804_SKINS Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 The fact that our Washington Redskins were NFC East Champions merely 3 years ago is the most baffling concept that I am faced with when thinking about this team. I have been deprived of a winning franchise for the entirety of my life, born a few years after the last Redskins' Super Bowl victory. It feels as if this franchise is one big revolving door of failure, irrational decision making, and a case of the can't get rights. 8 head coaching changes since I was born in '95. Only 6 winning seasons. Even worse, 4 playoff births. 20 different quarterbacks have started a game. 195 losses to only 140 wins. We aren't the Washington Redskins anymore. The Redskins haven't hit the gridiron since the early 90's. Is a name change what this franchise needs? Don't get me wrong. I've been an advocate of keeping the name, mainly because of my family's deep roots as Redskins fans. Unfortunately, I haven't the faintest clue who the Redskins are. It's time to put the past 20 years behind us and get back to winning. I don't know how many more losing seasons I can bare to watch and how much more heart ache I can take from this team. We, as fans, deserve so much more than the pathetic product that has been tossed out on the field year in and year out. I have been a dedicated supporter of this team since I came out of the womb and have been graced with 6 winning seasons... Countless dollars spent on fan apparel, memorabilia, and tickets. I want a team to take pride in. It's frustrating that I never experienced the 70's, 80's, and early 90's as a Redskins fan. I envy all of those who were lucky enough to witness such prosperity. Losing sucks. There is hope with the new GM and overhaul of the defensive staff, but how can you have faith in a team that has consistently let you down? The 2012 season seems as if it were just yesterday, yet like a faint dream at the same time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hail2skins Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 On the bright side, the league will likely expand the postseason field to seven teams per conference in the spring, so the Skins will at least have a better shot of making the paloffs in future years Just have to give Scotty Mac time to find players, But even if he does a good job, we might still be in the position of needing the right coach, as the 49ers were with Singletary before landing Harbaugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88Comrade2000 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 On the bright side, the league will likely expand the postseason field to seven teams per conference in the spring, so the Skins will at least have a better shot of making the paloffs in future years Actually, I don't think the expansion of playoffs is happening anytime soon. Several owners are against it and the NFLPA says the NFL has to negiotate with the players union to expand the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsfan1523 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I feel you dude. I was born in 88 so I was at least alive during a super bowl win, though barely cognizant of it ( I remember my dad going to the lions NFC championship game, and him showing me pictures). Maybe one day we reclaim glory, that's all I can hope for at least, I can't help but live and die with this team it's embedded in my soul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantarchy Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 You know, while reading your post I began to wonder if it is worse to have tasted redskins greatness and witness their slow and infuriating decline under Snyder or never have tasted it at all. Then i settled on both being horrible options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hail2skins Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 You know, while reading your post I began to wonder if it is worse to have tasted redskins greatness and witness their slow and infuriating decline under Snyder or never have tasted it at all. Then i settled on both being horrible options. I think the Allen and Gibbs eras are what keep the relatively older fans believing. I have a lot of respect for those fans under 30-35 years old who have never seen consistent winning but who continue to hang in there with this organization, which has basically been on the Cleveland Browns level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsmarydu Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 My husband questions my sanity quite often, but I think he'd question it more if I were to jump to another team. I've been in this since '73 or so, and there's just nothing I can do about it. Having seen the glory days, I can't give up. Hail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 It's difficult for someone my age to understand how the OP feels. It must be awful (I don't mean that as an insult). My youth (age 5-14) was basically the recent run of the SA Spurs with just a little less success. We were a perennial contender, almost always finished with a winning record, usually made the playoffs, and often had a legit chance to win it all (doing so 3 times). It was incredible. Sometimes it's still difficult to acknowledge that the team has been horrible for twice as long as it was great! It's nice to know that I'll always have those memories, but it would also be nice to have a new era of sustained success. I don't think we'll ever get another run from one coach winning 3 titles, and that's OK. It's just less common in general. But I would love to have another championship season to witness for myself and my son. Hang in there, young'uns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 My post is not intended to bring down anything the