kevinklein Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 This is something I've been contemplating for awhile now...but I haven't been able to put it into words. Truth be told, I know the answer, but thinking about it is a lot of fun. Do we root for the Redskins, or do we root based on the relationships the players form with one another and with the fans. That is the question which I wish to dissect. Listen to this absolutely, positively hypothetical situation: Imagine, by some freak accident, some loophole, natural disaster, or scandal, that the Redskins swapped their entire personel (front office, players, coaches, sponsors et cetera.) with another team. For the sake of neutrality we'll say everything is swapped with the Tennessee Titans. The Titans now have Clinton Portis, Mark Brunell, Sean Taylor, Santana Moss, Brandon Lloyd, Joe Gibbs, Al Saunders, Gregg Williams et cetera. What was once the Redskins, is now the Titans. The Redskins have Vince Young...and that's the only player I can think of that's on the Titans at the moment- but you get the point. Of course we're going to root for the Burgundy and Gold, with this decision being compromised under no conditions...but if this were to happen, would you feel obliged to root for the hypothetical Titans? I feel that more elaboration is needed. We love to watch our Redskins performing as a team...Cornelius Griffin pressuring an opposing QB to the outside, only to have him run into Marcus Washington. Clinton Portis holding onto Mike Sellar's jersey en route to a touchdown. The obvious growing chemistry between Mark Brunell and Santana Moss. What if all these relationships remained in tact, but they were moved under another team name. Would it be difficult to simply sever the ties we've made with these players? Note: Please spare the "dude, what are the thinking! this could never happen! ban him" comments, for you are merely stating the obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Do we root for the Redskins, or do we root for the players wearing Redskins uniforms? That's redundant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinklein Posted May 15, 2006 Author Share Posted May 15, 2006 That's redundant. I noticed that...help me restate my question more clearly, master of words. :notworthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonef1de Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Note: Please spare the "dude, what are the thinking! this could never happen! ban him" comments, for you are merely stating the obvious. :sucks: I know, I know but I can't help but state the obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinklein Posted May 15, 2006 Author Share Posted May 15, 2006 :sucks: I know, I know but I can't help but state the obvious. Aw man...and I thought I had actually gotten an intelligent response. I should have posted this tommorow, when I could get some East Coast brains. Damn Westies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colesfan05 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I feel that this sort of transition would lead to a lot of shock and would take time for any fan to be able to feel the same way about their team as they once did. I believe that being a Redskin runs deeper than any player obviously, and it is this love of the Redskins that has kep fans watching games the years after Gibbs left his first time. I believe that true fans have a love for their team that players can only add to, but never take away from. While a fan may form an attachment to certain players, they still love the team even if their favorite players have left. Myself, I have loved Bailey, Smoot, Arrington, and Coles all while they were here and it hurt me to see them leave but the void they left has been replaced by new players. I would not feel an obligation to root for the Titans if they suddenly acquired the entire redskin team but the name. Being a Redskin to me goes much deeper than any player or coach and that is what keeps me watching the games when we are down by 13 points with 5 minutes left and even down by 35 with seconds left. It is certainly not my love of a player or coach that keeps me watching when there is no hope left. It is my love for the Redskins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonef1de Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Aw man...and I thought I had actually gotten an intelligent response. I should have posted this tommorow, when I could get some East Coast brains. Damn Westies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIDETHEWALRUS Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 THe loysalty would remain with the team, but with such a shocking move, we would be obliged to root for your hypothetical Titans. Now if you were to change your scenario to 2001 and Norv Turner, Deion Sanders, Jeff George, etc were to be shipped en masse to Tennesse I would have thrown a friggin party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Pablo Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 It's easy for me... I live near DC and was born inside it. Why would I root for another team? Besides, think of it this way, we love Joe Gibbs, Santana Moss, Clinton Portis, etc... for what they did as Redskins. Their accomplishments will forever remain etched in Redskin lore. We can still like them as coaches and players (unless they go to a rival). