The Washington Redskins are one of the few sports franchises that have continually thrived in the Washington, D.C. area. Baseball teams have come and gone, a hockey team has yet to overcome a hesitant sports base despite having one of the best young players in Alex Overchkin, and the basketball franchise has failed to win over the area despite a name change, but the only team able to succeed in the nation's capital is selling Washington Redskins tickets to FedEx Field.
The team that Forbes has ranked as the second most valuable franchise in the NFL has been playing football since 1932 and was the first franchise to capture the hearts of football fans south of the Mason-Dixon line after they moved to Washington from Boston in 1937. For 23 years the Redskins played in the nation's capital but represented the entire south against the football giants on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
The Washington Redskins began their history as the Boston Braves in 1932, but changed the name to the Redskins a year later after the football franchise moved their home field from Braves Field to Fenway Park. Despite playing in the NFL championship in 1936 the Boston fans offered little support. That lack of fan spurred the move to Washington.
The first season in their new home city in Griffith Stadium yielded another appearance in the NFL championship, this time ending in a Redskins victory. From the first year of the move until 1952 the Redskins quarterback was Sammy "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh. Baugh and the Redskins experimented with the forward pass in an era when every team moved the ball on the run. The result of this forward pass was five NFC East division titles and another NFL Championship in 1942.
Unfortunately, following the 1945 season the Washington Redskins began to struggle. The team posted just three winning seasons from 1946 to 1968. Some the blame for this dark period fell on owner George Preston Marshall. Marshall refused to integrate the team. Finally, the federal government intervened. The nation's capital could not afford to play home to a team that refused to follow the changing times as the civil rights movement began to build steam. The Redskins were forced to choose between signing an African-American player and being evicted from their stadium.
Marshall caved and signed receiver Bobby Mitchell. Mitchell would later be signed by an influx of talent. Receiver Charley Taylor, running back Larry Brown, and Brig Owens joined the team as well, but the team could still not make the playoffs. Two trades helped the Washington Redskins improve in time for the net decade. The team brought in quarterback Sonny Jurgensen and linebacker Sam Huff. The Redskins were competitive again, but would have to wait until after the death of their owner and for a couple of coaching changes before entering the post season once again.
New owner Edward Bennett Williams hired Coach George Allen and the team that sputtered through two decades suddenly returned to the top tier of the NFL. Allen chose to sign veterans instead of young talent, trying to win immediately instead of postponing success. The Washington Redskins, sometimes being referred to as the Over-the-Hill Gang, played in the Super Bowl in 1972. Though they lost 14-7 to the Miami Dolphins, this would be the first of five playoff appearances in seven seasons with Allen as the head coach.
Quarterback Joe Theismann, running back John Riggins, and receiver Art Monk were the team leaders in the 1980s. The best aspect of the team happened to be the offensive line though. The offensive line gave Theismann time to find Monk and provided the holes for bruising running back to plow through. The Redskins became known as The Hogs with center Jeff Bostic, guards Russ Grimm and Mark May, and tackles Joe Jacoby and George Starke. With this offensive line, a running back that never failed on third and one, and a passing combo that rivaled any in the league the Redskins went to the Super Bowl in 1983. The team again played the Miami Dolphins, but won 27-17 this time as Riggins busted through the would-be tackle of the Dolphins Don McNeal on fourth and one, setting up a touchdown on the next play.
A freakish leg injury ended Theismann's career in 1985. The next few years the Washington Redskins struggled to find the pieces to replace the holes left by Thiesmann and since retired Riggins. Doug Williams became the first African-American quarterback in Washington and Timmy Smith replaced Riggins powerful north-south running style with speed and quickness in 1988. That year the Redskins went to Super Bowl XXII and decimated the Denver Broncos 42-10. Williams became the first African-American quarterback to lead a team a Super Bowl victory behind four second quarter touchdowns and Smith set a Super Bowl rushing record with 204 yards.
The years that followed continued to provide hope for the football faithful in Washington and continued to drive Redskins tickets sales. The team posted 10-6 records in 1989 and 1990. In 1991, with a new quarterback in Mark Rypien the Washington Redskins surprised everyone with a 14-2 regular season record and again played in the Super Bowl. This time the Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills 37-24 for their fifth and last NFL championship to date.
In the years that followed, Rypien failed to produce another stellar season. As a quarterback he was known as a paradox, able to throw deep but struggling to connect on the simplest out routes. The Redskins began to struggle once again, by the end of the decade Washington became a football team stuck in the middle, neither great nor bad, playing just decent enough to post .500 records and just miss the playoffs.
Dan Snyder purchased the team in 1997 and began a cycle of building up the defense while putting a sub par offense on the field. The Washington Redskins that played in FedEx Field could stop just about any team from scoring, but simply could not put points on the board. To this day the franchise is search of a quarterback that can lead this squad in the new pass-happy era of NFL football. Despite the tough seasons, the Redskins fans are perfectly happy to buy Redskins tickets throughout the schedule to watch as the team tries and catch up with the rest of the NFC East.