OP has said nor minimize the younger generation of fans in here. But sometimes I wonder if it is actually worse on us older fans who have seen the 3 SBs live? To make a comparison, I've been a fan of the Washington Capitals since about 1981. I've never seen them win a Stanley Cup. I"ve seen them play in one and get blown out 4 games to none. Every year that goes by, I never really feel like we will win the SC. Since I've never experienced it, it just doesn't bother me as much. With the Redskins, I've seen us at our very best. I've seen that the organization has had the ability to put things together. Having the memories sometimes makes it hurt worse IMO, because I've felt and witnessed the happiness and celebration by the city. I guess it's almost like, the song, "You don't know what you got, till it's gone." One regret that I do have with the 3 SB wins is, I never cherished them and I think I took them for granted. When your team is always in contention, you just think it's going to always be this way. That's why I want to get my Psychiatrist License and move to Boston in a few years (not really). Patriot fans are in for a rude awakening. Again, I know we all have suffered the last 23 years. We all suffer as fans in different ways. I just feel that some of us who have actually been a part of it, it eats away at us more because of what we have seen. As I get older, I wonder if I'll ever see "any" of my teams win a championship ever again before I die. Boston has seen their 4 pro teams win 9 titles in the last 15 years. I want that for my teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike42 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Been a fan since 1993. I missed out on EVERYTHING. I bought the DVD of the 3 redskins super bowl victories. I wonder if the DVDs are under the category of fiction because it's hard to believe that this franchise was good and won super bowls. My love for this team has never dwindled. I've invested 22 years and not going to turn my back on this team suddenly. But it's damn sure depressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassSkinsFan Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I'm just infuriated. Period. Change the name of the thread to 21st Century Redskins Fan and set it to this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHbbYhMtGhA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightbird Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I feel for you brother. The first memory of my life is my uncle's house in La Plata erupting in cheers as Riggo rambled 43 yards to paydirt in SB 17 (I was 5). So I was raised on the glory years and came to think of Redskins success as an entitlement. In a perverse way, sometimes I feel like our name and our history are killing us. All Snyder does is sell nostalgia for the gloy years. Always a Theisman or a Gibbs in his box with him. An Allen in the front office. Always a new campaign to highlight what used to be -- the 70th/75th/80th anniversary of the team, alumni barbecues, etc.Anything to cloak himself in our past glory so as to distract fans from the suffering we've endured in the recent past, present, and future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gortiz Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 so I'm drowning ... AND YOU'RE DESCRIBING THE WATER! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paloosa Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I have been a Redskins fan for over 45 years or as old as I can remember. I have seen this team through a lot more bad than good. I saw all those years that you wish to be apart of but they weren't that much better than they are now. They may have been in the hunt for the playoffs a little more but they didn't have great success until Joe Gibbs became coach. George Allen did a good job but other than that no other coach was successful. What you should do is ask the old New England Patriot Fans that were around before Kraft owned them what it was like rootin for them. Ask the Detroit Lion fans, the Cleveland Browns, the Tennessee Titans (Old Houston Oilers), and now the Jacksonville Jag fans. Their teams have never even experienced being in a Super Bowl. Ask a Tampa Bay Buc who remembers when the franchise went through almost 2 years without winning a game. The product that has been placed on the field is more on the players than the coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emor09 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I miss Clinton. And Gregg. And Joe. And Sean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldysknzfn1 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I often sit & ponder(not really but it makes me sound smarter when I say it like this ) how this franchise manages to get younger fans. My daughter who was born in '86 is a Skins fan b/c, (doh) I passed the curse down to her..but outside of that why would anyone want to be a fan of this team? I wear my Skins gear a lot to work(jackets, scarves, gloves) and every time a patient notices it hanging on the back of my door they say, "Are you the Skins fan?..You must be a fan from way back"..I say yes..my father passed the curse down..LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasSkinsFan Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I feel you brother, I'm 40 something and lived through the good times and the bad times. Not getting into a debate about which is better or worse to live through. In my opinion the problem with this team is that we have been stuck in QB hell and are still stuck in QB hell. QB hell - Signs a teams in it include multiple QB's in play, multiple coaches, multiple losing seasons, never finding any prolonged success....sounds like us right? The way the leagues run today the