How Long It's Been: The Washington Football Team Won a Super Bowl (Or Even Went to One)

January 26, 1992, 30 years ago: Super Bowl XXVI is held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The team then known as the Washington Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills, 37-24. After a scoreless 1st quarter, Washington scored 17 points in the 2nd, and coasted the rest of the way.

Quarterback Mark Rypien completed 18 of his 33 passes, for 292 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player. The Redskins had now won 3 Super Bowls, with 3 different quarterbacks: Joe Theismann in XVII, Doug Williams in XXII, and Rypien this time.

It was the 2nd straight Super Bowl lost by the Bills. For the 'Skins, it ends a run of 9 seasons in which they reached 4 Super Bowls, winning 3 of them. They had previously won NFL Championships in 1937 and 1942, and reached Super Bowl VII in the 1972 season, but lost it.

They have not been back to the Super Bowl since. In 1992, they made the Playoffs, and won in the Wild Card round, but lost in the Divisional round. They didn't make the Playoffs again until 1999, and again won in the Wild Card round before losing in the Divisional round. They next made the Playoffs in 2005. Again: Won in the Wild Card round, lost in the Divisional round.

They made the Playoffs in 2007, 2012, 2015 and 2020, but lost in the Wild Card round each time. Moving from Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in the District of Columbia to what's now FedEx Field in suburban Landover, Maryland didn't help. Dropping the racist team name and becoming, on a temporary basis, simply "The Washington Football Team," also didn't win them any more games. Choosing a new name, which will probably be done in the next few weeks, won't help. Changing coaches hasn't helped. Nor has changing general managers.

What might help? Maybe changing owners. Daniel Synder has created a toxic atmosphere that has lasted the entire 21st Century thus far.

And the Washington Football Team hasn't won, or even played in, a Super Bowl since January 26, 1992. That's 30 years. How long has that been?

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Art Monk, Russ Grimm and Darrell Green played in that game for Washington. Joe Gibbs was their head coach. Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, James Lofton and and Bruce Smith played for Buffalo. Marv Levy was their head coach. Bill Polian was the general manager. All are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And the Hall should probably add Jeff Bostic, Joe Jacoby and Charles Mann from Washington; and Cornelius Bennett and Steve Tasker from Buffalo.

There was a team in Houston, but it was the Oilers, not the Texans. The Texans, the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars and (sort of) the Baltimore Ravens did not exist.

The Patriots, the Denver Broncos, the Los Angeles Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints, the Seattle Seahawks, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Colts since they moved to Indianapolis had never won a Super Bowl. 

The Buccaneers, the Seahawks, the Saints, the Colts since they moved to Indianapolis, the San Diego Chargers (now in Los Angeles), the Atlanta Falcons, the Cardinals since they moved to Arizona, had never been to a Super Bowl.

All of those facts are no longer true.

Only 5 NFL teams are still using the stadium stadiums they were then. The Bills are one. The others are the Saints, the Green Bay Packers, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Miami Dolphins.

Ray Lewis, Payton Manning and Tom Brady were in high school. Drew Brees was in junior high. Eli Manning was 11 years old; Troy Polamalu was 10; Ben Roethlisberger was 9; Aaron Rodgers was 8; Ndamukong Suh was 5; Colin Kaepernick was 4; Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson and Nick Foles were 3; Cam Newton and Rob Gronkowski were 2; Jimmy Garappolo was 2 months old; and Odell Beckham Jr., Dak Prescott, Baker Mayfield, Joey Bosa and Patrick Mahomes weren’t born yet.

Current Jets coach Robert Saleh was about to turn 13. Joe Judge, the most recent coach of the currently coachless Giants, was 10. Mets manager Buck Showalter had just been named manager of the Yankees. Current Yankee manager Aaron Boone was at the University of Southern California.

Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks was a scout for the Seattle SuperSonics. Steve Nash of the Nets was in high school. Sandy Brondello of the Liberty was playing for the Brisbane Blazers of her native Australia's women's basketball league. Gerard Gallant of the Rangers was playing for the Detroit Red Wings. Barry Trotz of the Islanders was an assistant coach for the minor-league Baltimore Skipjacks. Lindy Ruff of the Devils was playing for the minor-league Rochester Americans. And Gerhard Struber of the Red Bulls and Ronny Deila of NYCFC were in high school in their native countries, Austria and Norway, respectively.

The Redskins had dethroned the Giants as NFL Champions. The World Champions in the other sports were the Minnesota Twins in baseball, the Chicago Bulls in basketball and the Pittsburgh Penguins in hockey. The Heavyweight Champion of the World was Evander Holyfield.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America and Japan twice each; and one each in France, Spain, Norway, Australia, Greece, Italy, China, Canada, Britain, Russia, Brazil and Korea. The World Cup has since been held in America, France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

The idea that two people of the same gender could get married, and have all the benefits of a regular marriage, was considered absurd. But then, so was the idea that corporations were "people," and entitled to all the rights thereof. Clarence Thomas was the only Justice on the Supreme Court then who is still on it now.