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTotalPackage Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I think you have way too much time on your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I am a Redskin fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomadskin11 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I agree with Colesfan in that the shock would be the first thing to register. When a single player I really like (Smoot, for example) gets traded away, it hurts for a while. I don't necessarily follow his career with the other team, but there is still a place in my heart that feels empty for a little while. If the entire current team were to leave, including the current front office, etc., a massive shock would most certainly ensue, and I think I would feel a lot of anger, most specifically in my inability to blame somebody for such an incredibly ridiculous and awful situation. The hole left behind, given my deep love for the current incarnation of our Redskins, would be patchable.... but it would take a long time for it to be pavable... Admittedly, using your example, I would have an interest in how the individuals on the Titans were doing. On the other hand, I would have no interest in how the TEAM was doing. My team was, is, and always will be the Washington Redskins, for better or worse, through regular, playoff, or strike season, through Joe and through Norv, and Terry and Richie, through Jeff George and Heath, Joe T and Jay, quarterback controversy, new owner learning curves, years of incompetence, and Super Bowl Decades. The Redskins are a living History and I am a part of that. peace - nomad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HapHaszard Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I am a Redskin fan Amen Bubba, things change but the Redskins are forever. I don't know how the Baltimorons coped when the Colts left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaron Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 This is a great thread imho..... In this situation, I would stick with the Washington Redskins, but I'll admit, my first thought was that I would cheer for the "new" Titans. Although, it would be awfully hard to have all that history (Gibbs, Buges, etc.) up and shipped to Tennessee even though all their accomplishments would remain under the "Washington Redskins" section in the record books. The initial shock would be EXTREMELY hard to get over and would probably take a long, long time to fully grasp, but in this scenario, I would stick with the Washington Redskins. This type of question crossed my mind when the Nats "returned" to Washington. I was surprised to see that the Nats had a nice fan base immediately, and wondered how so many fans could change their favorite MLB team so fast. Unless most of their fanbase were either Expo's fans or former fans of the Washington Nationals..... :whoknows: I am a Redskin fan What if, in this situation, the Redskins name went with the team to Tennessee and vice versa? So now, you'd have the Tennessee Redskins and the Washington Titans, with the Titans wearing the burgandy and gold. This whole scenario reminds me of the old Seinfeld bit about sports basically being people cheering for laundry...... :laugh: And again, great thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inmate running the asylum Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I was born in Washington D.C., and moved to California as a teenager, but have always remained a Redskins fan -- through tough seasons and good seasons. But it would be tough on my loyalty to decide -- if say the Redskins moved to another city and TOOK THEIR TRADITION, name AND ESPECIALLY THEIR RECORDS WITH THEM. Players move on and team personnel changes, which is to be expected. But take the scenario that the old Baltimore Colts fans experienced. They had a great tradition and then the team up and moves in the middle of the night. That's bad enough, but a team at least can be replaced with new personnel. What's unfortnuate about that move was that the NFL allowed Indianapolis to not only take the Colt name but the Baltimore Colt playoff and Super Bowl records; the team colors; the team uniform design, etc. I think Baltimore got raped twice in that deal. :laugh: When they moved to Indianapolis, the team should have been forced to drop the name Colts and start their own team tradition and records. When Baltimore got a new team, they should have reacquired the name Colts with the records. But that's just my line of thinking. If the Redskins moved to another city and took the name; fight song; records; team colors; team uniform design; players and tradition; that would be a tough one for me. I mean I'm not really that loyal to the city of Washington D.C., just because I was born in a hospital building there. Hell, the hospital probably doesn't even exist today and I never lived in Washington D.C. And afterall the Redskins headquarters of today is actually in Virginia and the stadium is in Maryland. I lived in Maryland as a kid, so I could just as easily justify pulling for the old Baltimore Colts or the Ravens today. Hell, if the Redskins moved and took everything to another city, I would probably lose interest in pro football. Without a team to pull for, it's not that exciting to watch. Fortunately, I don't have to make this decision. Probably the people living in the D.C. area now, would just adjust to a new team brought in, just like most Baltimore residents did with the Ravens. The Ravens fill up their stadium and I suppose a new team is D.C., would do likewise. :whoknows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 This whole scenario reminds me of the old Seinfeld bit about sports basically being people cheering for laundry...... :laugh: all he did was change shirts!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeysports19 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Obviously nobody likes to watch their team stink...take in mind the orioles. Why do I continue to watch games year after year...I dont know. If this situation occured and we stunk I would still watch the games. Why, you ask? Thats what being a redskins fan is about. :cheers: btw that is a good seinfeld reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWinzit Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Free agency has removed some of the fan to player loyalty. The longer a player remains with a team, the larger following they receive. It's rare to have a player stay with a team for 10 years. Loyalty would definitely remain with the Skins, although would keep an eye on the Tenn. scores and ranking. If we lived through Norv and Spurrior and are still here, we're Redskin fans!