What's your earliest Redskins memory?

[gortiz]

watching a kick return by the Dolphins in the 82 super bowl.

Was there a kickoff return? Man, that was weird because I was only about 8 years old and I was watching each quarter between my neighbors house and my parents house, but now that I remember my neighbors were a bunch of 20-30 something asian dudes that couldn't speak english? Why was I there? Maybe this is dream? :doh:

I'm calling my mom ....

[kwitt]

Last game 1979. We had Dallas beat but Staubach ripped our hearts out with two TD passes in the final minutes. I remember we tried to line up for a field goal at the very end of the game but the clock ran out. We finished 10-6 and were on the short end of a three way tie and missed the playoffs. I cried like a little girl. :cry:

[js161]

I remember the press conference when Jack Pardee was named head coach. The first game I remember was the 1979 game against the Cowboys, when Riggins had a 66 yard run, the Skins were beating the Cowboys pretty good until Roger Staubach lead a comeback. Final score Redskins 34 Cowboys 35. That started my hatred of the Cowboys.

[hockeyguy1721]

hearing my dad yell at the tv when i was like 4. I had no idea why he was mad but i was scared yet interested! I didnt understand why he was yelling at the tv when it brought me so much joy LOL!

[AsburySkinsFan]

Earliest memory:

Vague recollections of seeing the games as a child, but then during the 1987-88 season is when I became a REAL 'Skins fan, I was 12 at the time and could name all the players. Williams, Monk, Green, Manley, Jacoby, I remember those players and they were a great part of my childhood and adolescence. Ever since then I have never waivered in my love for the 'Skins, even through the drought. Since I am a displaced Fairfax, VA boy, this year has simply been a revitalization for my first sports love.

GO 'SKINS!!!

[Loyal2Washington]

I was born a Redskins fan but the first time I remeber watching a game and actually understanding what was happening, was the infamous Joey T leg break game. It's not really the break I remeber but Jay coming in and leading us to the huge victory over the Gnats. I was 7 at the time and was just so happy, not only for the win but that my mother let me stay up with my dad to watch the game.

:gaintsuck :dallasuck :eaglesuck

[AllBusiness]

Billy Kilmer coming off the field with a dislocated shoulder. I knew nothing about football at the time. All I knew is that my Dad would get rabid on most Sunday afternoons! Perplexing thing to wittness when your 8.

But now, I understand what was going on COMPLETELY!

[LegionOfDoom]

Grant's int and rumble for 6.....is my earliest memory....the house went nuts after that play.... it really stuck

[China]

I have a vague recollection of SuperBowl VII against Miami. I only vaguely remember some of that kick play. Although now that I've seen the replay of that play many times it is difficult to know how much is my original memory and how much has been supplanted by the replays.

[Skinz2Win]

When Vince Lombardi was hired as head coach. My grandfather was a Redskins fan since the 40's and I remember he got very excited about the news saying that Lombardi would lead the Redskins to championships. Of course it didn't happen, but it changed the course of the franchise and that's about the time when I began to pay attention.

[TURKEYTALKER]

the 72 superbowl was when I started pulling for the skins because my older brother is a dolfins fan and I didn't want his team to win

[WHALEN]

WHEN I WOKE UP CHRISTMAS MORNING IN 72 AND CAUGHT SUNNY J PUTTING IT TO MY GRANDMOTHER UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE. SHE WAS HUMMING HAIL TO THE REDSKINS. :eaglesuck :gaintsuck :seahawksu GRANNY KNEW HOW TO TAKE 1 FOR THE TEAM.

[wsniper1]

Sometime during the 86 season.

The biggest hting I remember is my mom coming home with a Maroon Washington Redskins NFC Champions shirt right before the SuperBowl. Then at a friends house watching the Redskins throttle the Broncos 42-10, with 35 coming in the third. I was 8.