The President of the United States was George Bush. The father, not the son. The son was working on the father's campaign – well, as much as he's ever "worked" on anything. Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas and a few weeks away from securing the Democratic nomination to challenge Bush the father in the Presidential election. Barack Obama was the president... of the Harvard Law Review. Donald Trump was in the process of divorcing Wife 1 and marrying Wife 2. Joe Biden was in his 4th term in the U.S. Senate. And Kamala Harris was a Deputy District Attorney in Alameda County, California.

Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, their wives, and the widows of Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy were still alive. 

The Governor of New York was Mario Cuomo. The Mayor of New York City was David Dinkins. The Governor of New Jersey was Jim Florio. And the Mayor of Washington was Sharon Pratt. The current holders of those offices? Kathy Hochul was a legislative assistant in the New York State Assembly, Eric Adams was a New York police officer, Phil Murphy was an executive at Goldman Sachs, and Muriel Bowser was at Chatham University in Pittsburgh.

There were still living veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Philippine Campaign, the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War. There were living survivors of the Johnstown Flood.

Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi was the holder of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires.

Canada's Prime Minister was Brian Mulroney. Elizabeth II was Queen of England, but her 40th Anniversary on the throne would turn out to be tainted by the breakup of the marriage of Charles and Diana, and soon also by a fire at Windsor Castle. Prime Minister John Major led the Conservative Party to victory for the first and, as it turned out, only time. There have since been 6 Presidents of the United States, 6 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

England moved from its old "Football League" to its "English Premier League," with Leeds United winning the last title of the old League, and Liverpool winning the FA Cup thanks to Ian Rush (no surprise there) and Michael Thomas (big surprise, since his goal beat Liverpool for Arsenal to win the League 3 years earlier). And 1992 was also the year soccer's European Cup was first won by Barcelona, and it became the UEFA Champions League that fall.

Major books of 1992 included The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller, The Pelican Brief by John Grisham, Jazz by Toni Morrison, Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan (who, clearly, still had her groove going), The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle, Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! by Mordecai Richler (a great study of how the Province relates to the rest of the country), Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray, and the debut of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series of horror novels for young adults.

As if young people in that era needed any more things to frighten them. Trust me, I know. Speaking of which, 1992 was also the year Stephen King published Dolores Claiborne. George R.R. Martin began writing A Game of Thrones. J.K. Rowling had already begun writing Harry Potter and the Philsopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone.

Major films of the Winter of 1992 included The Hand the Rocks the Cradle, Freejack, Juice, Mississippi Masala, Final Analysis and Medicine Man. Michael Keaton was about to appear in Batman Returns. Dean Cain would soon be cast in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The James Bond franchise was in legal limbo, between the Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan eras. Also in limbo was the Doctor Who franchise, with Sylvester McCoy standing as the last and Seventh Doctor.

Michael Douglas, 47 years old, was starring in Basic Instinct with Sharon Stone. And Catherine Zeta-Jones, just 22, was starring in the British TV series The Darling Buds of May, and sang "For All Time," a minor hit on the British charts, which was recorded for a concept album titled Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus – which was apparently never filmed, unlike the 1960 version of Spartacus, starring Catherine's future father-in-law, Kirk Douglas.

Johnny Carson was about to hand The Tonight Show off to Jay Leno. The Arsenio Hall Show was doing well, and would soon be booming, partly thanks to having Bill and Hillary Clinton as guests on June 3, and partly due to Arsenio's handling of the Los Angeles race riot in late April, including an appearance by Mayor Tom Bradley.

The Number 1 song in America was "All 4 Love" by Color Me Badd. Nevermind by Nirvana topped Billboard's album charts, turning Grunge from an underground genre of music into a mainstream one, and lead singer Kurt Cobain married Hole lead singer Courtney Love. Paul Simon became the 1st major musical performer to tour South Africa after the end of the United Nations' cultural boycott. And the longbox format of compact discs was phased out.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.99 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 29 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.25. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.13, a cup of coffee $1.60, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.02, a movie ticket $4.15, a new car $16,334, and a new house $144,500. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the preceding Friday at 3,232.78.

The tallest building in the world was the Sears Tower in Chicago. There were mobile phones, but they were still barely small enough to fit in your pocket, and not everybody had one. The top home video game system was the Sega Genesis. The Internet existed, but most people had never heard of it yet.