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldsdbomber Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Didn't this already happen when Cleveland upped and moved to Baltimore? Why not ask some old time Brown fans. If that had happened to the Redskins, I'm sure many people would move to the "new" Redskins even if they weren't happy about a move away from Washington. But if you're saying would people support the Titans if just the players and coaches were swapped, I doubt it. Wouldn't people just root for the Redskins (and of course protest most vehemently about the swap!) and have the Titans as favourite AFC team (at least until Gibbs retired). Not that Joe Gibbs would ever go along with this hypothetical situation anyway, like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaron Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Didn't this already happen when Cleveland upped and moved to Baltimore? Why not ask some old time Brown fans. If that had happened to the Redskins, I'm sure many people would move to the "new" Redskins even if they weren't happy about a move away from Washington. But if you're saying would people support the Titans if just the players and coaches were swapped, I doubt it. Wouldn't people just root for the Redskins (and of course protest most vehemently about the swap!) and have the Titans as favourite AFC team (at least until Gibbs retired).Not that Joe Gibbs would ever go along with this hypothetical situation anyway, like. This situation is different from the Browns/Ravens situation in that Cleveland no longer had a team in the city when the Browns moved to Baltimore. In the Titans/Redskins scenario, two teams are just trading places... This actually made me laugh, because I have a friend that is a fan of the Eagles and Ravens both, and he used to get SUPER pissed when we would reference the Browns history in regards to the Ravens. Like when Jamal Lewis eclipsed some rushing mark and the media stated that he was the first player in Raven's history to surpass X amount of yards, I made the comment, "I'm surprised Jim Brown never did that," which caused him to flip out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboyuptx Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I have chosen player over team before................. To give this a little Dallas perspective..... It wasn't the cowboys, NEVER! If that were ever going to happen, it would've happened the day we signed TO. However, I have chosen a player over one of my Dallas teams, the Mavericks. I really started getting into basketball, around the time the Mavs were at their worst (1991). I was a fanatic! The only person on streets wearing Mavs gear. I really stuck with 'em through 5 seasons, when they only won 11, 13, 22, 28 games in a season........ and I watched and/or recorded all 82 games a year. Then in 94-95 we drafted Jason Kidd. He single-handedly willed that team to 36 wins and won ROY. The team was full of spares (aside from Kidd & Mashburn), yet it was the most excited I've ever been about basketball. A year and a half later......... new ownership, traded Jason Kidd to Phoenix................. For Michael ****ing Finley! I knew we had just traded away a future Hall of Famer...... and I went with him. I vowed to follow Jason no matter where he went (even if its Jersey) and I disowned the Mavs all-together, until Kidd retires. The day he retires, I'll be a die-hard Mavs fan again! It's not like I was jumpin on the bandwagon, Phoenix had the worst record in the NBA the day Jason arrived, they ended up making the playoffs that year..... Kidd's taken his team to the playoffs every year since leaving Dallas. He even took the Nets (the doormat franchise of the NBA) to the NBA Finals, in back to back years. So today, I'm a New Jersey Nets fan :doh: (I wish he'd get traded). Lets hope this story will help rally the Nets past the Heat......... GO NETS!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana87 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 You might be able to get some insight from Cleveland Browns fans. As you know they lost thier team to Baltimore but got a new team. While this exchange didn't happen at the same time I think some parallels can be drawn. You might want to also consider '87 when we had the "Replacement Players" for our striking staters. Although they were not playing in another city we were still rooting for someone else in the Burg & Gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I have chosen player over team before................. coming from a cowboys fan, that doesn't surprise me as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 In this oddball situation.... I might disown the Redskins organization for making the most lopsided deal in the history of the NFL. And I would be a Titans fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllAboutSkins08 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 it would be tough, but i would definitely root for the redskins name and the players that fell under that name instead of the ex-players. not that i would boo or hate them if they left, but i am a fan of the team. players get traded all the time, obviously not in deals this ridiculous, but you get the idea. and i've seen many players who i loved leave the franchise. it took me a little while to get over their departure, but eventually i was done with them and moved on to the players that we had and bonding with them. the love for the burgandy and gold is much stronger than the people wearing the uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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