My fandom of the Washington Commanders was a mirror of my dad’s fandom. He and my older brother were Commanders fans, while the women in my family were all Cowboys fans. So naturally, I too was a Commanders fan. Although the teams were mostly not good when I was growing up, I still remember some of the players that I gravitated to. First, there was Sean Taylor, who I still believe is the best safety to ever play. He was the definition of a play maker. Interceptions, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, bone-crushing hits. Just take a look at his highlight reel.
Taylor did it all on the field and he played with such a passion and an energy that it was clear it infected the rest of the team. Another one of my favorite players growing up was Santana Moss, a wide receiver. The first jersey I ever got was a number 89 Moss jersey and I wore it all the time. To this day, I still say that he is one of the most underrated wide receivers to play. He ran routes so smoothly, he was explosive with the ball in his hands, and his speed was elite. The first game I went t0 at FedEx field (Now Northwest Stadium) was in 2011. It was Christmas Eve and it was really, really cold. That didn’t stop the players on the field though. It was a really high scoring game and it was so cool to be there to watch it all. Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but the experience of being there on Christmas Eve was still quite memorable. 2012 was a really important time period for the team. The Commanders traded most of their draft picks in order to move up to the second pick in that year’s draft. With that pick, they took a quarterback named Robert Griffin III, or RG3. He was just coming off a season at Baylor where he won the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious college football award. He was an elite dual-threat quarterback, explosive throwing the ball and maybe even more explosive running the ball. He was meant to be the Commander’s savior and bring us back to the playoffs. And his rookie year he did just that. The entire season he was elite. He won NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year and propelled us to a 9-6 record, good enough for first place in the NFC East. This was our first division title in 13 seasons. Things quickly went downhill though, as RG3 would end up tearing his ACL in the playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks. He was never really the same after that injury, and he also picked up various other injuries as his career went along. We were compeitive for a bit with Kirk Cousins as our quarterback, but he eventually left to sign with the Minnesota Vikings. We then went through a revolving door of quarterbacks and subpar overall play. We drafted a quarterback in the first round of the 2019 draft, but he ended up not working out. We had the second pick again in the 2020 draft and used it on an edge rusher from Ohio State University named Chase Young. He was a local player who went to Dematha High School. Similar to RG3, we had high hopes for him to help turn around the franchise and I even got a number 99 Young jersey right after they were made available to buy. And, just like RG3, he was dominant in his rookie season and won the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year award and we made the playoffs as well. But he also ended up tearing his ACL the next year and was never the same and has since left the team. Which leads us to the present. This past draft we yet again had the second overall pick and used it to draft a quarterback out of LSU, Jayden Daniels. I was absolutely ecstatic for this pick because I am an LSU football fan, so I watched Daniels play and, similar to RG3, he had special dual-threat abilities. He threw the ball with such poise and confidence and ran the ball surgically, evading defenders left and right. Naturally, when the season started, the expectations were yet again high for our first round pick who, fans, including myself thought he would finally be the guy to turn the franchise around for good. So far, he hasn’t disappointed. He has made special play after special play so far this season, but perhaps none bigger than the hail mary to beat the Bears in week 8. He ran around for a good six seconds before launching the ball over 60 yards and miraculously the ball was caught by Noah Brown for the game-winning touchdown. Here is the play that I am talking about.
I remember watching the game at home on my tv and going insane after the ball was caught. If the future is anything like the present, Jayden Daniels might just be the guy that Commanders fans like me has been looking for to change the team’s direction for good. I’ve put some of my Commanders gear down below. Check it out!
