Due to circumstances beyond my control, the last time I did a trip guide for New York Giants fans in Washington, D.C., it was December 4, 2018.
Since then, so much has happened, including in Washington itself. The most relevant of these things is that the name of the opponent has been changed. No longer are they the racially insensitive "Washington Redskins." For the 2020 season, they became simply "The Washington Football Team."
They are playing the 2021 season as the Football Team as well. They will select a permanent name for the 2022 season. The likeliest name appears to be "Washington Redwolves," which would allow them to keep their burgundy and gold color scheme, and also the R monogram that appears on lots of their memorabilia.
(UPDATE: On February 2, 2022, they chose "Washington Commanders." They wanted a link to the nation's armed forces.)
Redskins. The 'Skins are currently leading the NFC Eastern Division, and the Giants are trailing it.
Before You Go. D.C. can get really hot in Summer, and this will be mid-September, which (at least according to science and the calendar) still counts as Summer. The Washington Post is predicting mid-80s for the afternoon, and low 70s for the evening. They do not mention a chance of rain, so it should be dry.
Washington is in the Eastern Time Zone, so you won't have to fiddle with your clocks, digital or otherwise.
Tickets. Tickets are always harder to get for NFL games than for MLB games. This is especially true in Washington: Having one of the smallest stadiums in the League before they had one of the largest, even with 24,000 extra seats to sell, the waiting list for season tickets is incredibly long. As Richard Nixon said while he was President, "The only thing people in Washington care about is the Redskins. Nobody gives a damn about the Smithsonian or the Kennedy Center." (Yeah, he would say something like that about something named for JFK. And let the record show that the Watergate complex is right next-door to the Kennedy Center.)
Due to the Football Team's struggles the last few years, they still averaged 65,488 fans per home game in 2019, less than 80 percent of capacity. However, any tickets returned by the visiting team go to people on their massive season-ticket waiting list. So you may have to go to either a scalper or the NFL Ticket Exchange.
In the 100 sections, seats go for $175 in midfield and $69 in the end zone; and in the 400 sections, $49 and $45. That's pretty cheap by NFL standards, but also very far from the action. The 200 and 300 sections are club seating, and prohibitively expensive.
Before You Go. D.C. can get really hot in Summer, and this will be mid-September, which (at least according to science and the calendar) still counts as Summer. The Washington Post is predicting mid-80s for the afternoon, and low 70s for the evening. They do not mention a chance of rain, so it should be dry.
Washington is in the Eastern Time Zone, so you won't have to fiddle with your clocks, digital or otherwise.
Tickets. Tickets are always harder to get for NFL games than for MLB games. This is especially true in Washington: Having one of the smallest stadiums in the League before they had one of the largest, even with 24,000 extra seats to sell, the waiting list for season tickets is incredibly long. As Richard Nixon said while he was President, "The only thing people in Washington care about is the Redskins. Nobody gives a damn about the Smithsonian or the Kennedy Center." (Yeah, he would say something like that about something named for JFK. And let the record show that the Watergate complex is right next-door to the Kennedy Center.)
Due to the Football Team's struggles the last few years, they still averaged 65,488 fans per home game in 2019, less than 80 percent of capacity. However, any tickets returned by the visiting team go to people on their massive season-ticket waiting list. So you may have to go to either a scalper or the NFL Ticket Exchange.
In the 100 sections, seats go for $175 in midfield and $69 in the end zone; and in the 400 sections, $49 and $45. That's pretty cheap by NFL standards, but also very far from the action. The 200 and 300 sections are club seating, and prohibitively expensive.
Getting There. Getting to Washington is fairly easy. Ordinarily, if you have a car, I recommend using it, and getting a hotel either downtown or inside the Capital Beltway, because driving in Washington is roughly (good choice of words there) as bad as driving in New York. However, since FedExField is not in the District, I would recommend driving, especially if you're only going down for the game, and not "seeing the city."
It's 229 miles by road from Times Square to downtown Washington, and 219 miles from MetLife Stadium to FedExField. If you're not "doing the city," but just going to the game, take the New Jersey Turnpike all the way down to the Delaware Memorial Bridge (a.k.a. the Twin Span), across the Delaware River into the State of, well, Delaware. This should take about 2 hours, not counting a rest stop.
Speaking of which, the temptation to take an alternate route (such as Exit 7A to I-195 to I-295 to the Ben Franklin Bridge) or a side trip (Exit 4, eventually leading to the Ben Franklin Bridge) to get into Pennsylvania and stop off at Pat's Steaks in South Philly can be strong, but if you want to get from New York to Washington with making only 1 rest stop, you're better off using the Delaware House Service Area in Christiana, between Exits 3 and 1 on the Delaware Turnpike. It's almost exactly the halfway point between New York and Washington.
Once you get over the Twin Span – the New Jersey-bound span opened in 1951, the Delaware-bound one was added in 1968 – follow the signs carefully, as you'll be faced with multiple ramp signs for Interstates 95, 295 and 495, as well as for US Routes 13 and 40 and State Route 9. You want I-95 South, and its signs will say "Delaware Turnpike" and "Baltimore." You'll pay tolls at both its eastern and western ends, and unless there's a traffic jam, you should only be in Delaware for a maximum of 15 minutes before hitting the Maryland State Line.
At said State Line, I-95 changes from the Delaware Turnpike to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway, and you'll be on it for about an hour (unless you want to make another rest stop, either the Chesapeake House or the Maryland House) and passing through Baltimore, before seeing signs for I-895 and the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, Exit 62.
From here, you'll pass through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Take I-895 to Exit 4, and you'll be on Maryland Route 295 South, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. BWP exits are not numbered, so you'll have to watch the mileposts and the town names on the exit signs. Your exit onto the Capital Beltway, I-95/495, will be just past Mile 6, And it will read "I-495 S/I-95 S" and mention Richmond, Virginia and Andrews Air Force Base. (That's where the 747s that serve as Air Force One are kept -- and, no, you won't be allowed in to see them, so don't bother visiting.)
Once on the Beltway, it's important to remember that, while I-95 and I-495 have directions, the Beltway itself is (more or less) circular. It has an Inner Roadway, running clockwise, and an Outer Roadway, running counterclockwise. On the way in, you'll be on the Inner Roadway. You'll take Exit 16, for Maryland Route 202/Landover Road, with signs indicating Bladensburg and Upper Marlboro. M-202 will run parallel to the Beltway, until you reach Exit 17A, again saying M-202/Landover Road, toward Upper Marlboro. Then you take Exit 16 for Arena Drive. (Yes, that's what Google Maps says: 16, then 17A, then 16 again.)
When you reach Arena Drive, turn right. Arena Drive flows right to the stadium, which is encircled by FedEx Way. If all goes well -- getting out of New York City and into downtown Baltimore okay, reasonable traffic, just the one rest stop, no trouble with your car -- the whole trip should take about 3½ hours.
Washington is too close to fly, just as flying from New York to Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, once you factor in fooling around with everything you gotta do at each airport, doesn't really save you much time compared to driving, the bus or the train. So forget about flying from JFK, LaGuardia or Newark to Reagan National or Dulles International Airport. (John Foster Dulles was President Eisenhower's Secretary of State.)
The train is a very good option, if you can afford it. Washington's Union Station is at 50 Massachusetts Avenue NE, within sight of the Capitol Building. But Amtrak is expensive. They figure, "You hate to fly, you don't want to deal with airports, and Greyhound sucks, so we can charge whatever we want."
New York to Washington will run you $138 round-trip on a standard Northeast Regional, and is set to take 3 hours and 40 minutes.
Another option is to buy a ticket for the New Carrollton, Maryland station, head out to Bus Bay C, and take the F14 bus to Hill Oaks Drive & Michele Drive. From there, it's a 10-minute walk to the stadium. The Amtrak price won't be any different, although the price for the bus may be, compared to the Metro.
Except, this time, Amtrak doesn't work. The kickoff is at 8:25, and the last train back leaves Union Station at 10:00 PM. The 1st train the next day doesn't leave until 4:45 AM. So even if you got back to Union Station before midnight (unlikely), you'd still have nearly 5 hours to kill.
It's 229 miles by road from Times Square to downtown Washington, and 219 miles from MetLife Stadium to FedExField. If you're not "doing the city," but just going to the game, take the New Jersey Turnpike all the way down to the Delaware Memorial Bridge (a.k.a. the Twin Span), across the Delaware River into the State of, well, Delaware. This should take about 2 hours, not counting a rest stop.
Speaking of which, the temptation to take an alternate route (such as Exit 7A to I-195 to I-295 to the Ben Franklin Bridge) or a side trip (Exit 4, eventually leading to the Ben Franklin Bridge) to get into Pennsylvania and stop off at Pat's Steaks in South Philly can be strong, but if you want to get from New York to Washington with making only 1 rest stop, you're better off using the Delaware House Service Area in Christiana, between Exits 3 and 1 on the Delaware Turnpike. It's almost exactly the halfway point between New York and Washington.
