Fans at Redskins' 2010 Training Camp
The burgundy and gold faithful were definitely faithful today.
The Washington Redskins opened the ‘Mike Shanahan Era’ today with the first day of the 2010 training camp and a number of fans were in attendance. There has not been an official count released but I can tell you that there are a LOT of Redskins’ fans that deserve a medal for sticking it out during the various types of weather that came through and staying upbeat. Even the parking attendants seemed to be in good moods.
At 1:45, it was pouring. At that point, there were several cars parked in the field outside the guard gate. Some fans were huddled in their automobiles and some were in the Redskins Retail Shop set up under a tent… but some were actually hanging outside in the hard rain and looking pretty enthusiastic.
The rain abated eventually and the temperature even dropped – for a while. As I wandered around the fan “staging” area (where they waited until the gates opened), I saw a number of fans hanging out in the cooler weather. They were standing around in ponchos and rain jackets. Some had umbrellas and were fairly dry and many were totally drenched after that first hard rain.
It was as if the weather had a mind and could not decide what to do. The sun came out and the temperature dropped a bit. As soon as the fans began to file into the Park, it started to rain again. Hard. Afterward, it became brutally hot and steamy. But the fans remained.
Jim Bragg of Centreville, Va. seemed to be having a great time and, as he stood in line, I asked him what about this season excited him most.
“Oh man… its [quarterback Donovan] McNabb and the fact that he has a good offensive line in front of him. Don’t get me wrong… Jason Campbell would have been good this year, I think anyway. But how can we NOT win now?” Bragg was incredulous that there would be any other outcome.
Later, during 11-on-11 drills, fans stood along the barrier cheering when a pass was completed and calling out “suggestions” if a pass was missed, dropped or in one case, when cornerback Justin Tryon broke up a pass from quarterback Rex Grossman, intended for tight end Lee Vickers.
“Way to go Justin! C’mon Rex… fire that ball in there!”
All along the barrier, there were fans from every age group, both genders and all of various stages of dryness.
I found Bragg again later in the day and asked, “So, want to make a prediction for the Redskins’ record this season?”
“16 and 0, baby. 16 and 0!!”
Ah… Redskin’s fans at their best.