?).
During high school, instead of eating lunch in the cafeteria, I headed to the journalism classroom every day to hop on a computer and read all the Washington Post and ESPN articles I could find about the team. Without the Redskins, I would have never become a sportswriter. All I wanted was for them to be respectable, let alone good.
But one horrid, despicable man stood in the way of such a desire, and he just so happened to own the Redskins.
Dan Snyder wasn’t just a bad owner, he’s among the most disgusting and vile creatures to walk this earth. His glaring incompetence led to the bastardization of one of the NFL’s proudest franchises, and considering he bought the team in 1999, such a decline was all I knew growing up.
My Dad would tell me stories about the legendary past Redskin squads who hoisted Super Bowl trophies, but to me it felt like that version of the franchise had been kidnapped by Snyder to never be seen again. The fall from grace couldn’t have been farther.
When “Dirty Dan” wasn’t messing things up himself, he put a collection of crooked and clueless individuals in decision-making positions to further sink the ship, resulting in (deep breath) organizational turmoil, workplace misconduct allegations, congressional hearings, separate FBI and DEA investigations, financial troubles, toxic locker rooms, bad teams and an overall reputation of Washington being the most undesirable destination in the NFL, among many other afflictions for fans such as myself. It was the worst.
Additionally, coaches were fired, a revolving door of starting quarterbacks began, one QB broke his leg and almost died, our best player was murdered mid-season, the world revolted against the Redskins name and got it changed to “Commanders” and yadda yadda yadda. Our team was making more headlines for controversies off the field than for any accomplishments on it. It was legitimately embarrassing to back the burgundy and gold. It’s a miracle I didn’t try to jump ship for a better bandwagon.
I’ve written way too much here about Snyder and his reign of terror, so just remember — it sucked, I hated it, I’m so glad it’s over and Snyder should be in jail.
But then on July 20, 2023, just 28 days prior to being eternally wed to my sweetheart Savannah, Washington divorced itself from Snyder forever as Josh Harris, Magic Johnson and a bunch of other rich guys were approved by the NFL to acquire the franchise for just over $6 billion. Savannah and I’s wedding was the happiest day of my life, but the Commanders sale wasn’t too far off.
Under Snyder, it always felt like there was a cap to what the Redskins/Football Team/Commanders could accomplish. The team was forever at an automatic disadvantage solely because of who was running the show. Getting past the first round of the playoffs was fundamentally impossible, let alone reaching a Super Bowl.
That’s not the case anymore.
Last year proved that it’s a new era in Washington. The stench of the old regime has been cleansed from the organization, and the new executives, coaches and players have gelled together to raise the Commanders not only to basic competency and human decency, but to championship contention as well.
The culture is incredible — this is the kind of team I dreamed of having as a young fan.
But it’s really as simple as this: When you have Jayden Daniels, anything is possible.
When Daniels became our new starting QB last year, all I wanted was for him to get better as the season went on, prove that he was our long-term answer at quarterback and set a foundation that the team could build on into the future.
He blew all of that out of the water.
31 touchdowns! Nearly 900 rushing yards! Record-breaking performances on the regular! 12 wins and two playoff victories, including a road upset of the top-seeded Lions! A game-winning HAIL MARY!
Everything Daniels did seemed flawless. He was inevitable, invincible and incomparable. His passes are perfect. His speed and running ability are mind-boggling for someone at his position. Nothing fazes him. He gets better when the stakes are higher. He’s unlike anyone or anything we’ve ever seen in Washington.
I’m no longer jealous when I watch teams with elite quarterbacks like the Chiefs, Bills or Ravens, because my team finally has its own guy like that now. It’s liberating.
I refuse to believe Daniels will take a step back or regress in Year 2. As great as he was as a rookie, he started somewhat slow and later played with broken ribs for a month. Assuming he stays healthy, I think we’re looking at a legitimate MVP candidate here. He’s so good.
The front office certainly did its part in the offseason to give Daniels the best chance for success. The Commanders’ roster is much better than it was a year ago:
They traded for a top-tier left tackle and drafted a first round right tackle to bolster the offensive line.
They gave Daniels another weapon by acquiring dynamic playmaker Deebo Samuel.
The defensive front is deeper and should improve in both run-stopping and pass-rushing.
The secondary is an actual strength now.
The run game will be more consistent and reliable.
Daniels carried the team for much of last year, and now he won’t have to do so much heavy lifting anymore. That’s how you set up your superstar for a sophomore leap.
While I’m confident the team itself will be better than last year’s group, I do think the overall season record will be a bit worse than that of 2024. The Skins had a much more favorable schedule then, but this year’s slate of games appears more challenging. They’ll play better teams, thus earning a couple quality wins, but also losing a few heartbreakers as well, I’m sure. Whatever. I’ll survive.
Instead of 12 wins like last year, I bet they’ll get 10 or 11 in 2025 — and I’ll sign up for that right now in a heartbeat. Just make the playoffs and anything can happen, anyone can be toppled, anything is possible because we have Jayden Daniels on our side.
I’m so happy to be a Washington fan and proud to rep my team. As I’ve explained here already, that hasn’t always been the case, but if all the lows over the years hadn’t been so low, my excitement and admiration for this current crop of Commanders wouldn’t even be a tenth of what it is now.
Having hope is a beautiful thing. It’s so fun to really, truly believe in this team for the first time, and Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Austin Ekeler, Frankie Luvu, Jeremy Reaves and the rest of Dan Quinn’s motley crew have given me such a gift.
I’ve never been more excited for the start of a new season, because I feel that it could actually end in a way I’ve always wanted but never thought was possible until now — with a Lombardi Trophy and victory parade through downtown DC.
No fadin’ Jayden. Hail Washington!
Editor’s note: As you may have noticed, I failed to post anything on here in August. Whoops. Perhaps my goal of writing a new blog post per week was a bit too ambitious. From this point forward I’m aiming to write *at least* two new posts per month, which I think will end up being much more manageable time-wise and also result in better content. I’m excited for what’s to come. Stay tuned!