[Stevviej20]

My earliest memory was watching them play dallas the first game of the season on monday night football, cant remember wut year it was ( sometime in the early 90's) they got killed i think

[cjcdaman]

Sometime during the 86 season.

The biggest hting I remember is my mom coming home with a Maroon Washington Redskins NFC Champions shirt right before the SuperBowl. Then at a friends house watching the Redskins throttle the Broncos 42-10, with 35 coming in the third. I was 8.

Same here. I remember Denver jumping out to a 10-0 lead and I was scared to death! I don't remember anything before that, but 1985 was probably the year I started rooting for them because I thought they had the coolest looking helmets(and they still do.)

[jkam]

Oh God am I the oldest here? I remember Bobby Mitchell shaking and baking against the Cleveland Browns in 1962 in D.C. (not yet RFK) Stadium. Course the Browns won. I was 6 years old sitting next to my dad in section 304. Another early memory is 1963 watching Sonny J of the Eagles (yikes) torch the Skins in a great comeback. Then the next spring my dad and I were sitting at the breakfast table and heard that the Skins had traded Norman Snead to the Eagles for Sunny. (This was before all sports radio all the time so that trade came out of left field). We literally began screaming and dancing around the kitchen. Now when a 7 year old kid knows that we have taken the other guys to the cleaners you know that their GM (I think Joe Kuharich) cannot be very good. And of course I was right. :laugh:

[Go Skins!!!]

My oldest memory was a Thanksgiving game against Dallas at my Aunt's house in Baltimore.

I would imagine it was the mid 70s.

[NYSkins1]

I didn't really start caring about the Skins until I was about 10 or so, but I know that I could sing "Hail to the Redskins" practically before I could talk. I think the first Redskins game I went to was a Bills game in November when I was about 8. It was really cold, though, so I remember absolutely nothing about the game. The first game I remember really vividly was the first game in FedEx (then Jack Kent Cooke), against the Cowboys. My dad and I had to leave the game to catch our flight back to Rochester, and we were up by about 17 when we left. As we got into the parking lot, we heard a boo. Then, as we entered our car, we heard another boo. Then we listened to the radio on the way to the airport and learned that the Redskins blew a 17-point lead.

I do remember my first NFL game period, though. It was a Bills-Jets game on Sep. 6, 1994 (It was a 6th birthday gift from my grandfather). I remember that the Bills lost 23-3, and that I had a stomachache when I got back because I had eaten so much. Now I can't get up during games, even when I'm at home.

[Whiskey17]

Curt Knight kicking a bunch of field goals as the Skins whipped the Cowboys to go to their first Super Bowl.

[SkinsOrlando]

In 1984, my father and grandfather took me to RFK for my first time. It rocked except someone spilled a full cup of beer on my grandfathers head(he does not drink) when the Skins scored and he was not real happy. My father and I still laugh about it to this day, my grandfather still doesn't find it funny.

[Novaskin]

Super Bowl VII, father was having a game party over the house and the game really embedded itself in my memory. Revenge against the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII was SWEET to say the least!

[Novaskin]

My first game attending was against the Falcons at RFK, a 10-6 Skins win. Mike Thomas ran the ball in for a TD. :helmet:

[CaliforniaSkin]

Final game of the 1979 season. My family had just moved to the DC area. We were leadingthe whole game and Dallas scored late. I remember not the 'skins not being able to get a time out called to try for a field goal as time expired. Knocked us out of the playoffs.

[LApunkrocker72]

Even though I was born and bred in Southern California, I've been a Redskins fan practically all my life.

My earliest Redskins memory was seeing them beat the Cowboys at RFK in 1979. I also remember being in tears after the 1979 season finale loss at Dallas.

The first Redskins game I attended in person was in 1983 when they visited the then-LA Rams. The 'Skins won 42-20 (I think). In that game, I was this close to catching Mark Moseley's field goal attempt in the stands. Now that would have been a great souvenir.

