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For longstanding Redskins fans, is the thrill gone?


HogHeaven1983

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I have been a Redskins fan since Vince Lombardi's 7-5-2 year in 1969.  Other than the years I was away from the DC area in my college years, I have watched every single freaking game.

 

The past 20 years have been mostly heartache and disappointment (except for a few seasons ... 1999, Gibbs2, and 2012).

 

I heard a radio call in program this past week asking how many "do overs" can you stand as a fan.  They were saying there have been 11 start over years in the past 22 seasons.  When the skins cleaned house and started again. 

 

I dont know about anyone else, but I feel like my passion has died (esp after last season).  

 

Are other fans having a hard time getting excited about the prospect of another new coaching staff and another start over?  

 

I mean I am sure I will watch the games, but I just dont have the passion that I used to.  Am I alone in thinking this way?

 

Have all these start over seasons taken a toll on anyone else?

 

 

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Past 22 years, so from 1992 to today. 1993 Gibbs retired and Petitbon took over. That wasn't a do over where the Skins cleaned house and started over again. 94 with Norv was a do over. Norv was here through 2000 so it's hard to say any of those years qualify as cleaning house and starting over. 2001 with Marty, 2002 with Spurrier, 2004 with Gibbs were do overs.

 

2008 Gibbs had retired and we hired Zorn. But we kept most of the team together. Not sure it qualifies as cleaning house.

 

2010 with Shanny was a do over.

 

This season I'll count as a do over because we changed most of the coaching staff and the FO power structure.

 

By my count that is 6 do overs in 22 years. Not sure how you could get to 11. I think the radio program is full of it on that one. 

 

But to the question, I'll simply respond with: RG3 healthy, DJax, Garcon, Morris, Trent, Andre Roberts, Jordan Reed and a head coach that listens to his players, adapts schemes, improved his previous offense with a limited QB every season and made them a top unit in the NFL, and he's allowing audibles and no huddles. Yes, I am very excited for the season. 

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Longstanding fans? How about those of us under 30 who don't remember any of the glory days? But for me, no. I'm a sucker who keeps hoping that this time, it's for reals.

 

Then again, I suppose for us the "thrill" could be considered naive optimism (or Stockholm Syndrome, whatever).

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I think it's a silly question.  Two years ago, how excited were we?  How crazy and loud and over the moon.  Fed Ex actually bounced when I was in the stadium.  Maybe not like RFK, but it was a little weird feeling the ground beneath me wobble.

 

The thrill isn't gone.  It's just that last year had no thrills.  In fact, last year had no hope.  If we see a spark many of us will reignite rather quickly.

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Oh, heck no!

Even through some serious embarrassment, I can be worse than some Cowboys fans.

"We're gonna be great this year, you'll see!" and my husband giggles at me like I giggle at Cowboys fans.

Cry at the season record. Rinse. Repeat.

Like LSF, once the draft starts, I'm good to go. It's on!

HTTR!

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Well if anything we are actually doing things a different way from the selection of the head coach, meaning it's the first time during the Snyder era that we picked someone that Snyder wasn't totally gaga for (I don't count Zorn's because we pretty much were stuck with him after Dan wimped out with Fassel).

Definitely keeping my expectations in check for 2014, but looking forward to see how long Dan has patience with the Bruce/Jay show.

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The thrill is never "gone" as far as a new season being upon us. I am always excited that the NFL is back, specifically the 'Skins, however I have definitely developed the "show me" complex when it comes to this team.  

 

I think part of what made 2012 so exciting is how it came out of nowhere. Before Robert's injury they looked well on their way to something special, and then.....we all know.

 

One successful season every fourth or fifth year definitely does wear on you, especially when it isn't really building towards something. The hope right now is that Robert is the franchise QB we have been waiting for which usually means there is always a chance for success every season.

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Born in 86 and my glory years are 99, 05, 07 and 12...the absolute peak of my Redskins life.

Hope is an amazing thing and every offseason hope is renewed and I am am hooked again the same as I was when I was a kid regardless of how awful the previous season was. Perhaps starting out in the Pettibon/Norv years prepared me for this.

It's the experience and savoring each little joy, peak and emotion and actually appreciating the pain as well...it makes the highs more memorable.

I don't see how I could ever feel burnout.

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I'm excited for every season. The thrill is usually gone by late October.

Typing this made me recall my dream last night. We started 0-2 and Griffin looked terrible. The feeling I had was submissive resignation.

That's how I feel.  Every season, and preseason, starts with excitement.  It's not until a few weeks into the season when my enthusiasm dies, but it doesn't happen every season, just seasons where you can tell 100% that nothing is going to help (like Zorn's 2nd year where, after WINNING in St Louis, I knew the rest of the season was going to be terrible).

 

Funny about your dream.  I still have dreams about 3-4 times a year that I'm playing for the Skins and we're running through drills at practice.  The best ******* feeling in the world to wake up after catching passes for Griffin and scoring TDs.

 

HogHeaven, I will say I think this season feels different because there's no hype around this team at all, unlike the year we hired Schottenheimer, or the year we hired Spurrier, or the year we hired Gibbs (again), or the year we hired Shanahan.  Even the year we hired Zorn had tons of attention because the hiring process was such a disaster.  This year, the team is mostly ignored and no one thinks they'll be good.  So, who knows.  Maybe that's more what the team needs.  

 

I'm excited for this year, it's next year (after we have a good-great season) that I'm dreading.  I hate the years the national media pays attention to our football team.  Let them debate a name change, as long as they leave our coaches and players alone.

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I dont know about anyone else, but I feel like my passion has died (esp after last season).  