Once you get over the Twin Span – the New Jersey-bound span opened in 1951, the Delaware-bound one was added in 1968 – follow the signs carefully, as you'll be faced with multiple ramp signs for Interstates 95, 295 and 495, as well as for US Routes 13 and 40 and State Route 9. You want I-95 South, and its signs will say "Delaware Turnpike" and "Baltimore." You'll pay tolls at both its eastern and western ends, and unless there's a traffic jam, you should only be in Delaware for a maximum of 15 minutes before hitting the Maryland State Line.
At said State Line, I-95 changes from the Delaware Turnpike to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway, and you'll be on it for about an hour (unless you want to make another rest stop, either the Chesapeake House or the Maryland House) and passing through Baltimore, before seeing signs for I-895 and the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, Exit 62.
From here, you'll pass through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. Take I-895 to Exit 4, and you'll be on Maryland Route 295 South, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. BWP exits are not numbered, so you'll have to watch the mileposts and the town names on the exit signs. Your exit onto the Capital Beltway, I-95/495, will be just past Mile 6, And it will read "I-495 S/I-95 S" and mention Richmond, Virginia and Andrews Air Force Base. (That's where the 747s that serve as Air Force One are kept -- and, no, you won't be allowed in to see them, so don't bother visiting.)
Once on the Beltway, it's important to remember that, while I-95 and I-495 have directions, the Beltway itself is (more or less) circular. It has an Inner Roadway, running clockwise, and an Outer Roadway, running counterclockwise. On the way in, you'll be on the Inner Roadway. You'll take Exit 16, for Maryland Route 202/Landover Road, with signs indicating Bladensburg and Upper Marlboro. M-202 will run parallel to the Beltway, until you reach Exit 17A, again saying M-202/Landover Road, toward Upper Marlboro. Then you take Exit 16 for Arena Drive. (Yes, that's what Google Maps says: 16, then 17A, then 16 again.)
When you reach Arena Drive, turn right. Arena Drive flows right to the stadium, which is encircled by FedEx Way. If all goes well -- getting out of New York City and into downtown Baltimore okay, reasonable traffic, just the one rest stop, no trouble with your car -- the whole trip should take about 3½ hours.
Washington is too close to fly, just as flying from New York to Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, once you factor in fooling around with everything you gotta do at each airport, doesn't really save you much time compared to driving, the bus or the train. So forget about flying from JFK, LaGuardia or Newark to Reagan National or Dulles International Airport. (John Foster Dulles was President Eisenhower's Secretary of State.)
The train is a very good option, if you can afford it. Washington's Union Station is at 50 Massachusetts Avenue NE, within sight of the Capitol Building. But Amtrak is expensive. They figure, "You hate to fly, you don't want to deal with airports, and Greyhound sucks, so we can charge whatever we want."
New York to Washington will run you $138 round-trip on a standard Northeast Regional, and is set to take 3 hours and 40 minutes.
Union Station
Another option is to buy a ticket for the New Carrollton, Maryland station, head out to Bus Bay C, and take the F14 bus to Hill Oaks Drive & Michele Drive. From there, it's a 10-minute walk to the stadium. The Amtrak price won't be any different, although the price for the bus may be, compared to the Metro.
Except, this time, Amtrak doesn't work. The kickoff is at 8:25, and the last train back leaves Union Station at 10:00 PM. The 1st train the next day doesn't leave until 4:45 AM. So even if you got back to Union Station before midnight (unlikely), you'd still have nearly 5 hours to kill.
Greyhound has rectified a longtime problem. They now use the parking deck behind Union Station as their Washington terminal, instead of the one they built 6 blocks away (and thus 6 blocks from the nearest Metro station), in the ghetto, back in the late 1960s. So neither safety nor aesthetics will be an issue any longer.
Round-trip fare on Greyhound can be had for as little as $80 on advanced purchase if you don't mind getting out of D.C. at 1:45 AM on Friday morning. It takes about 4 1/2 hours, and usually includes a rest stop about halfway, either on the New Jersey Turnpike in South Jersey or on the Delaware Turnpike.
Once In the City. Founded on July 16, 1790, and usually referred to as "The National City" in its early days, and "Washington City" in the 19th Century, the city was named, of course, for George Washington, although its "Georgetown" neighborhood was named for his predecessor as our commander-in-chief, King George III of England.
Downtown Washington, D.C.
Notice the lack of tall buildings.
"Columbia" was derived from the man alleged to have "discovered America," Christopher Columbus, and places throughout the Western Hemisphere -- from the capitals of Ohio and South Carolina to the river that separates Washington State from Oregon, from the Ivy League university in Manhattan to the South American nation that produces coffee and cocaine -- are named for him.
Like a lot of cities, Washington suffered from "white flight," so that, while the population within the city limits has seriously shrunk, from 800,000 in 1950 to 690,000 today; the metro area went from 2.9 million to double that, 6.4 million. The District was 71 percent white in 1940, but is now 51 percent black, 36 percent white, 9 percent Hispanic and 4 percent Asian. Overall, the metro area, including Maryland and Virginia suburbs, is about 46 percent white, 26 percent black, 17 percent Hispanic and 11 percent Asian.
As a result of this growth, the roads leading into the District, and the one going around it, the Capital Beltway, Interstate 495, are rammed with cars. Finally, someone wised up and said, "Let's build a subway," and in 1976, the Metro opened.
That metropolitan growth was boosted by the Maryland and Virginia suburbs building housing and shopping areas for federal-government workers. And, perhaps more than any other metro area, the poor blacks who once lived in the city have reached the middle-class and built their own communities (especially to the east, in Maryland's Prince Georges County, which includes Landover). The metro area's population of about 6.4 million doesn't included the metro area of nearby Baltimore, which would boost it over 9 million and make it the 5th-largest "market" in the country, behind New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area.
This growth hasn't always been easy. And D.C.'s status as what funk rock baron George Clinton called "Chocolate City" has come with a price as well. On August 12, 1835, a white mob, angry about having to compete with free black people for jobs, attacked a black-owned restaurant, Beverly Snow's Epicurean Eating House. It became known as the Snow Riot, and lasted for 3 days before President Andrew Jackson called in the U.S. Marines.
On July 19, 1919, Washington became the site of one of the "Red Summer" riots. In response to a rumor that a black man had attacked a white woman, a white mob began attacking black people, including some soldiers returning from World War I. They fought back. After 4 days, President Woodrow Wilson called out the National Guard. It is believed that 15 people were killed over those 4 days.
A race riot broke out in Cambridge, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore, on June 14, 1963. And few cities were hit as hard by the rioting in response to the April 4, 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than Washington was.
Lots of people from the District and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs went up the Parkway to Baltimore to see the Orioles during the District's 1972-2004 baseball interregnum. However, during the NFL interregnum between Robert Irsay's theft of the Colts in 1984 and the arrival of the Ravens in 1996, Baltimore never accepted the Redskins as their team, despite 2 Super Bowl wins in that period.
So, from March 1984 to August 1996, if you lived in the BaltWash Corridor, you had to take the Orioles for baseball and the Washington teams for the other sports. Since April 2005, you've had options for MLB and the NFL. But if you live closer to Baltimore, you still have to go to D.C. for the NBA, the NHL or MLS.
When you get to Union Station, pick up copies of the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun. The Post is a great paper with a very good sports section, and in just 6 seasons (now into a 7th) has covered the Nats very well, despite the 1972-2004 era when D.C. had no MLB team of its own. As a holdover from that era, it still covers the Orioles well. The Sun is only an okay paper, but its sports section is nearly as good as the Post's, and their coverage of their town's hometown baseball team rivals that of any paper in the country -- including the great coverage that The New York Times and Daily News give to the Yankees and Mets.
Do not buy The Washington Times. It was founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 1982 as a replacement for the bankrupt Washington Star as the area's conservative equivalent to the "liberal"
Post. (That's a laugh: The Post has George Will, Michael Gerson and Kathleen Parker as columnists, and also had the late Charles Krauthammer.)
Under editor-in-chief Wesley Pruden, the Times was viciously right-wing, "reporting" every rumor about Democrats as if they were established, proven fact, and giving Republicans a free pass. Moon's "Unification Church" sold the paper in 2009, and Pruden retired the year before. But it has cut about 40 percent of its employees, and has dropped not only its Sunday edition but also its sports section.
And now, there's another paper, the Washington Examiner, owned by the same company as the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard, and it is so far to the right it makes The Washington Times look like the Daily Kos. It is a truly loony publication, where Michael Barone of the American Enterprise Institute and Byron York of National Review are considered moderates.