In the Winter of 1992, Bosnian Serbs declared their own republic within Bosnia and Herzegovina, escalating the breakup of Yugoslavia, and leading to the declarations of independence of Croatia and Slovenia. The El Salvador Civil War was ended. China and Israel established diplomatic relations. The government of Algeria declared a state of emergency. The Maastricht Treaty was signed, founding the European Union. And President Bush met with Russian President Boris Yeltsin at Camp David, and they formally declared that the Cold War was over.

Grace Hopper, and Willie Dixon, and Jean Yawkey died. Kris Bryant, and Shawn Johnson, and Neymar were born.

January 26, 1992. The Washington Football Team won the Super Bowl. They have not even played in an NFC Championship Game since.

When will they do so again? As long as Daniel Snyder is still the owner, don't get your hopes up.

How Long It's Been: Washington, D.C. Won a World Championship In Any Sport

Congratulations to the Washington Capitals, for winning their 1st Stanley Cup last night, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, to take the Finals in 5 games.

Washington, D.C. has had a long sports history, but not a very successful one:

* In hockey, the Caps had never won the Cup in their previous 43 years, and had only been to the Finals once before.

* In basketball, Washington-based teams had reached the NBA Finals in 1949, 1975, 1978 and 1979, but that's it. The Wizards, then the Bullets, won only in 1978. (They played as the Baltimore Bullets from 1963 to 1973, but are not connected to the Baltimore Bullets franchise that won the 1948 NBA Championship.)

* In baseball, while the Nationals have won 4 of the last 6 National League Eastern Division titles, no Washington team has won a Pennant since the 1933 Senators, and none has won a postseason series, let alone a World Series, since the 1924 Senators.

* In soccer, D.C. United have won the MLS Cup in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004. But, given the level of quality in Major League Soccer, that hardly qualifies as a "world championship."

* In football, the Redskins are easily the area's most successful team. They have reached the NFL Championship Game, both before and after it began to be called the Super Bowl, 10 times, winning it 5: In the seasons of 1937, 1942, 1982, 1987 and 1991.

But that 1991 season, concluding with Super Bowl XXVI, remained the Capital region's last World Championship in any sport, until last night. The Redskins jumped out to a 17-0 lead on the Buffalo Bills, and coasted to a 37-24 win.

That last title was on January 26, 1992 -- 16 years, 5 months and 12 days. How long has that been?

*

For the 3rd time in 10 seasons, Joe Gibbs coached the Redskins to a Super Bowl win. And, while there were a few players who were on all 3 title teams, he had done it with 3 different starting quarterbacks: Joe Theismann (XVII), Doug Williams (XXII), and now Mark Rypien (XXVI). Williams and Rypien had been named Most Valuable Player of the games.

The old "Hogs" offensive line had evolved a bit: Center Jeff Bostic and tackle Joe Jacoby were still starting, but guard Russ Grimm was now an aging reserve. The guards were Raleigh McKenzie and Mark Schlereth, and the other tackle was Jim Lachey.

Future Hall-of-Famers Art Monk and Darrell Green were still on the Redskins. They also still had defensive stalwart Charles Mann, and had picked up Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX veteran Wilber Marshall. Earnest Byner was on this Redskins team, and earned redemption for his "The Fumble" that cost the Cleveland Browns a shot at, ironically, Super Bowl XXII, in which the Redskins beat the Denver Broncos.

There was an NFL team in Houston, but it was the Oilers, not the Texans. There were 2 teams in Los Angeles, and 1 was the Rams, but the other was the Raiders, not the Chargers. Baltimore and St. Louis had been trying to get replacement teams, and soon would. Charlotte, Jacksonville and Tennessee had teams in previous "rebel leagues," but had not yet gotten them in the NFL. That would also soon change.

Of the 28 teams then in the NFL, only 5 were using the stadiums that they used in the 2017 season: The Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, the Buffalo Bills at what was then called Rich Stadium, the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome, and the Miami Dolphins at what was then called Joe Robbie Stadium. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was then being used by the Raiders, not the Rams.

Only 7 MLB teams are using the same ballparks, only 5 NBA teams are using the same arena (and the Milwaukee Bucks are about to drop it to 4), and only 2 NHL teams are, the New York Rangers and the Calgary Flames.

The Denver Broncos, the Los Angeles Rams, the New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints, the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles had never won a Super Bowl. Nor had the Colts since moving to Indianapolis. The Rams hadn't won an NFL Championship since 1951; the Eagles, since 1960.

The Buccaneers, the Seahawks, the Saints, the San Diego Chargers, the Atlanta Falcons, the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans) had never reached a Super Bowl. Nor had the Colts since moving to Indianapolis. The team then known as the Phoenix Cardinals hadn't won a postseason game since 1947. Mel Hein (for another 5 days), Ray Flaherty, Danny Fortmann, Don Hutson and Alex Wojciechowicz were still alive.

