Old Article Claming FedEx will be as good as RFK

[StevieInferior]

A friend of mine who grew up in NE is going to RFK for the first time tommorrow. I am digging up stuff for her so she can see how special the place is and I came across this article written before the 1st game at JKC. The beginning is great how it relives the great moments. But I got a chuckle at the second 1/2 claiming that JKC/FedEX would have no problem being "special":

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/redskins/longterm/1997/stadium/special/articles/homefield.htm

The House Was Rockin', the Players Were Knockin'

By Richard Justice

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, September 12, 1997; Page G10

Relive past memories with washingtonpost.com's look back at RFK Stadium.

Return to A Grand Opening

Return to Stadium Section

Russ Grimm remembers the first time he realized RFK Stadium was special. It was just before the 1982 NFC championship game, and the Washington Redskins had gathered inside their locker room for last-minute instructions from Coach Joe Gibbs.

Whatever Gibbs said that afternoon has long since been forgotten. What Grimm and his teammates experienced hasn’t.

At first, it resembled the roar of a jet engine parked outside their door. Then it was accompanied by the rocking of an earthquake.

"It sounded like the place was going to come apart," Grimm recalled 15 years later. "It was like nothing you’d ever heard."

Finally, the roar became decipherable and players nodded and smiled in awe as they understood that what they were hearing was a long, loud chant.

We want Dallas!

We want Dallas!

We want Dallas!

In the hearts and minds of Redskins fans, that afternoon—and others like it—was one of the reasons that RFK Stadium was the best place on earth to watch an NFL game. It had the loudest fans, the most intimidating atmosphere, and for 35 seasons, no NFL team had a better home-field advantage.

Former Redskins safety Brig Owens remembers "the fans being so close that they were an extension of the team." Former Cowboys safety Charlie Waters remembers it "as being the wildest place you could play. The fans cared and they would do anything. I remembered getting pelted with ice, rocks and batteries coming off the field one afternoon."

In 35 seasons at RFK Stadium, the Redskins lost one playoff game. They never lost an NFC championship game there, and between 1969 and 1992, never had a losing record at home. It was where Sonny Jurgensen played and George Allen coached. It was Billy Kilmer’s home field. And Joe Theismann’s. And Art Monk’s. It was where Dexter Manley knocked out Danny White, and Ken Houston collared Walt Garrison and where fans threw their seat cushions in celebration of a 1992 playoff victory.

When RFK Stadium was rocking, opposing teams simply could not call audibles and had trouble getting off plays of any type. Former Redskins linebacker Monte Coleman remembers the crowd noise as sending "a cold chill over me."

So as the Redskins move to Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, one of the questions being asked by fans and players is this: Has that magical home-field advantage been lost? Will Jack Kent Cooke Stadium be as noisy and intimidating as RFK? Will the Redskins lose some of their advantage by moving into a stadium that has 25,000 more seats? Where RFK Stadium seemed cozy, Jack Kent Cooke Stadium is monumentally huge. Will that lack of coziness mean a loss of something else?

No.

Millions of fans who loved RFK Stadium won’t like that answer. In Washington, it was always assumed that there was no place like RFK Stadium, but around the NFL, a variety of players, coaches and club executives know the truth to be otherwise.

RFK Stadium was special because the Redskins were special. Allen transformed a losing franchise into one of the NFL’s best teams, and a city fell in love with its NFL team. Gibbs kept the magic going by taking the Redskins to the playoffs in eight of his 12 seasons, and he, too, urged fans to make RFK Stadium a tough place for the Cowboys and Giants.

When the Redskins ceased being one of the NFL’s best teams, their home-field advantage vanished. Fans stopped coming, and when they did come, stopped cheering as loudly. In all the nostalgic remembrances about RFK Stadium, has anyone forgotten that in 1994, many of the fans seemed to be rooting for the Cowboys during one dismal home defeat?

RFK was special, but so was Denver’s Mile High Stadium and Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium. Green Bay’s Lambeau Field was colder. Before the Browns bolted for Baltimore, Cleveland Stadium might have been the most hostile NFL arena for visiting teams.

Perhaps it was never RFK Stadium as much as it was the great teams that performed and the rabid fans who followed those teams.

The best indication that Cooke Stadium will be special is that Giants Stadium—the architectural inspiration for Cooke Stadium—is also one of the coldest, loudest and most intimidating places for a visiting team.

Players who have been around the league awhile want fans to know that they’re the ones who make a stadium a home field, especially with Cooke Stadium’s 80,116 seats.

"I think when they design these stadiums now, they try to get that in the mix," said Redskins quarterback Jeff Hostetler, a former Giant. "It’s a big advantage for the home team."

Hostetler remembers fondly his trips to RFK Stadium with the Giants, but he emphasizes that there are a dozen other difficult places to play. Just last season, Oakland Coliseum was as noisy as any place he had ever heard during a Monday night game against Denver.

Why is it important? The best fans know how to disrupt a game. They know that when an opposing team has the ball, a loud crowd can prevent a quarterback from changing plays at the line of scrimmage. In the loudest arenas, the interior offensive linemen can’t even pass the snap counts down the line to the offensive tackles.