So avoid the loonies and the Moonies, and stick with the Post. Even if you don't agree with my politics, you're going down to D.C. for baseball, and the Post's sports section kicks ass.
The sales tax in the District, once as high as 9 percent, is now just 6 percent. Unfortunately, not being a State, the city government has to do everything that a city government does and everything that a State government does. Which also means that the Mayor, currently Muriel Bowser, has to do everything that the State's Governor would do. The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO), a subsidiary of Exelon, runs the electricity for D.C. and neighboring Maryland communities.
The John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
D.C.'s City Hall, and, effectively, also its State Capitol Building
The centerpoint for street addresses is the Capitol Building. North and South Capitol Streets separate east from west, and East Capitol Street and the National Mall separate north from south. The city is divided into quadrants: Northwest, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest (NW, NE, SE and SW). Because of the Capitol's location is not in the exact geographic centerpoint of the city, NW has about as much territory as the other 3 quadrants put together.
Remember: On street signs, 1st Street is written out as FIRST, and I Street is written out as EYE, so as to avoid confusion. And for the same reason, since I and J were virtually indistinguishable in written script when D.C. was founded in 1790, there is no J Street. Once the letters are expended, they go to to 2- and then 3-syllable words beginning with the sequential letters: Adams, Bryant, Clifton, etc.
ZIP Codes for D.C. start with the digits 20, with 202 through 205 serving the federal government, and 201 serving Dulles Airport, even though it's in Virginia. For the Maryland suburbs, it's 206 through 209 and 215. For the Virginia suburbs, it's 220 to 223. The Area Code for D.C. is 202, with 301 serving the Maryland suburbs, overlaid by 240; and 703 serving the Virginia suburbs, overlaid by 571.
D.C. is not exactly close to the Atlantic Coast. There are 3 places where area natives like to go to the beach: Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, 120 miles to the east; Ocean City, Maryland, 146 miles to the southeast; and Virginia Beach, Virginia, 209 miles to the southeast.
Going In. Washington's subway, the Metro, was not in place until 1976, but, thereafter, it was a relatively easy ride to Redskins games at RFK Stadium. But the move to the Beltway made this a lot harder.
From Union Station (having taken either the train or the bus in), you'll get on the Red Line to Metro Center, and transfer to the Blue Line to Largo Town Center. The walk up Largo Road, then a left on Arena Blvd. to the stadium, should take about 20 minutes. Each way, the fare will be $2.00.
To make matters worse, the Metro stops running at midnight, and unless you can get on your inbound train by 11:45 PMN, you won't be able to get back from Morgan Blvd. station to Union Station. For this reason, driving down would be the best option for this game.
The official address of FedExField -- for a reason that I don't know, it is officially written as one word -- is 1600 FedEx Way, Landover, Maryland. If the name Landover sounds familiar, it's because the stadium is almost exactly across the Beltway from the site of the Capital Centre, where the Bullets (now the Wizards), the Capitals, and the Georgetown basketball team used to play.
Parking is a whopping $57.50 -- but would you rather take a taxi back to Union Station (which might cost the same), and then stay there until the middle of the night? I didn't think so. All lots permit
tailgating and open four hours before the game begins. Parking permits may be obtained via eBay, Craigslist or StubHub or by calling the Redskins Ticket Office at (301) 276-6050.
Despite its size, the stadium is not an architectural marvel. It's not even an architectural curiosity, the way RFK Stadium is with its weird sloping roof and its overhanging upper deck. While the NFL is a league that shuns imagination, embracing functionality first, and aesthetics much further down the line (if at all), there are some stadiums that are distinctive: Soldier Field with its exterior Doric columns (iconic, if not Ionic), the Los Angeles Coliseum with its arched "peristyle" at the east end, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with its windows.
Unlike those places, FedExField, home to a team with 5 NFL Championships to its name but none won while playing there, is just a stadium. A big stadium, but no big deal.
The Redskins went from having the smallest stadium in the NFL, and possibly the best atmosphere and the best home-field advantage, to having the largest stadium, with the worst atmosphere, and hardly any home-field advantage.
The move from RFK in the District, where the fans had to walk down hard city streets from the Metro (hazardous even if you weren't wearing enemy colors), to FedEx (originally named Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in memory of the team's former owner, before new owner Daniel Snyder sold the naming rights to Federal Express) in the comfortable suburbs, meant that the 'Skins could no longer play in a stadium where the upper deck was right on top of the field, and where the aluminum stand that retracted to fit in a baseball field could no longer be jumped on to create noise like an oversized high school football game.
According to Richard Smith of Stadium Journey:
The biggest shock I had as a first time guest to FedExField was how old the stadium felt. Opened in 1997, it seemed like a stadium opened possibly two decades earlier. It is shocking to consider that it is only one year older than Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium.
The concourses are dark and dreary. It has modern touches, such as the wider public areas and numerous food stands of a newer facility, but still never felt like a place that opened five years AFTER the groundbreaking Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Wandering the concourses brought back memories of long gone places such as Veterans Stadium, The Kingdome and Candlestick Park. That is not a good thing.
The Vet, the Kingdump, and The 'Stick? Oy vey -- especially if you're a fan of an NFC East team and thus had to visit The Vet. He continues:
The stadium is just so poorly designed that it must be disheartening to be a Redskins fan. The stadium is far too loud and the upper deck seems incredibly too high to enjoy the game. I found seating sections in the upper deck that you have to go both up AND down set of stairs to find your seat. A former walkway has been filled in with three rows of seating. Doing so has created some navigational issues, in that fans may need to go up and then back down a small set of stairs just to move from one area to another.
There are frankly just poor conditions for the fans. The audio, especially in the upper sections, is nearly inaudible. Seats in the lower deck have an obstructed view of the field. It is incredible that a stadium built just one year prior to Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium has the severe design flaws that it does.
In 2008, Sports Illustrated took a poll, and FedEx came in 28th among the 31 NFL stadiums, keeping in mind that the Giants and Jets groundshare. So if you count them as having 2 different atmospheres in the same stadium, FedEx is really 29th out of 32.
On September 12, 2017, Thrillist had an article ranking all 31 NFL stadiums. FedEx Field came off a little better, but still not well, coming in 22nd:
Fun fact: The team has removed thousands of seats in three of the past five seasons because of poor attendance. Is this fact that "fun"? Not really. But neither is FedEx Field.
In a June 24, 2019 article on the NFL's worst stadiums for Moneywise, Scott Nordlund rated it 2nd-worst:
FedEx Field opened in 1997 and is a rather tired stadium that's inconveniently located in Landover, Maryland.
The nearest Metro subway stations are about a mile away, and the drive from downtown D.C. takes at least 45 minutes. The stadium's amenities and sightlines aren't great either.
On Yelp, FedEx Field gets just two and a half stars. One review is only three words: "Awful, just awful."
And, also in Moneywise, on November 4, 2020, Ethan Rotberg rated it dead last:
The views of the field are poor and in some cases even obstructed, and prices for tickets, food, beer and parking are all well above league averages.
The deficiencies would be muted by an exciting team. But the club has produced lackluster results for years, turning off a once rabid fan base.
Food. In 1992, I attended a preseason baseball game at RFK Stadium, between the Orioles and the Red Sox. The food was horrible, including the worst hot dog I've ever had at a sporting event. Worse even that the terrible tube steaks at Sayreville High School football games (and those things are foul). The next day, right before the O's were to open the brand-new Camden Yards, it was reported that several of their players (but none of the Red Sox) had come down with food poisoning. I wasn't surprised. (They won the Camden Yards opener anyway.) I would later attend 2 Nationals games and the 2013 U.S.-Germany soccer match at RFK, and the food, while not great, had substantially improved.
Hopefully, it is better at FedExField. According to the team website:
Starting 3 hours before every preseason and regular season game, the AAA Ultimate Fan Zone offers its members a pre-game food and entertainment extravaganza unmatched anywhere else in the NFL. Bar-B-Q food and soft drinks are included in the admission price. Entertainment includes live music, appearances by cheerleaders and former players, video games, giveaways and flat screen televisions showing the early games. For more information, contact the Premium Seat Sales department at 301-276-6800 or by email at clubinfo@redskins.com.
They also have other areas where such amenities are available, including a Hooters restaurant, but most of them are in Club Seating, so forget it. A Johnny Rockets is available to all ticketholders, but, like the one at the new Yankee Stadium, prices are going to be closer to Outback Steakhouse than to McDonald's. They also have Ben's Chili Bowl, which was described on one website I saw as a local icon, although I've been to D.C. many times (including visits to RFK Stadium, Nationals Park and the Capital One Arena), and have never noticed it.
