Ever since my family moved to the Washington DC area in 1972, I've been a diehard 'Skins fan. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, the Skins were actually good, in fact, really good under Joe Gibbs, winning three Super Bowls. After a lost decade in the 90s, something akin to football purgatory, we wound up in football hell when Dan "the Danny" Snyder bought the team and proceeded to gut it while turning it into a mostly winless money making plaything for himself.
I won't rehash all of the boneheaded moves the team has made over the past two decades. Professional sportswriters - my favorites being Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser - have already documented the rapid descent of the team to the depths of mediocrity. What I will highlight today is the extent to which the team has lost its soul.
Now, before we get too much further, let's be brutally honest about this franchise. First, back in the day it was first owned by George Preston Marshall, an unrepentant racist, until Baalzebub saw fit to bring him back home. Thanks to that SOB, the Redskins were the last team in the NFL/AFL to integrate, resulting in the many Washingtonians becoming fans of the much-hated Dallas Cowboys, which was the first to do so.
Second, there's the name, which has to be the most vile, racist name of any major franchise in professional sports here in the U.S. To make matters worse, the Danny has dropped major coin to fight legal battles to protect the team's right to retain it, which the vast majority of Native American nations have rightfully insisted to be a grievous insult on top of the injury of their peoples' genocide at the hands of white European colonists.
Okay, I think we've established that this franchise is obnoxious and repugnant. Why do I still root for them? That'll be the subject of another post. The Point Is...Just when you thought the 'Skins couldn't go any lower, they went ahead and claimed Ruben Foster, who is currently charged with multiple counts of domestic violence, off of waivers. And, yes, let's back it up a bit. The 'Skins already are starting a known child abuser, Adrian Peterson, as their star running back.
Just top this crap sundae off with a chunky cherry-flavored nugget, the 'Skins have repeatedly, publicly made clear that they will never sign Colin Kapernick, a very good quarterback, despite having lost their starting quarterback to a gruesome leg injury.
All that is just to point out the obvious fetid, shameless hypocrisy on the part of the Redskins:
Child abuser? No problemo!
Wife/girlfriend beater? Hakuna matata!
Principled protester against racial injustice? Never!
I truly wish that all of this revolting behavior was enough for me to swear off watching this team or any football team for that matter - concussions anyone? it's not as if the rest of the NFL is made up of saints - but it probably isn't. I'm sadly stuck as diehard fan and I'll most likely watch them again and again and again. But that won't stop me for registering my disgust with how this franchise continues to plumb new depths in rotten, inexcusable behavior. It's enough to make me feel all (black and) blue.
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