I also saw the Redskins play in 1989 when they visited the then-LA Raiders at the LA Coliseum. Bo Jackson ran all over the 'Skins defense in a Raider win. Quick story: I wore a Redskin T-shirt to that game so I was taking a risk. My parents, who went with me, advised me to take a Raider jacket just in case things started to get out of hand. Sure enough, when a group of Raider fans started to say profane things about the Redskins, I put on the Raider jacket for protection.

Hopefully in the not too distant future, I could catch a 'Skins game at FedEx.

[SkinsFan64]

According to my folks, the only time I would sit still at a very young age was when the 'Skins were on. I have "vague" memories of Sonny slinging the ball around in the old burgundy helmet with the spear. Can't associate it with a specific game, so I'm not sure it counts.

First specific game memories start around age 6 - the 1971 season:

- Watching 'Skins v. Bears at my much-older brother's apartment. He & his wife had a "futuristic" looking TV/stereo combo and a panel phone that was recess mounted into the wall. Thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever seen at that point...

- Larry Brown checking out of the hospital to play the Cowboys & getting kneed in the head by Cliff Harris. Not long afterword I was playing football on the sidewalk (smart!!) when I smacked my head. Wanted a bandage, "..just like Larry's..."

Other "vivid" early memories:

- Somebody (no idea who now - newspaper, Texaco?) was giving away characture drawings of various 'Skins players. I had to have them all...

- Being asked "who's that?" all the time by my family during the games. From an early age, I had the entire roster memorized.

- My Dad paying a coworker to bring me back a pennant from Super Bowl VII. Sill have it.

- My Dad giving me a copy of I'll Always Get Up by Larry Brown for Christmas. Still have it.

Good times!!!

CLBinMD

Wow - that's eerie. Your earliest memories are incredibly parrallel to my own. I've got one year on you, so I was 7 when George Allen took over in 71.

Very earliest memories - probably in '67 or '68, seeing Sonny throwing to Charley Taylor on TV and hearing my Dad yell "Go, baby, go!" When I tryed to yell it (trying to be like my Dad), my Mom and Dad both laughed. They were laughing because they thought it was cute, but I thought I had somehow not said it the wrong way.

First real memories of watching and caring - '71 season with George Allen. I remember the huge buildup to the game in KC when we were already 5-0 or 6-0. Kansas City was the defending SB champs. Charley Taylor broke his leg on a touchdown catch and the Redskins lost after an epic battle. My parents took my sister and I out to Dulles to welcome the team home and there was a huge crowd of 20,000 people. My Dad put me on his shoulders and I saw Charley Taylor come off the airplane on crutches.

Another great memory was the MNF game the same year against the LA Rams. It was a huge game because the Rams were Allen's old team and a lot of the Redskins were former Rams brought in by Allen. My parents were very strict regarding bed time, so we were only allowed to watch a few minutes of the first quarter. So I was hating life missing the game, then fell asleep. Next thing I know, my Mom is waking me up so I could come back to the family room and watch the 4th quarter. The Redskins were winning and the entire experience was surreal. My Mom, Dad, sister and I were jumping up and down. I distinctly remember Speedy Duncan returning a kick for a touchdown - instantly making him my sister's favorite Redskin, which stands to this day.

Funny, but that game sticks out in my mind above almost ALL others (including Super Bowls). In fact, it ranks as my 2nd favorite game/moment in Redskins history. 1st place? That would be this year's MNF win over the Cowboys, as I stayed up with my 15-year-old daughter and depression turned into utter elation after midnight. Moss catching the 2nd touchdown is a moment in time that the 2 of us (my daughter may be even more fanatical than even I am) will always remember together. And then the emotional reaction from Joe as the game ended. WOW - nothing can ever top that for a Redskins fan, I don't think.

Does anyone else have a "you can go home again after all" reaction to the return of Joe? It is so fun to go through this ride with my kids after telling them for years (of Redskins struggle) all about what it was like when we had Joe Gibbs. It's like reliving my youth in a way.

Enough rambling - I'll stop now. Must work.