Team History Displays. The Washington Football Team have a Ring of Fame, featuring 48 individuals considered important to the history of the team. In 2002, as part of the team's 70th Anniversary celebrations -- they've been in Washington since 1937, but first played in 1932 as the football version of the Boston Braves -- the 70 Greatest Redskins were named. In 2012, on the 80th Anniversary, they added 10 names to make it the 80 Greatest Redskins.
Some of these players are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Players are noted by the abbreviations ROF (Ring of Fame), 80GR (80 Greatest Redskins) and HOF (Pro Football Hall of Fame):
* From the 1937 and 1942 NFL Champions: ROF, quarterback-safety-punter Sammy Baugh, running back-cornerback Cliff Battles, and two-way end Wayne Millner; 80GR, Baugh, Battles, Millner, head coach Ray Flaherty, two-way tackle Turk Edwards, and two-way back Andy Farkas; HOF, Flaherty, Baugh, Battles, Millner, Edwards, and founder-owner George Preston Marshall.
Due to multiple instances of racism, on July 13, 2020, the organization announced, along with the change of the team's name, Marshall would be removed from the Ring of Fame.
* From the 1950s: ROF, Quarterback Eddie LeBaron, running backs Bullet Bill Dudley, Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice and Dick James, and defensive end Gene Brito; 80GR, each of the preceding, plus running back Don Bosseler, receiver Hugh Taylor, center Al DeMao, guard Dick Stanfeld and linebacker Chuck Drazenovich; HOF, only Dudley.
* From the 1960s (but not making it to 1972): ROF, head coach Vince Lombardi (the former Packer boss came out of retirement to coach them in 1969, but died before the next season started), flanker Bobby Mitchell, guard Vince Promuto and linebacker Sam Huff; 80GR, Mitchell, Promuto, Huff, and safety Paul Krause; HOF, Lombardi, Mitchell, Huff and Krause.
In addition, Dutch Bergman, who briefly coached the Redskins, and also in D.C. at the Catholic University of America, was, along with just about all of these figures, on the old Washington Wall of Stars at RFK Stadium, for running the company that built RFK.
* From the 1972 NFC Champions: ROF, team owner Jack Kent Cooke, head coach George Allen, quarterbacks Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer, running back Larry Brown, receiver Charley Taylor, tight end Jerry Smith, center Len Hauss, linebacker Chris Hanburger, cornerbacks Brig Owens and Pat Fischer, trainer Lamar "Bubba" Tyer, and public address announcer Phil Hochberg; 80GR, each of the preceding players, plus receiver Roy Jefferson, offensive tackle Terry Hermeling, defensive tackle Diron Talbert, defensive ends Ron McDole and Bill Brundige, linebackers Harold McLinton and Rusty Tillman, cornerback Mike Bass, and punter Mike Bragg; HOF, Allen, Jurgensen and Hanburger.
In addition, Edward Bennett Williams, the Washington "superlawyer" who owned the Redskins from 1962 to 1985, buying them from Marshall, selling a majority share in them to Cooke in 1974 and the rest of his stock to Cooke in 1985, was on the Washington Wall of Stars, but not in the 80GR or, as yet, in the ROF.
* Between the 1972 and 1982 seasons' trips to the Super Bowl: ROF, 80GR and HOF, safety Ken Houston.
* From the 1982 NFL Champions, winners of Super Bowl XVII: ROF, Cooke, Tyer, Hochberg, head coach Joe Gibbs, defensive coordinator Richie Petitbon, quarterback Joe Theismann, running back John Riggins, receiver Art Monk, center Jeff Bostic, guard Russ Grimm, offensive tackle Joe Jacoby, defensive tackle Dave Butz, defensive end Dexter Manley, linebacker Monte Coleman, and placekicker Mark Moseley; 80GR, Gibbs, Petitbon, and each of the preceding players, plus general manager Bobby Beathard, offensive line coach Joe Bugel (builder of that legendary "Hogs" line), running back Joe Washington, running back Mike Nelms, tight end Don Warren, offensive tackles George Starke and Mark May, linebacker and Neal Olkewicz, and safety Mark Murphy; HOF, Gibbs, Beathard, Riggins and Grimm.
* From the 1987 NFL Champions, winners of Super Bowl XXII: ROF, Cooke, Gibbs, Petitbon, Tyer, Hochberg, Monk, Bostic, Grimm, Jacoby, Butz, Manley, Coleman, quarterback Doug Williams, receiver Gary Clark, defensive end Charles Mann and cornerback Darrell Green; 80GR, Gibbs, Petitbon, Bugel, Beathard, Monk, Grimm, Jacoby, Butz, Manley, Williams, Clark, Mann, Green, Warren, May, Olkewicz, receiver Ricky Sanders, guard Raleigh McKenzie, and offensive tackle Ed Simmons; HOF, Gibbs, Grimm and Green.
* From the 1991 NFL Champions, winners of Super Bowl XXVI: ROF, Cooke, Gibbs, Petitbon, Tyer, Hochberg, Monk, Bostic, Grimm, Jacoby, Clark, Mann, Coleman, Green, and running back Brian Mitchell; 80GR, Gibbs, Petitbon, Beathard, Monk, Warren, Grimm, Jacoby, Clark, Mann, Green, Mitchell, Sanders, McKenzie, Simmons, quarterback Mark Rypien, running back Earnest Byner, offensive tackle Jim Lachey, and linebacker Wilber Marshall; HOF, Gibbs, Grimm and Green.
* Since 1991: ROF, linebackers Ken Harvey and London Fletcher, cornerback Champ Bailey, safety Sean Taylor, and Prince George's County Executive Wayne Curry, who led the drive to get the stadium built; 80GR, Harvey, Taylor, running back Terry Allen and Clinton Portis, offensive tackles Jon Jansen and Chris Samuels, and linebacker LaVar Arrington; HOF, Bailey and defensive end Bruce Smith (better known as a Buffalo Bill, and didn't make the 80GR or, as yet, the ROF).
I think it says a lot about the WFT that, in the Jack Kent Cooke era that, in the decade with 4 Super Bowl appearances and 3 wins, they produced 15 players now in the Ring of Fame; but, in the 29 seasons since that last Super Bowl appearance on January 26, 1992, only 4 -- and while Sean Taylor might have made it anyway had he lived to see a full career instead of being murdered at age 24, still in only his 4th pro season, we'll never know if it would have happened, or if his selection is just a memorial.
Slingin' Sammy Baugh
There is no exterior display of Baugh's retired number. On the sideline, there is a display of the team's 5 NFL Championships (1932, 1942, 1982, 1987 and 1991), their 11 conference titles (1936, 1937, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1972, 1982, 1983, 1987 and 1991), and their 14 divisional titles (1936, 1937, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1972, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1999, 2012 and 2020), but not their 10 Wild Card Playoff berths (1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1992, 2005 and 2007).
Baugh and Houston were named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team in 1994. They, Huff, Taylor, Monk and Green were named to The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999. Baugh, Huff and Green were named to the NFL Network's 100 Greatest Players in 2010. Baugh, Bruce Smith and Houston were named to the NFL's 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019.
The Redskins have had 7 Heisman Trophy winners on their roster: Vic Janowicz, 1950 Ohio State running back, with the Redskins 1954-55; Gary Beban, 1967 UCLA quarterback, 1968-69; Pat Sullivan, 1971 Auburn quarterback, 1976-77; George Rogers, 1980 South Carolina running back, 1985-87; Desmond Howard, 1991 Michigan receiver, 1992-94; Danny Wuerffel, 1996 Florida quarterback, 2002; and Robert Griffin III, 2011 Baylor quarterback, 2012-15.
The rivalry between the Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys doesn't make sense geographically. So why is it in place at all? I'll get to that in "During the Game." The Cowboys lead the rivalry, 73-47-2. The big games are legend: The Redskins winning the 1972 and 1982 NFC Championship Games; the Cowboys taking several Thanksgiving games, including the 1974 affair when Clint Longley subbed at quarterback for an injured Roger Staubach, and beating the 'Skins on T-Day again in 2018.
Stuff. The Redskins Hall of Fame Store is located next to the Comcast SportsNet Gate (Gate H) on the Lower Level, across from Section 141. The Hall of Fame Store is open during the week from 10 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Saturday, all year round. On game day the store opens when parking lots open and stays open up to 2 hours after the game. The store accepts American Express, MasterCard, Visa and Discover.
Fans old enough to remember the 1980s might remember the fans wearing plastic pig noses, or even entire pig masks, in honor of the offensive line "Hogs." I don't know if they sell those. Nor do I know if they sell Indian headdresses, in keeping with the Redskin image, as many fans have been known to do.
