Hail to the Redskins
Hail victory
Braves on the warpath
Fight for ol' D.C.
That's the fight song for Washington D.C's NFL, NFC East team, the Washington Redskins.
It's not very appropriate for the 2001-2002 football season, although in the interest of noding for the ages, I won't be focusing on the season which is active at the time of this writing, no matter how disgusting and futile it may be.
The Washington Redskins
franchise was formed in 1932 in
Boston, Massachusetts, under
George Preston Marshall, where they were called the
Braves. The Braves were quickly renamed in 1933 to the
Redskins, after they moved to
Fenway Park, and in 1937 they moved to Washington D.C. right after their first
winning season in 1936 where they lost to the
Green Bay Packers in the
NFL Championship Game. The primary motivating factor for this move was Marshall's disgust with
Boston's football fans - or rather, the lack of fans. In the final home game of the 1936 season, only 4,800
fans showed up to see the Redskins kick the crap out of
Pittsburgh. In Washington D.C. the Redskins
sold-out every single game at
R.F.K. Stadium between 1966 and 1996, and the waiting list was in the thousands.
Marshall owned the team until his death in 1969.
The current owner of the Redskins is Daniel Snyder, who is often criticized as being too hands-on an owner, and some have gone as far as calling him a megalomaniac, and others call him a twerp. He is aggressive and untraditional, but he is no more megalomaniacal than Jack Kent Cooke or George Preston Marshall, or Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. (Although that leaves more than enough room for megalomaniacal twerpitude).
The team colors of the Washington Reskins are burgundy and gold. The helmet is primarily burgundy with a split gold stripe going up the center of the back of the head and over the crown. The team's logo appears on the side of the helmet, which is a depiction of a native-american in war-gear enclosed in a gold circle. Their home field is (currently) FexEx Field, previously Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, previously Redskins Stadium. FedEx Field boasts the largest outdoor stadium in the NFL, with the capacity to hold 78,600 screaming fans. (Including the Hogettes). Before they moved to the new stadium (which has already had 3 names since it was built in 1999), they called R.F.K. Stadium their home.
Some Notable Washington Redskins
(Hall of Fame Redskins)
- Sammy Baugh - Quarterback (1963)
- George Preston Marshall - Owner (1963)
- Bill Dudley - Halfback (1966)
- Cliff Battles - Halfback (1968)
- Wayne Millner - End (1968)
- Turk Edwards - Tackle (1969)
- Ray Flaherty - Coach (1976)
- Sam Huff - Linebacker (1982)
- Sonny Jurgensen - Quarterback (1983)
- Bobby Mitchell - Wide Receiver (1983)
- Charley Taylor - Wide Receiver (1984)
- Ken Houston - Safety (1986)
- John Riggins - Running Back (1992)
- Joe Gibbs - Coach (1996)
The Redskins have won the NFC East Championship five times in 1972, 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1991. They've won the NFC Championship every time. And they've won three Superbowl Championships in the 83-84, 87-88 and 91-92 seasons.