Happy Easter from The Booth!

If you grew up a fan of the Washington Redskins and Washington Senators like me, you probably had a twinge of nostalgia this past week when you heard that the Washington Commanders and the District of Columbia were getting closer to a new deal that would move the team back to the old RFK Stadium site. If the process goes as planned (which rarely happens with these things), the Commanders will move into their new home in 2030. I hope I’m still “on the right side of the grass,” as the late, great, Sonny Randle was fond of saying.

Truth be known, Fed-Ex Field (Now Northwest Stadium) never felt like home to the ‘Skins. It lacked the atmosphere of RFK Stadium, and very few great and memorable moments took place at Fed-Ex Field, unless you count Gus Frerotte head-butting a wall. On the baseball side, Nationals Park is a much better home for the baseball team, although it doesn’t evoke the feeling of the O’s home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

RFK was not an ultramodern stadium, and always smelled like a combination of stale beer, urine, and cigar smoke. But, the stadium had character–it physically shook during big Redskins games. It was home to George Allen’s “Over The Hill Gang,” Joe Gibbs’ Hogs, Smurfs, The Diesel, and no less than five NFC Championship Games (all won by the ‘Skins). Not to mention the Senators’ Frank Howard, The Beatles, and wrestling’s The Great American Bash. Here are five “I was there” RFK memories, in no particular order:

My Very First Major League Game: I don’t have a specific date, but this probably would have been the late 60s, when my Dad took me to see the Senators at RFK. So many father-son memories are tied to baseball, and this one is no different. I remember that I’d never seen grass so green, or home uniforms so white. We were so high up in the stands that I thought I was going to fall onto the outfield below. I believe my hero, Frank Howard, swatted a home run off the Longines sign that day…and the hot dogs were the best I’d ever tasted!

The Great American Bash: In the mid 80s, I was a pro wrestling geek. Every Saturday, you would find me in front of the TV at 6:05 for Championship Wrestling on The Superstation, TBS. There was no pay-per-view, so to see a “supercard” of wrestling, you had to go to a large venue. In the Summer of ’86, the NWA’s Great American Bash came to RFK, and I was there with a few of my wrestling buddies to watch Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes do battle. The seats weren’t great, and the combatants looked pretty small, but to see my heroes (and villains) live in the squared circle was a big thrill!

Zim’s July 4th Walkoff: Baseball was back in Washington, and in the hot Summer of 2006, I co-hosted a radio station listener’s trip to watch the Nats play the Marlins in their temporary RFK home. On that steamy 92-degree afternoon in the Nation’s Capital, things didn’t look good for the home team headed into the bottom of the ninth. With 2 out, and rookie Ryan Zimmerman down to his last strike, the eventual “face of the franchise” sent the small crowd of 23-thousand home happy with a 3-run walk-off home run. I remember being completely zapped by the heat and humidity, but what a fun ride home!

Rypien’s Record Day: In November of 1991, the Redskins were riding a 9-0 start as they took on the Atlanta Falcons on a cold, wet afternoon at RFK. ‘Skins QB Mark Rypien put on an aerial show for the 52,641 fans by throwing 6 TD passes and rushing for another in a 56-17 rout. The Falcons died by the blitz that day, as “Rip” constantly burned the Atlanta secondary, and came just 5 yards short of breaking the team record for passing yards in a game. My memory of that game was not leaving early in hopes the ‘Skins would score one more time. They did.

The Seat Cushion Game: Through a fortunate set of circumstances, I was able to attend the Redskins Divisional Round playoff game in that same 1991 season against the same Falcons team that had been blown out of RFK back in November (see above). On another wet day, the ‘Skins would shut down the overconfident Falcons 24-7 on their way to the NFC Championship Game. Before the game, yellow souvenir seat cushions had been handed out to the fans, and when Gerald Riggs’ touchdown sealed the deal late in the game, hundreds of the seat cushions came sailing out of the stands in celebration. The game is part of Redskins lore, and as a personal footnote, I did not throw mine, instead keeping it for several years after. I have no idea where it is today, but the memory of that game, and the noise at RFK, lives on.

The “new RFK” will be nothing like the old stadium, of course. It will probably be an ultramodern, domed showplace. But hopefully, when you attend a Commander’s game at the new venue and you listen carefully, you’ll be able to hear the faint chants of “We Want Dallas!”

Until the next visit from The Booth…HTTR!

RW