There's an old video tape at my house in Northern Virginia that my mom recorded when I was about 6 years old. It's a sports talk show before a Redskins game with a small fan section that they opened for free that one time.
When my family found out about it, we decided we were going to that talk show. If you watch that video, you'll see me, my dad, two of my uncles and a few of my cousins standing in those little bleachers in obnoxious burgundy and gold garb, cheering our brains out.
The point I'm trying to make by bringing up this story is that I am a lifelong Redskins fan, who not only expresses this in bizarre ways like appearing on a talk show with his family, but who sentimentalizes this part of himself by keeping this video in my house a decade-and-a-half later.
And so I can rattle off not only the big Redskins happenings in my life, but where I was and how I responded. That's how I know something is big Redskins news: I respond in some unusual way. I feel it in my gut that I'll remember that day.
I had one of those moments earlier this week when my dad called me and told me Washington had traded for Donovan McNabb. I was working on my computer in my room. As soon as he told me, I stopped moving. Then I stood up, a little bit numb. Then I sprinted down the hallway and downstairs, my dad still on the phone and shouted at my friends to check ESPN.com.
Based on my gut reaction, which I very much trust, this is either the third or fourth most surprising non-game Redskins news of the past decade, after the death of Sean Taylor and re-hiring of Joe Gibbs. The trade of Champ Bailey and Clinton Portis is also up there and was probably more influential in the long term than this, but it didn't evoke quite as much of a response.
For the past decade, Donovan McNabb was the Philadelphia Eagles, our second biggest rivals behind the Cowgirls - although I know a few Redskins fans who actually hate Philly more than they hate Dallas. He is one of their greatest players ever and a defining icon for the team, even if his relationship with the city has never quite made sense.
Yet I never despised McNabb. I think most Redskins fans feel the same way. First of all, he rarely shredded us too horribly, so I didn't feel quite as compelled to root against him. But he's also always carried himself with a bit of dignity, like he knew he deserved better. There was always this coldness between Donovan and Philly, even when the Eagles were Super Bowl contenders.
It will be downright fascinating to see how he responds in his return to Philadelphia, the city that was always an interception away from throwing batteries at him even as he was a touchdown away from becoming the town's biggest sports legend since Wilt Chamberlain. Is there anyone who won't watch the Redskins travel to Philadelphia this fall?
Listen, I'm not stupid. I've been a Skins fan my whole life. I know how these things work. I know McNabb won't bring the Redskins to the Super Bowl. I know he'll probably be a disappointment. I think it was a moderately smart trade for football reasons and a tremendous trade for morale reasons, but I know the guy is getting old and is prone to injuries.
Still, I can't help but feel something special is in the air. With the trade, it's become pretty clear we'll use the draft to build our lines. We have a proven coach and - finally - a GM in Bruce Allen. Maybe not this year or next year, but I can't help but believe the Redskins will be in the playoffs by 2012.
And, if nothing else, I'm happy to see someone like McNabb have a shot at unprecedented fan love. Even if some fans are skeptical, or even angry, about getting a guy whose jersey we once burned during a pregame tailgate, I don't think there's a single DC-Maryland-Virginia resident who would object to throwing a parade for McNabb if he did something great. If McNabb wins games for us, he'll hear thousands of voices chanting the words he never heard while wearing green.
"That's our guy"
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