teams with the Franchise QB's go to the playoffs. Those without them don't. Three years ago Griffin seemed like a Franchise QB and we went to the playoffs, then he didn't in '13 and '14 and we didn't. Until we find our Franchise QB we are going to be stuck here in hell. I know lots of people disagree with me that's our biggest problem and we won't ever go anywhere until we solve it but that is okay with me. We don't all have to agree. I'm telling you this because if I could quit them I would. I can't. I live in Fort Worth, Texas and can't quit them. I am addicted to this team. If I could quit them I wouldn't pay any attention to them until I knew 100% that the QB was identified and saw the results on the field. I mention that because someone who might want a break should use that as a guide to when to come back (could be a year, 5 years, 20 years who knows). We will stay in hell with this name, another name, another color, another coach none of it matters. All teams in QB hell know this to be true. You don't get out of hell without a Franchise QB. If you want to quit now is a good time imo. I would if I could Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsailand Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 On the bright side, the league will likely expand the postseason field to seven teams per conference in the spring, so the Skins will at least have a better shot of making the paloffs in future years The last time this would have made a difference for us was 2000 (at 8-8). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 N/m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinsfan1311 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 As an older fan, I've been lucky enough to have lived through the bad times, the good times,and everything in between. I have a lot of respect for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedBNG Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 The difference between then (our 80's climb to the top) and the last 25 years is... then = Bobby Beathard, and the last 25 = Jack Cooke, Dan Snyder. BB picked Gibbs (and most of the players), Cook picked Turner to ruin the 90's, while Snyder has done his fair share the last 15 years (admitting that you cannot say NO to Joe Gibbs II). I like to think that the nightmare is over with Snyder FINALLY doing the right thing. I don't know how it will play out in the next 5 years, but I'm somewhat certain it will be MUCH better than the last 25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roanoker Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 .... I envy all of those who were lucky enough to witness such prosperity. Losing sucks. There is hope with the new GM and overhaul of the defensive staff, but how can you have faith in a team that has consistently let you down?... We're called ES fans for a reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veteranskinsfan Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Finally having a competent General Manager may help the Skins turnaround their fortunes. It will take a few years but you have to start over now. Scott M. helped improve the 49ers and Seattle as well. Just hope the owner can show some patience- surely the fans have shown a ton of patience and loyalty to the Skins over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studzmckenzie Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Shoring up the product on the field is one thing, and, certainly, I wish the new GM very well, as he takes on this formidable task. Rebuilding the fan base and restoring credibility with the fans is another task, maybe larger. The fan base, as we used to know it, has essentially vanished. Droves of longtime season ticket holders have either been priced out of the ballpark, or got fed up with the deteriorating quality of the gameday experience, or both. Those so-called "big games" against division opponents late in the season merely encourage droves of fans of the opposition to come in and take over the house, because in most cases, the season is already shot, and most of the ticket holders have already given up on the team. And regardless of whether they get a new stadium or not, unless the culture of the front office changes, we are basically stuck with what we have for well into the forseeable future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpage520 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Born in '87. Was too young to know what it felt like to win the SB. Since I could have a vague understanding of the game which was probably around age 5, I haven't seen a record better than 10-6. There have only been MAYBE a select few seasons in my entire lifetime that my team wasn't a laughing stock or considered a joke. I envy you folks who were around for the good years so much. You'll always have those to fall back on. The only things we have are the stories we've been told by our parents, relatives, and friends from generations before us. The only thing we have is the fact that we've heard that our team was great at some time before we existed. I'd take actually having a past to live in over what we have now any day. It sucks. It hurts, and gets harder every year. The only thing that keeps me holding on is how much it all means in my family and the nostalgia that goes with it. I go to multiple games a year, if I'm not at Fedex I drive about 70 miles south to go watch the games with my dad and then drive back home after. I also just couldn't imagine rooting for anyone else without feeling tremendous guilt. I don't honestly feel like I could root for another team and feel right about it. I would probably just not have a team before doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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