"If your offensive tackles can’t hear, everybody’s slow off the ball," said Redskins guard Bob Dahl, who played his first four seasons in Cleveland’s Dawg Pound. "One advantage you have on offense is knowing the snap count and being quicker off the ball than the defensive guy across from you. If that advantage is taken away, it’s a big thing."

Dahl remembers the afternoon the closed end of Cleveland Stadium was so loud that the Denver Broncos simply couldn’t get a play off. Officials halted the game, and with dog biscuits and snow balls swirling around the playing field, moved the Broncos to the other end of the field and allowed them to run a play.

Dahl and others believe Cooke Stadium might even be noisier and more intimidating for an opponent. For one thing, there are those 25,000 additional seats. That’s a lot more fans making, presumably, a lot more noise.

For another thing, more fans will be closer to the field. The first few rows of fans at RFK Stadium were just inches from the playing field because it had been designed as a baseball stadium. But the rows sloped away more gradually. If it seemed fans were right on top of the field, it was the first few rows that were on top of the field and the rivers of noise raining onto opponents.

The first rows of seats are farther away at Cooke Stadium, but the angle of seating is sharper, meaning more fans will be closer to the field. And, because it’s more of a theater-like seating, the place has the potential to be as noisy as any NFL stadium.

"I never thought the fans were that close at RFK," Dahl said. "They were loud, but they weren’t all that close. The fans will be close at the new park."

Which is only one of the reasons almost no one around Redskin Park is all that sad about leaving RFK Stadium. Far from the cold showers and cramped quarters, they’re moving to a place where the treatment will be first class and the crowds huge.

"Everyone wants to think their stadium is the best," Redskins defensive end Rich Owens said. "I think we’re going to be able to say that about ours."

© Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company

[TheREALJBird]

I think that with Gibbs back FedEx can be SIMILAR to what RFK was....but it'll never be RFK, that was just a special feeling being at that place on a sunday afternoon

[arkowi]

don't worry, a guy posted yesterday the record of the first like 10 years at RFK, it was about as "special" as fedex has been so far. all it takes is wins!

[StevieInferior]

I have been to a playoff game at FedEx and at RFK...they are nothing alike.

[autographcollector]

I was at the Fedex playoff game verse Detroit...it rocked.......

[SkinsHokieFan]

I think FedEx can be intimidating, loud and special

I have been to the 2 loudest games there. The Lions playoff game in January of 2000 and the Virginia Tech-USC game in the BCA Classic to open up the season last fall.

And I'll tell you, both games, with sold out crowds, and a lot on the line, were absolutley electric.

The Tech-USC game was absolutley incredible because FedEx field had 12k more seats then it did as JKC Stadium in 2000. And the fans really did test the acoustic ability of FedEx Field, and really, if the Redskins start winning and the fans get into it the place gets LOUD, very very LOUD.

The sound in the stadium all goes down onto the field with the shape of the bowl and the fact that is completely closed in. So on a 3rd down, if everyone is standing and cheering, you have 90k voices pointing at the field and it gets very very loud.

The loudest moment that game was Bryan Randall's TD pass to Josh Hyman. The place absolutley exploded and the noise was deafening.

The series after for USC, the Trojans could barely hear.

So I am absolutley convinced FedEx Field can be a very intimidating and "special" place and have an incredible home field advantage.

Something that would help out big time is if Snyder cut the amount of commercials between timeouts. It really killed the momentum

And the other thing we have to stop using opposing fans coming in as an excuse. The stadium from the BCA Classic was about 30 percent USC fans and 70 percent Tech fans. Yet when Matt Lienart got under center the stadium was very loud, very intimidating and absolutley rocking

I expect that from us as Redskins fans, no matter how many opposing teams fans "infilitrate"

[StevieInferior]

it rocked...but nothing like the game agst the Falcons I went to in 92...it was louder AND people were freakin throwing seat cushion onto the field....it was wild

[SamSneed36]

I think FedEx is a bit too big and concrete unfortunatly. RFK could easily be packed tight with fans when the team was winning because it was smaller. The bleachers on the lower level could bounce as the crowd got rowdy. I never had the privledge of attending a game at RFK as i was pretty young at the time, but i watched every week. You could tell how loud and crazy it was. FedEx gets loud but its more like the roman collesseum, the fans just arent as close to the field.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Originally posted by SamSneed36

I think FedEx is a bit too big and concrete unfortunatly. RFK could easily be packed tight with fans when the team was winning because it was smaller. The bleachers on the lower level could bounce as the crowd got rowdy. I never had the privledge of attending a game at RFK as i was pretty young at the time, but i watched every week. You could tell how loud and crazy it was. FedEx gets loud but its more like the roman collesseum, the fans just arent as close to the field.

I disagree

The fans, while not literally on the field like at RFK are pretty much ON TOP of the field.

Its sort of like at Lane Stadium. What makes Lane so intimidating is when you look up, all you see is a sea of fans. The noise cascades down onto the field.