I am seriously hoping the Hall of Fame Store, and any other stores at RFK Stadium, do not sell the "Hogettes" outfits. These were big fat guys who wore dresses, ladies' hats, wigs, sunglasses and plastic pig snouts to games from 1983 until 2012, when they decided to retire the act. But they raised a lot of money for charity, and still do so -- just not in costume.
Historian Thomas G. Smith wrote Showdown: JFK and the Integration of the Washington Redskins, telling of how the 'Skins (in a situation dripping with irony) became the last team in America's top 3 sports to racially integrate. (I'm not counting hockey: Although every NHL team has had black players now, until the 1980s the game was dominated by Canadians, and there simply aren't very many black Canadians. But even the Boston Bruins, with Willie O'Ree in 1958, had integrated before the Redskins. The last team then in existence to integrate was the Montreal Canadiens, with Steven Fletcher in 1988 -- although there wasn't any outcry, the way there was in baseball and football.)
Since the District of Columbia Stadium (later to be renamed for the President's brother) was on land owned by the federal government, President John F. Kennedy had the man with jurisdiction, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall (father of one recent U.S. Senator and uncle of another) tell Redskins owner George Preston Marshall that if he wanted the stadium, he had to integrate, or else he'd be stuck in the Senators' old Griffith Stadium with its 35,000 seats. Marshall relented, and traded for Cleveland Browns running back Bobby Mitchell, who was moved to receiver and was fully embraced by Washington fans.
In 2008, the NFL released the DVD NFL: History of the Washington Redskins. They've also released
NFL's Greatest Rivalries: Washington vs. Dallas, and NFL: Washington Redskins -- 3 Greatest Games, containing their 3 Super Bowl wins (1982-83/XVII, 1987-88/XXII, and 1991-92/XXVI).
During the Game. A recent Thrillist article had the Redskins 10th on a list of the NFL's most obnoxious fans. (The Giants were 8th, the Jets 4th.) The author wrote:
For years, the trademark of being a Redskins fan was wearing a pig nose. We could probably stop there, since those have even less to do with your politically incorrect mascot than spiked shoulder pads do with the Raiders. But at least Raider fans have the damn sense to stay home when their owner makes decades-worth of bad decisions. Not you, Redskins fans! Dan Snyder can throw money at aging superstars until Senatorial term limits get passed, and you’ll STILL show up to FedExField.
Lately, though, that hasn't been completely true. There's empty seats at WFT games now, but that's season-ticket holders not going, and not giving or selling their tickets to anyone else. You know, like disgruntled Arsenal fans.In spite of this, you do not need to fear wearing your Giant gear to FedExField. Despite the boisterousness of Redskin fans, you are not Cowboy fans. They won't start anything, so if you don't, you will be safe.
From September 1 to 7, 2017, at the height of the NFL National Anthem protest controversy,
FiveThirtyEight.com polled fans of the 32 NFL teams, to see where they leaned politically. Given the liberalism of the D.C. area, which has even turned Virginia from a Republican to a Democratic State since 2008, it shouldn't surprise you that Redskin fans were found to be 7.2 percent more liberal than conservative.
FiveThirtyEight.com polled fans of the 32 NFL teams, to see where they leaned politically. Given the liberalism of the D.C. area, which has even turned Virginia from a Republican to a Democratic State since 2008, it shouldn't surprise you that Redskin fans were found to be 7.2 percent more liberal than conservative.
The WFT are 1 of only 3 NFL teams with an official marching band. The band will play the National Anthem, usually in support of a singer chosen from auditions. From 1938 to 2019, they played "Hail to the Redskins" after every score and every win. But with the dropping of the Redskins name, one of the most familiar fight songs in football, college or pro, was no more. (UPDATE: They could, I suppose, change the rhythm, and make it "Hail to the Commanders," but what would they change "braves on the warpath" to?)
It worked: WFT games have nearly always been well-attended, even when the team was bad. (Although, even in the RFK days, there were a lot of guys there to impress others. You know: Businessmen, lobbyists, lawyers, politicians... ) While the chorus includes the words "Braves on the warpath," the verses have been altered over the years to make the song less offensive (i.e., "Scalp 'em" became "Beat 'em").
Although, in a great irony, Griffith Stadium, the Redskins' 1st home in D.C., was just off a college campus -- but it's that of Howard University, the mostly-black school known as the Black Harvard. I'm guessing Marshall wasn't happy about that. In fact, Howard's hospital is now on the site of the stadium.
Today, the band is integrated by both race and gender, which would no doubt cause Marshall's eyes to bug out. Although the lyrics to "Hail to the Redskins" were written by his wife, actress Corinne Griffith. (Despite the name, she was not related to Washington Senators owner and stadium namesake Clark Griffith, or Clark's nephew and successor as Senators owner, Calvin Griffith, who moved the team to Minnesota mainly because D.C. had become a majority-black city, and he was even more overtly racist than Marshall.)
Oddly, the song is the source of the Washington-Dallas NFL rivalry. In 1959, when Marshall, whose vote carried a lot of weight with the other NFL owners, refused to allow a Dallas team in the NFL -- which would end his team's status as the southernmost in the league, thus breaking into the biggest source of his income, Southern radio and TV rights to NFL games -- Clint Murchison, the leader of the group trying to get the Cowboys in, bought the rights to the fight song, and told Marshall that if he didn't want to pay through the nose to use the song, he had to back the Cowboys' entry. Marshall did so, and Murchison sold him the rights to the song.
The WFT do not have an official mascot. But they did have Zema Williams, a.k.a. Chief Zee. He'd been coming to Redskin games in an Indian-themed costume since 1978, and went to all 4 Super Bowls in the Joe Gibbs era -- not an easy feat considering that they were in Pasadena, Tampa, San Diego and Minneapolis, all far from Washington. He also did local car ads.
Chief Zee being interviewed for the NFL Network
He missed 2 Washington home games in 36 years. The 1st was in 1981, when his father died. The 2nd was in 2007, when, in a class act, he paid tribute to the best-known fan of the arch-enemy, the Dallas Cowboys. Wilford Jones, a.k.a. Crazy Ray, had been dressing up in a Wild West outfit in Cowboys colors from 1963 to 2006, and he and Zee had gone to every Redskins-Cowboys game -- in D.C, Landover, Dallas and Irving -- for many years, and they became good friends in spite of their opposition. The "mascot" version of "honor among thieves," I suppose. For the Cowboys' 2007 home opener, in full costume, Zee escorted Jones' widow onto the field at Texas Stadium, and they got a standing ovation, including from people who normally can't stand the Redskins.
During a 1983 visit to Veterans Stadium, the Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, and angry Eagle fans took their frustrations out on him: He was beaten up, his leg was broken, and his original costume was ruined. But he still went up to Philadelphia for games against the Eagles, and was left alone thereafter. Nor did Giants or Cowboys fans give him a hard time. Chief Zee continued through the 2015 season, and died on July 19, 2016, a few days after his 75th birthday.
After the Game. On July 17, 2021, there were gunshots outside Nationals Park during a Nationals game. Three people were wounded. This brought back memories of the late 1980s and early '90s, when D.C. was known as "the Murder Capital of America." But that was an anomaly. And the stadium is in the suburbs. You will almost certainly be safe.
If you're looking for a postgame meal (or even just a pint), you may have trouble finding it nearby, as the stadium is an island in a sea of parking. With this game being an 8:25 start, it would probably end close to midnight, so if you go down Arena Drive, and across the Beltway to the mall (The Boulevard at Capital Centre), you'll find it closed.
The bar 51st State, at 2512 L Street NW, was a known hangout for Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks and Rangers fans (no mention of the Nets, Islanders or Devils, though), but it closed in early 2017. A bar named Rebellion, at 1836 18th Street NW, was said to be a Mets fan bar, but it gave up the ghost due to COVID in September 2020. Nanny O'Brien's is said to be a football Giants fan bar, and it is still in business, and will be open until 2:00 AM on Thursday night into Friday morning. 3319 Connecticut Ave NW. Metro: Red to Cleveland Park.
The bar 51st State, at 2512 L Street NW, was a known hangout for Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks and Rangers fans (no mention of the Nets, Islanders or Devils, though), but it closed in early 2017. A bar named Rebellion, at 1836 18th Street NW, was said to be a Mets fan bar, but it gave up the ghost due to COVID in September 2020. Nanny O'Brien's is said to be a football Giants fan bar, and it is still in business, and will be open until 2:00 AM on Thursday night into Friday morning. 3319 Connecticut Ave NW. Metro: Red to Cleveland Park.
If you visit D.C. during the European soccer season, which we are currently in, the best "football pub" in town is Lucky Bar, at 1221 Connecticut Ave. NW (Red Line to Farragut North).