 

Are other fans having a hard time getting excited about the prospect of another new coaching staff and another start over?  

 

I'm not singing with BBKing yet, but to be honest with you, since Snyder owned the team, the only coach I was glad to hear we were getting was Gibbs 2 (although didn't like his selection of Brunnell for QB). I was like "eh" when Dan picked Schott and Shan. I don't feel the same with Gruden. I'm actually excited for the second time (Gibbs 2 being first) to see what he can accomplish with this team. I have a feeling it will lead to something much better than what we've seen the last 10 years.

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I feel like I've been a Redskins fan since Moby Dick was a minnow. With the ups and downs It's been a rollercoaster ride. Though ABC  Wide World of Sports didn't telecast NFL football, I can still hear Jim McKay's voice:

 

"Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition…"

 

With the Skins there's been the thrill of victory but a lot more agony of defeat.  Nevertheless, I wouldn't root for any other team.

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I'll probably say this or something to this effect all preseason, but I actually feel like Shanahan and Allen have given this franchise some much needed momentum.  Now, does that mean that we'll win multiple divisions and make deep runs into the playoffs in the next five to ten years or so?  I don't know, but I think we have a better shot at it now than we've had in a long, long, long, loooooong time.  

 

Why?  

 

Well, for one we have young talent and a young coach with grit, pedigree, smarts, and most importantly something to prove.  Not only that but Robert Griffin III has got to be one of the most maligned NFL players out there and I'm sure he's amped to prove that he's not what all the naysayers say he is.  My gut says he's a lot closer to the player he was in 2012 than last year.  I'm actually appalled at some of the comments I've read and heard from people regarding Robert's lack of skill or talent using a returning-from-injury-year/season as some sort of barometer for his overall ability.  To even use that season in the equation and seemingly omit the historical year prior is asinine and quite frankly stupid, but I digress.  

 

In terms of building on a solid foundation that I believe began when Shanahan and Allen were hired in 2010, this franchise will now have a full slate of draft picks and cap space (a cap which has been managed properly unlike previous years) to work with in the coming years to continue to infuse talent into its roster.   

 

I'm not sure how any Redskins fan can be totally or mostly apathetic or dismayed with regard to the direction this franchise is going.  I just think we're a lot closer to putting it all together this time around than we've been for many years....for the aforementioned reasons of course.  

 

Lastly, if I took the other side and argued that it's business as usual, I'd have a hard time saying that the Redskins can't win with guys like Trent Williams, Alfred Morris, Robert Griffin III, Pierre Garçon, DeSean Jackson, Jordan Reed, Orakpo, Kerrigan, D. Hall, Amerson, Clark, Perry Riley, Jason Hatcher, Barry Coafield, Chris Baker, and Andre Roberts on "Teams"...just to name a few.  

 

And, that's not even mentioning the one, two, or three guys who may emerge as key contributors which good teams always have in a given year.  Amerson, Morris, and Reed were those guys in their respective rookie seasons.  We'll see if that trend continues with this new regime in the front office.   

 

You're telling me that there isn't a mostly young talented roster in Washington that we can build off of in the coming years?  I just don't see a whole lot of weak talent at the core, and let's face it.....talent is where you build your foundation as a franchise.  I think if the OP and others who think this could be the same ol'-same ol' really looked at the past couple of decades and analyzed what was really missing, he or she would find that we were mostly devoid of talent, deep talent, in those failing years.  

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I am a bandwagon fan, I have been pushing this damn bandwagon and won't ever stop. Call me stubborn, but I call it being loyal. Redskins fan, win or lose. I survived Spurrier (went to Georgia), I survived Norval and Zorn, I have developed a thick skin. People, players, owners, coaches won't sway my loyalty. 

 

Fight on, fight on until you have won, Sons of Washington, RAH, RAH, RAH! 

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I still get excited to watch the team play. I have probably missed 5 games in the last 15 years. I have gone to great lengths to watch them at times and engaged in many arguments. When they win I'm irrationally happy and it hurts when they lose. I doubt that this will ever change.

What has changed is I don't trust Dan Snyder at all and I won't believe this team finally got it right until they win make the playoffs two consecutive years with a sustainable team. I will watch and cheer and rage at the injustice of losing, but I will not trust that Snyder has found the winning formula until after it's been proven. My expectations are stuck on low.

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I've been a fan since '78, so I would guess I'd be considered a long standing fan, but to answer your question, no.  I get excited for each and ever single game.  Even during the losing seasons, the Spurrier years, the good the bad, it doesn't matter.  The only thing I don't get excited about is the idiots trying to change the name.  That's why I hate the off season and can't wait to see the scoreboard get lit up this season.  HTTR

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Became a fan back in 1966 ... lived in Springfield at the time ... a Military "Brat" ... we beat the Giants, 72-41 ... have suffered through some LEAN years ... had some hope when Lombardi arrived, but then ... my father died in the spring of '71 ... the year that George Allen came on board ... it was nice to be relevant, but we just never quite had what it took to get all the way there ... I cried like a baby when we lost in Dallas in '79 to miss the playoffs ... and was ecstatic when we beat them in the NFC Championship game in '83 ... the 80's were a great time to be a 'Skins fan ... still get goosebumps watching Riggins TD run in SB XVII ... and the 2nd Qtr. in SB XXII ... the '91 season was just awesome ... but since then ...

 

I still get up for each week's game ... and a little down if we lose ... but my emotions have mellowed over the past 20+ years ... I still hope for the best each year ... this has to be our season this year, right? ... one of these years, I'll be right ...

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