The problem with FedEx field is the team has SUCKED since it opened in 1997, except for one season in 1999.

That is the best picture I could find of Lane at that angle. It is by far the loudest stadium I have ever been to (even louder then the soccer stadium in Milan where AC and Inter play) You can see that the fans end up right on top of the field causing the sound to go straight down and that is the same effect at Fed Ex Field.

Here is a pic

You can see once again from the endzone angle how fans are just on top of you.

Once the Redskins start winning it'll be a very special place

[redskins4life234]

I was at the lions playoff game, it was loud, Best Redskin memory I can remember. The loudest I have heard fedex since that game was game 1 this year against TB, seconds after we lost the coin toss, everyone broke out in a "DEFENCE" chant, It was soooo loud. We just need Joe giving us some wins, And wow, And with wins, less people will be giving away tickets and selling them, so less opponent fans at fedex.

[4thStBully]

thats a great observation for a 14 year old; i am sure your family is very proud of you.

[tizzod]

Originally posted by 4thStBully

thats a great observation for a 14 year old; i am sure your family is very proud of you.

This coming from a guy who's signature is, "I love weed." Brilliant.

The damn club level kills us. Too many khaki wearing Chardonnay sippers. And too many people who sell their tickets on Ebay to opposing team's fans.

I guess when we start winning again all the Bandwagon Jumpers will be back, but it just totally pisses me off that they aren't here now.

[Leonard Washington]

i can think of 2 times where it was crazy loud at fedex.

1. the season opener vs the jets in 2003. it was loud the whole game, especially on 3rd downs. i knew it was special night when the crowd erupted every time they played the MNF music.

2. right before the overtime kickoff to the giants at home. that was the game we were getting handled then made a crazy comeback (ramsey led) to force OT. (The giants walked right down the field and kicked a FG on thier first possession. I believe that was the game where a FB was left wide open by a freelancing LB.)

[112row2]

Thanks for posting this article. IN order for us to appreciate what may happen in the next couple of years, we need to remember where we came from. WINS, baby, WINS!!!! This is all we need. Ours is a momentum driven sport. I think this board is a testament to the fire that burns beneath the surface for the 'Skins to be playing deep into January. We just need a spark (early and often this year). All it takes is some on the field success. I have seen our crowd at FedEX go from lethargic to on their feet and obnoxious in a few seconds. A few examples:

Lavar's interception vs. Carolina to send us to an 8-8 record despite an unspeakable start.

Detroit playoff game and the return of Gus to "Bang Your Head" every time he hit the field.

Jets '03

the unbelievable electricity in the crowd at the beginning of the "pepper spray" game with Philly

last season's examples:

Tampa, Portis, nuff said

Cowboys game (

Ravens game (Brunell, Brunell, Brunell)

Eagles game ( Why Patrick, why? Just get the first down!)

Packer's game (last 7 minutes)(I still contend that we were robbed!!!)

Giants...(can you say, "sewn up?")

yes, even the Vikings game..(still watchingon TiVO).

Dont give up on this team, stadium, or crowd, because, just when you do, you'll find yourself left behind.

had the losses gone a couple of points in our favor, this wouldnt even be a topic for discussion.

Let us not forget that our offense ended the season with just this type of momentum.

I loved RFK, too. I have gone to a couple of Nats games just to see the old girl. We as a base need to move on and take the responsibility for making FedEx ROCK!!!!!

Ive said too much.

[airborneskins]

This is off-topic, But can we please get the fans to scream thier heads off this year. I know that everyone will say that it all depends on if we are winning, But at the Bears game, we will be 0-0, so lets start the season off right, by deafening the Bears. PLEASE!!!

[112row2]

Game On Airborne...Im IN!!!!

[airborneskins]

Originally posted by 112row2

Game On Airborne...Im IN!!!!

How many do you think that we can convince to do it? I am sure taht we won't have a hard time doing it on ES, but what about the rest of the fans there. I for one am tired of being told to sit down, because the people behind me can't see. Tough S**T. I feel taht if you go to the game, you should be willing to chear your heart out for the team thet YOU LOVE. If we can convince these guys to cheer, maybe we can return to the RFK days of Home Field Advantage.

[112row2]

Originally posted by airborneskins

How many do you think that we can convince to do it? I am sure taht we won't have a hard time doing it on ES, but what about the rest of the fans there. I for one am tired of being told to sit down, because the people behind me can't see. Tough S**T. I feel taht if you go to the game, you should be willing to chear your heart out for the team thet YOU LOVE. If we can convince these guys to cheer, maybe we can return to the RFK days of Home Field Advantage.

It's simple...act like a lunatic on D, quiet on O. Show them the way.... It will all come together.

[airborneskins]

Have been doing it for years, but they just don't learn... Oh well, we'll see.

Here is a challenge for all of the ESers that go to the games, Let's make the stadium Rock at the Bears game, and continue all the way through the year. Regardless of how the team is doing if we all cheer, we can make a difference..

HTTR