On February 3, 2017, Thrillist made a list ranking the 30 NFL cities (New York and Los Angeles each having 2 teams), and Washington came in 9th, in the top 1/3rd. So there are things to do there. On November 30, 2018, 4 days ago, Thrillist published a list of "America's 25 Most Fun Cities," and Washington came in 7th.
So, if you have the time, these sites are worth checking:
So, if you have the time, these sites are worth checking:
* Site of Griffith Stadium. There were 2 ballparks on this site. Boundary Park was built in 1892 and burned down in 1911, within weeks of New York's Polo Grounds. Just as the Polo Grounds was rebuilt on the same site, the Senators rebuilt their home exactly where it was. Originally called League Park and National Park (no S on the end) before former pitching star Clark Griffith bought the team, this stadium was home to the old Senators from 1911 to 1960, and the new Senators only in 1961.
The Redskins played there from 1937 to 1960, and won the NFL Championship there in 1937 and 1942, although only the '42 title game was played there. There was another NFL title game played there, in 1940, but the Redskins were beaten by the Chicago Bears – 73-0. (Nope, that's not a typo: Seventy-three to nothing. Most points by one team in one game in NFL history, slightly ahead of the 'Skins' 72-41 victory over the Giants at RFK in 1966.)
It hosted a fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the World on May 23, 1941: Joe Louis defended the title by knocking Jacob "Buddy" Baer (brother of former Champion Max) out in the 1st round.
While the Senators did win 3 Pennants and the 1924 World Series while playing at Griffith, it was not a good home for them. The fences were too far back for almost anyone to homer there, and they hardly ever had the pitching, either (except for Walter Johnson). In 1953, Mickey Mantle hit a home run there that was measured at 565 feet – though it probably shouldn't count as such, because witnesses said it glanced off the football scoreboard at the back of the left-field bleachers, which would still give the shot an impressive distance of about 460 feet.
The Negro Leagues' Homestead Grays also played a lot of home games at Griffith, although they divided their "home games" between Washington and Pittsburgh. Think of the Grays as the original Harlem Globetrotters, who called themselves "Harlem" to identify themselves as a black team even though their original home base was Chicago (and later moved their offices to Los Angeles, and are now based in Phoenix). It's also worth noting that the University of Maryland played its home football games at Griffith in 1948 and 1949.
By the time Clark Griffith died in 1955, passing the team to his nephew and adopted son Calvin, the area around Griffith Stadium had become nearly all-black. While Clark, despite having grown up in segregated Missouri during the 19th Century, followed Branch Rickey's path and integrated his team sooner than most (in particular going for Cubans, white and black alike), Calvin was a bigot who wanted to move the team to mostly-white Minnesota. When the new stadium was built, it was too late to save the original team, and the "New Senators" were born.
Griffith Stadium was demolished in 1965, and, as I said earlier, Howard University Hospital is there now. 2041 Georgia Avenue NW at V Street. Green Line to Shaw-Howard University Station, 3 blocks up 7th Street, which becomes Georgia Avenue when you cross Florida Avenue.
Howard's baseball field, named for D.C. native Maury Wills, is at 7th Street and Barry Place. Its 10,000-seat William H. Green Stadium is further up, at 6th and Girard Streets. Howard has won the National Championship of black college football 7 times: 1920, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1987, 1993 and 1996.
* Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Originally named District of Columbia Stadium (or "D.C. Stadium"), the Redskins played there from 1961 to 1996. The new Senators opened there in 1962, and President John F. Kennedy threw out the first ball at the stadium that would be renamed for his brother and Attorney General in 1969. (There was a JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, formerly Municipal Stadium, where the new arena, the Wells Fargo Center, now stands.)
The MLS Cup Final was played there in 1997 (DCU over the Colorado Rapids), 2000 (the team now known as Sporting Kansas City over the Chicago Fire) and 2007 (the Houston Dynamo over the New England Revolution). Previously, in the North American Soccer League, RFK was home to the Washington Whips, and the Washington Diplomats, featuring Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. And the Beatles played there on their final tour, on August 15, 1966.
DC/RFK Stadium was the 1st U.S. stadium specifically designed to host both baseball and football, and anything else willing to pay the rent. But I forgave it. It was a great football stadium, and it's not a bad soccer stadium, but for baseball, let's just say Nationals Park is a huge improvement. And what is with that whacked-out roof?
No stadium has hosted more games of the U.S. national soccer team than RFK: 25. (Next-closest is the Los Angeles Coliseum, with 20.) Their record there was 156 wins, 7 draws and 3 losses. So RFK was thus the closest America came to having a "national stadium" like Wembley or the Azteca. The last match there was on October 11, 2016, a 1-1 draw in a friendly with New Zealand.
On June 2, 2013, I was in attendance at RFK Stadium for the 100th Anniversary match for the U.S. Soccer Federation. It was a 4-3 win over Germany, but this was not indicative of the true strength of Die Mannschaft: They were operating at half-power because their players from Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund had so recently played the UEFA Champions League Final. Only 4 players who played in this game went on to play and win for Germany in the 2014 World Cup Final: Centreback Per Mertesacker (of Arsenal), left back Benedikt Howedes, and forwards Miroslav Klose and Andre Schurrle (you can't be serious).
RFK hosted 5 games in the 1994 World Cup, 9 games of the 1996 Olympic soccer tournament (6 men's and 3 women's, with the main portion of the games being played in Atlanta), and 6 games of the 2003 Women's World Cup.
RFK Stadium also hosted 1 Championship of the old North American Soccer League, Soccer Bowl '80. The New York Cosmos beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3-0. One fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the World was held there: Riddick Bowe defended it, and knocked Jesse Ferguson out there in the 2nd round on May 22, 1993.
Many of these events would not have been possible case if the 1973 events of the film X-Men: Days of Future Past had actually happened, with Magneto (played by Michael Fassbender) using his power to rip RFK Stadium off its foundation and move it 3 1/2 miles away, surrounding the White House.
2400 East Capitol Street SE. Orange Line or Blue Line to Stadium-Armory. The D.C. Armory, headquarters of the District of Columbia National Guard, is that big brown arena-like thing across the parking lot.
2400 East Capitol Street SE. Orange Line or Blue Line to Stadium-Armory. The D.C. Armory, headquarters of the District of Columbia National Guard, is that big brown arena-like thing across the parking lot.
Now, the Nats, 'Skins and DCU have all moved on. Demolition has not been scheduled, but it is expected to take place in 2022.
* Nationals Park. The Nats' new 41,339-seat home opened in 2008, at 1500 South Capitol Street at N Street. It's not flashy, but it looks nice. With some irony, when it hosted its 1st World Series in 2019, the Nats lost all 3 games. But they won all 4 games in Houston to take the title. So there still hasn't been a World Series game won at home by a Washington team since October 5, 1933.
Gunshots were fired outside Nationals Park on July 17, 2021. But this is more of an Americans with guns problem than a D.C. crime problem.
* Audi Field. D.C. United moved into this stadium in 2018, ending the chant of every other fan base in Major League Soccer: "RFK is falling down!" But it hasn't made the team any better: They haven't gotten past the 1st Round of the Playoffs since 2015. But the USMNT must like it: On October 11, 2019, they played their 1st match there, and beat Cuba 7-0. 32 R Street SW, at First Street, separated from Nationals Park by 2 blocks of Potomac Avenue.
Prince Georges County had a proposal for a new stadium near FedExField, and Baltimore offered to build one, leading fans of DCU's arch-rivals, the New York Red Bulls, to mock the club as "Baltimore United." But the Buzzard Point stadium is now almost certain to happen.
* Uline Arena/Washington Coliseum. This building was home to the District's 1st NBA team, the Washington Capitols, from 1946 to 1951. They reached the 1949 NBA Finals, losing to the Minneapolis Lakers of George Mikan, and were the first pro team coached by Red Auerbach. Firing him was perhaps the dumbest coaching change in NBA history: By the time Red coached the Boston Celtics to their 1st NBA title in 1957, the Capitols had been out of business for 6 years.
The Coliseum was last used for sports in 1970 by the Washington Caps (not "Capitols," not "Capitals," just "Caps")of the ABA. It was the site of the first Beatles concert in the U.S. (aside from their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show 2 nights before), on February 11, 1964.
It still stands, and its interior and grounds are used as a parking lot, particularly for people using nearby Union Station. Unfortunately, it's in a rotten neighborhood, and I wouldn't recommend visiting at night. In fact, unless you're a student of NBA history or a Beatlemaniac, I'd say don't go at all. 1140 3rd Street NE, at M Street. Red Line to Union Station, and then it's a bit of a walk.
* Site of Capital Centre. From 1973 to 1997, this was the home of the NBA's Washington Bullets, who became the Wizards when they moved downtown. From 1974 to 1997, it was the home of the NHL's Washington Capitals. The Bullets played in the 1975, '78 and '79 NBA Finals there, although they've only won in 1978 and clinched that at the Seattle Kingdome.
The Cap Centre was also the home for Georgetown University basketball, in its glory years of Coach John Thompson, Patrick Ewing (now the head coach), Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Allen Iverson. Remember those 1980s battles with the St. John's teams of Louie Carnesecca, Chris Mullin and Walter Berry?
Elvis Presley sang there on June 27, 1976 and on May 22 and 29, 1977. (He never gave a concert inside the District.) It was demolished in 2002, and a shopping mall, The Boulevard at the Capital Centre, was built on the site. 1 Harry S Truman Drive, Landover, Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside the Capital Beltway. Blue Line to Largo Town Center station.
* Capital One Arena. Opened in 1997 as the MCI Center, the NBA's Wizards, the NHL's Capitals, and the Georgetown basketball team have played here ever since. The WNBA's Washington Mystics played there from 1998 to 2018. It was known from 2006 until 2017 as the Verizon Center.
The NCAA held its hockey Final Four, the Frozen Four, here in 2009. The Capitals lost the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals to the Detroit Red Wings there, but won them in 2018 against the Vegas Golden Knights, albeit on the road. (Georgetown has reached a Final Four since it opened, but those are held at neutral sites.) The Three Tenors -- Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras -- sang at Capital One Arena on May 7, 2000. 601 F Street NW, at 6th Street. Red, Green or Yellow Line to Gallery Place-Chinatown Station.
* St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena. Built on the East Campus of St. Elizabeth's Hospital in the Congress Heights section of D.C., this 4,200-seat arena is home to the WNBA's Washington Mystics. In their 1st season there, 2019, they won their 1st WNBA title. 1100 Oak Drive SE. Green Line to Congress Heights.
* Segra Field. The Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League play at this 5,000-seat stadium. They groundshare with Loudoun United of the United Soccer League, and Old Glory DC of Major League Rugby. 42095 Loudoun United Drive, in Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, 38 miles northwest of downtown D.C. You'd need to take the DC Metro Silver Line to Wiehle-Reston East, and then switch to Bus 927 (destination sign: Purcellville) to Bolen Park, at Sycolin Road and Gourley Transit Drive, to get there without a car.
* Site of Brookland Stadium. Seating 30,000, this was the football field of The Catholic University of America (CUA) from 1924 to 1983. It hosted the 2nd leg of the 1970 North American Soccer League Final. (No one had the guts to call it the Soccer Bowl until 1975.) The Washington Darts beat the Rochester Lancers 3-1, but lost 4-3 on aggregate.
Its replacement, Cardinal Stadium, opened soon after Brookland's final event, CUA's "Holy War" victory over Georgetown. Brookland was demolished in 1985, and the Columbus School of Law was built on the site. 3600 John McCormack Drive NE, off Michigan Avenue.
* The Smithsonian Institution. Includes the National Museum of American History, which contains several sports-themed items. 1400 Constitution Avenue NW. Blue or Orange Line to Federal Triangle. (You could, of course, take the same lines to Smithsonian Station, but Fed Triangle is actually a shorter walk.)
If you're into looking up "real" TV locations, the Jeffersonian Institute on Bones is almost certainly based on the Smithsonian. The real NCIS headquarters used to be a short walk from Nationals Park, on Sicard Street between Patterson and Paulding Streets. Whether civilians will be allowed on the Navy Yard grounds, I don't know; I've never tried it. I don't want to get stopped by a guard. I also don't want to get "Gibbs-slapped" -- and neither do you. However, they have since moved to the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia, and that's a bit of a trek.
Of course, The West Wing was based at the White House, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Metro: Red Line to Metro Center. (The only character to be a D.C. native was Charlie Young, played by Dulé Hill -- in real life, a native of Sayreville, New Jersey.) Every President starting with John Adams in 1800 has lived there during his time in office.
Inaugurations were held there in 1945 for Franklin Roosevelt, as he didn't think a big ceremony at the Capitol was proper during World War II; again in 1945 for Harry Truman, after FDR's death; and in 1974 for Gerald Ford after Richard Nixon resigned.
Across from the west side of the White House, at 1651 Pennsylvania, is Blair House, also known as the President's Guest House. Presidents-elect and their families stay there the night before the Inauguration. The Truman stayed there from 1948 to 1951 as the White House was being renovated. On November 1, 1950, an attempt to assassinate Truman was made outside Blair House, but failed.
The best-known D.C.-based show that didn't directly deal with government officials was Murphy Brown. The FYI studio was said to be across the street from Phil's, whose address was given as 1195 15th St. NW. Neither the bar nor the address actually exist, but if the address did, it would be at 15th & M Streets. This would put it right down the block from 1150 15th, the headquarters of The Washington Post. Metro for both: Red Line to Metro Center. The Post has since moved to 1301 K Street NW.
The University of Maryland, inside the Beltway at College Park, can be accessed by the Green Line to College Park and then a shuttle bus. (I tried that for the 2009 Rutgers-Maryland game, and it works very well.) Maryland Stadium (formerly Byrd Stadium) is one of the nation's best college football stadiums, but I wouldn't recommend sitting in the upper deck if you're afraid of heights: I think it's higher than Shea's was.
Across from the stadium is Cole Field House, where UMd played its basketball games from 1955 to 2002. The 1966 and 1970 NCAA Championship basketball games were played there, the 1966 one being significant because Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso) played an all-black starting five against Kentucky's all-white starters (including future Laker, Knick and Heat coach Pat Riley and Denver Nuggets star Dan Issel). In the 1970 Finals, it was UCLA over the University of Jacksonville.
Elvis sang there on September 27 and 28, 1974. The Terrapins won the National Championship in their final season at Cole, and moved to the adjacent Xfinity Center thereafter.
Remember that Final Four run by George Mason University? They're across the Potomac River, at the EagleBank Arena, formerly the Patriot Center. 4500 Patriot Circle, in Fairfax, Virginia. Orange Line to Virginia Square-GMU.
The U.S. Naval Academy is 30 miles east in Annapolis, Maryland; the University of Virginia, 117 miles southwest in Charlottesville; and Virginia Tech, 270 miles southwest in Blacksburg.
I also recommend visiting the capital's museums, including the Smithsonian complex, whose most popular buildings are the National Archives, hosting the originals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; and the National Air and Space Museum, which includes the Wright Brothers'
Flyer, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, Chuck Yeager's Glamorous Glennis (the 1st plane to break the sound barrier), and several space capsules including Apollo 11. The Smithsonian also has an annex at Dulles International Airport out in Virginia, including a Concorde, the space shuttle
Discovery, and the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the 1st atomic bomb.
Being the Nation's Capital, D.C. has lots of Presidential-themed locations, aside from the White House. Mount Vernon, which now has a George Washington Presidential Library and Museum on the grounds, at 3200 Mount Vernon Highway in Alexandria, Virginia. Red Line to Metro Center, then, at 15th Street & New York Avenue NW, you can catch Bus 11Y, which will go right there.
After the White House was burned by the British Army on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, President James Madison and his wife Dolley moved into a house now known as the Octagon Museum, and stayed there for the rest of their term, with successors James and Elizabeth Monroe moving back into the White House in 1817. 1799 New York Avenue NW, 2 blocks west of the White House. Blue or Orange Line to Farragut West.
At the same time, Monroe was both Secretary of State and Secretary of War (the post we now call Secretary of Defense), and lived at 2017 I Street (Eye). Blue or Orange Line to Foggy Bottom-GWU. When he became President, his Secretary of State was John Quincy Adams, and, before he became the next President he lived a block away at 2133 I Street.
As Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and then Vice President, future President Martin Van Buren lived at what's now 748 Jackson Place, 2 blocks north of the White House. As a federal official in the 1890s, Theodore Roosevelt lived down the block, at 736 Jackson Place.
Brown's Indian Queen Hotel was where John Tyler in 1841 and Millard Fillmore in 1850 were living when they became President when their predecessors died, and each was sworn in there. The offices of the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys, and the Capital Grille restaurant, are on the site now. 601 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Three blocks down, at 300 Pennsylvania, the National Gallery of Art Library was built on the site of the house where James K. Polk lived when he was Speaker of the House. Metro: Green or Yellow Line to Archives-Navy Memorial.
The Library of Congress – the current building, a.k.a. the Jefferson Building – is not only one of America's holiest sites in its own right, but it was built on the site of the house where Abraham Lincoln stayed during his 1 term in Congress (1847-48). 101 Independence Avenue South.
Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, and was carried across the street to a boarding house, the Petersen House, where he died the next morning. 511 and 516 10th Street NW, respectively. Much like Dealey Plaza in Dallas, where John F. Kennedy was assassinated 98 years later, the block has largely been preserved, although not everything on the outside is like it was in 1865. Metro: Blue, Orange or Red to Metro Center; or Blue, Green, Yellow or Red to Gallery Place-Chinatown, as they're right in between the stations.
At the time, Andrew Johnson, the new President, was staying, and was sworn in, at Kirkwood House, at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. An office building and a Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse are on the site now. They're across from the Old Post Office Pavilion, now one of Donald Trump's money-laundering hotels. Metro: Blue or Orange to Federal Triangle.
Three blocks up, at 1401 Pennsylvania, is the Willard Hotel. The current version of this legend went up in 1901, replacing the 1847 version that was where Ulysses S. Grant stayed as General-in-Chief – making it, in effect, the Civil War's Pentagon. Metro: Red, Blue or Orange to Metro Center.
Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, and was carried across the street to a boarding house, the Petersen House, where he died the next morning. 511 and 516 10th Street NW, respectively. Much like Dealey Plaza in Dallas, where John F. Kennedy was assassinated 98 years later, the block has largely been preserved, although not everything on the outside is like it was in 1865. Metro: Blue, Orange or Red to Metro Center; or Blue, Green, Yellow or Red to Gallery Place-Chinatown, as they're right in between the stations.
At the time, Andrew Johnson, the new President, was staying, and was sworn in, at Kirkwood House, at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. An office building and a Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse are on the site now. They're across from the Old Post Office Pavilion, now one of Donald Trump's money-laundering hotels. Metro: Blue or Orange to Federal Triangle.
Three blocks up, at 1401 Pennsylvania, is the Willard Hotel. The current version of this legend went up in 1901, replacing the 1847 version that was where Ulysses S. Grant stayed as General-in-Chief – making it, in effect, the Civil War's Pentagon. Metro: Red, Blue or Orange to Metro Center.
Between the end of the war in 1865, and taking office as President in 1869, Grant lived at what's now called the Scott-Grant House, at 3238 R Street NW, in the Georgetown section of town. You'll have to take Metrobus DCWE to get there, and to any Georgetown location. This includes the various homes of John F. Kennedy between his 1946 election to Congress and his 1960 election as President: 1528 31st Street, 1400 34th Street, 3260 N Street, 3271 P Street, 3321 Dent Place, 2808 P Street and 3307 N Street.
The Cleveland Park area, reached by the Red Line at the stop bearing the name, includes several Presidential residences. Grover Cleveland's "Summer White House" was at 3600 Newark Street; Lyndon Johnson lived at Woodley Park Towers while he was Senate Majority Leader from 1953 to 1960, 2737 Devonshire Place; and Richard Nixon lived at 3601 Connecticut Avenue while serving in Congress. The next stop up on the Red Line is Woodley Park-Zoo. As a Senator, Harry Truman lived at 4701 Connecticut Avenue.
The Riggs Building was built on the site of the Riggs House, where Benjamin Harrison lived as a Senator. 615 G Street. Red Line to Union Station. While serving in Congress, William McKinley stayed in a hotel where the National Press Club has since been built. 529 14th Street. Red Line to Metro Center.
The Dupont Circle area, reached by the Red Line at the stop bearing the name, includes several such homes. While Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, William Howard Taft lived at what's now the Syrian Embassy. 2215 Wyoming Avenue. Warren Harding lived a block away at 2314 Wyoming. The only post-Presidential home to be an official historic site in the District is the Woodrow Wilson House at 2340 S Street. In the Cabinet in the 1920s, Herbert Hoover lived at 2300 S. While stationed in D.C. from 1927 to 1936, Dwight D. Eisenhower lived at 2022 Columbia Road.
From 1955 until he became President in 1974, including his tenures as House Minority Leader (1965-73) and Vice President (1973-74), Gerald Ford lived in the Virginia suburbs, at 514 Crown View Drive in Arlington. Yellow Line to King Street. As with his (and Ford's) fellow Yalie Taft, George H.W. Bush lived in what's now an Embassy, Algeria's, during his Congressional (1965-70) and Ambassadorial (1971-75) and CIA Directorial (1976-77) service. 5161 Palisade Lane. Metrobus D6. And the Naval Observatory has been the official Vice Presidential residence since 1974. 3450 Massachusetts Avenue. Metrobus N4.
Barack and Michelle Obama rented a house in Washington to use while daughter Malia finished high school. They have since gone back to Chicago with younger daughter Sasha, but the house is still a private residence, and I won't list the address here. Same with the house that Bill and Hillary Clinton have in the District.
Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865. 511 10th Street. As with Dealey Plaza, Dallas site of the John F. Kennedy assassination, except for modern businesses on the ground floor, the buildings on the block have been left intact, leading to the criticism that it's a "Lincoln theme park." Red Line to Metro Center.
The site of James Garfield's shooting on July 2, 1881 no longer stands. It was the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad deport that was replaced by Union Station. The National Gallery of Art was built on the site. 600 Constitution Avenue. Green or Yellow Line to Archives-Navy Memorial -- and definitely check out the National Archives, home of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (unless you're Sean Bean in National Treasure). 700 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Ronald Reagan was shot outside the Washington Hilton on March 30, 1981. 1919 Connecticut Avenue. Red to Dupont Circle. His life was saved at George Washington University Hospital. 900 23rd Street. Blue or Orange Line to Foggy Bottom-GWU. That's also the station for the nearby John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (2700 F Street) and the Watergate complex (700 New Hampshire Avenue) -- Kennedy and Nixon, forever linked.
The U.S. Capitol Building opened a Visitor Center in 2008, at First Street on the East Front. The East Front was the site of every Presidential Inauguration, except for those necessary for the death of the previous President, from 1829 to 1977. The West Front of the Capitol, allowing the ceremony to face the National Mall and allow for bigger crowds, is where every Presidential Inauguration has happened on January 20 (except in 2013, when the 20th was a Sunday and it was moved to the 21st) since 1981, except for 1985, when intense cold led Congress to move the ceremony inside to the Rotunda.
Thomas Jefferson in 1801 and 1805, James Madison in 1809 and 1813, James Monroe in 1821, and John Quincy Adams in 1825 were inaugurated inside the old Senate chamber, which was also the old Supreme Court chamber. So was William Howard Taft in 1909, as with Ronald Reagan in 1985 due to extreme cold. The Senate chamber was also where additional, official swearings-in were held, just in case, for newly-elevated Vice Presidents John Tyler in 1841, Millard Fillmore in 1850, Andrew Johnson in 1865, Chester Arthur in 1881, Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 and Calvin Coolidge in 1923.
The Old Brick Capitol, the temporary capital building during the restoration of the Capitol after the British burned it in 1814, hosted Monroe's 1st Inauguration, in 1817. It became the Old Capitol Prison in 1861, and was demolished in 1929, to make room for the Supreme Court Building, which opened in 1935. 1 First Street NE. For both the Capitol and the Supreme Court, the Metro stations are: Red to Union Station, or Blue, Orange or Silver to Capitol South.
Arlington National Cemetery has its own Metro Station, on the Blue Line. It is the final resting place for Presidents William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy, plus JFK's wife Jackie and his brothers Bobby and Ted, former Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, and General (but not baseball inventor) Abner Doubleday, among other notables.
Arlington National Cemetery has its own Metro Station, on the Blue Line. It is the final resting place for Presidents William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy, plus JFK's wife Jackie and his brothers Bobby and Ted, former Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, and General (but not baseball inventor) Abner Doubleday, among other notables.
Ironically, given its status as land seized from Robert E. Lee's family and its establishment as a cemetery for the Union dead of the American Civil War, the street it's on is the Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington, Virginia; however, like all federal installations in Arlington, it has Washington, D.C. as its official mailing address.
One of the 1960 Presidential Debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon was held in Washington -- still the only Presidential Debate held in the capital. On October 7, it was hosted not in a sports arena, a theater or a college auditorium, but in front of no live audience other than the panelists and the TV crew, at the studios of the NBC affiliate, WRC, Channel 4, 4001 Nebraska Avenue NW. Red Line to Tenleytown-AU.
In spite of what some movies have suggested, you won't see a lot of tall buildings in the District. The Washington Monument is 555 feet high, but, other than that, no building is allowed to be taller than the Capitol. Exceptions were made for two churches, the Washington National Cathedral and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the Old Post Office Pavilion -- now besmirched as the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. -- was built in 1899, before the "unwritten law" went into effect.
In contrast, there are a few office buildings taller than most D.C. buildings across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, and in the neighboring Maryland cities of Silver Spring and New Carrollton.
Have fun in the Nation's Capital. And enjoy Giants vs. Redskins, a rivalry now in its 90th season -- its 85th season in Washington.
No comments:
Post a Comment