Those facts have all since changed.

Except for Joe Montana, the defining players of my childhood were all retired. Ray Lewis, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were in high school. Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Troy Polamalu were in junior high. Ben Roethlisberger was about to turn 10 years old, Aaron Rodgers was 8, Matt Ryan was 6, Clay Matthews was 5, Russell Wilson was 3; Cam Newton, Rob Gronkowski and Andrew Luck were 2; and Odell Beckham Jr., Johnny Manziel, Dak Prescott, Marcus Mariota, Baker Mayfield, Joey Bosa and Juju Smith-Schuster weren't born yet.

Pat Shurmur of the Giants was an assistant coach at Michigan State. Todd Bowles of the Jets was playing for the San Francisco 49ers, although he would be acquired by the Redskins the next season. Outgoing Islander head coach Doug Weight was playing for the Rangers. David Quinn of the Rangers was playing for their Binghamton Rangers farm team. Kenny Atkinson of the Nets was playing minor-league basketball. Patrick Vieira of New York City FC was playing in the youth system of Tours FC in France. Aaron Boone of the Yankees was playing at USC. David Fizdale of the Knicks was playing at the University of San Diego. And Mickey Callaway of the Mets, John Hynes of the Devils and Jesse Marsch of the Red Bulls were in high school.

The Redskins dethroned the Giants as NFL Champions. The other defending World Champions were the Minnesota Twins, the Chicago Bulls and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Heavyweight Champion of the World was Evander Holyfield.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America twice, France, Spain, Norway, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China, Canada, Britain, Russia, Brazil and Korea. The World Cup has since been held in America, France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa and Brazil, and is about to open in Russia.

There were 26 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The 27th Amendment, prohibiting members of Congress from passing an increase in their own pay without it taking effect with the next Congress, was declared ratified on May 5, 1992. The idea of same-sex marriage was ridiculous, but so was the idea of corporations being "people" with the rights thereof. Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas were the only Justices then on the Supreme Court who are still on it.

Barack Obama was the president. Of the Harvard Law Review. Later in the year, he would graduate from Harvard University, and marry another lawyer, Michelle Robinson.

The President of the United States was George H.W. Bush. After broadcasting that Super Bowl, CBS broadcast their usual Sunday night fare, the "newsmagazine" 60 Minutes, including an interview with the leading candidate for Bush's job in the Democratic Party's primaries, Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas, and his wife, Hillary. They addressed questions about their marriage, Bill's mistakes in it, and Hillary's role, real and perceived, in the campaign. It may have saved Bill's nomination, but it only deepened Republicans' hate for both of them.

Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, their wives, and the widows of Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy were still alive. George W. Bush was the owner of the Texas Rangers. Donald Trump was between his 1st and 2nd wives, and was bankrupt. The idea that he could be elected President, or do a good job at it, was insane.

The Mayor of Washington, D.C. -- and, in effect, also the Governor of the District of Columbia -- was Sharon Pratt Kelly. The Mayor of the City of New York was David Dinkins. The Governor of the State of New York was Mario Cuomo, and that of New Jersey was Jim Florio.

The current holders of those offices? Respectively: Muriel Bowser was attending Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Bill de Blasio was an aide to Dinkins, Andrew Cuomo was an aide to his father, and Phil Murphy was a rising star at Goldman Sachs.

There were still living veterans of the Spanish-American War of 1898, the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, the Philippine Campaign of 1898-1902, the Boer War of 1899-1902, and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. There were living survivors of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.

Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi was the holder of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires.

Canada's Prime Minister was Brian Mulroney. Elizabeth II was Queen of England, but her 40th Anniversary on the throne was about to be tainted by the breakup of the marriage of Charles and Diana, and soon also by a fire at Windsor Castle. Prime Minister John Major led the Conservative Party to victory for the first and, as it turned out, only time. There have since been 5 Presidents of the United States, 5 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

England moved from its old "Football League" to its "English Premier League," with Leeds United winning the last title of the old League, and Liverpool winning the FA Cup thanks to Ian Rush (no surprise there) and Michael Thomas (big surprise, since his goal beat Liverpool for Arsenal to win the League 3 years earlier). And 1992 was also the year soccer's European Cup was first won by Barcelona, and it became the UEFA Champions League that fall.

Major books of 1992 included The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller, The Pelican Brief by John Grisham, Jazz by Toni Morrison, Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan (who, clearly, still had her groove going), The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle, Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! by Mordecai Richler (a great study of how the Province relates to the rest of the country), Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray, and the debut of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series of horror novels for young adults.

As if young people in that era needed any more things to frighten them. Trust me, I know. Speaking of which, 1992 was also the year Stephen King published Dolores Claiborne. George R.R. Martin began writing A Game of Thrones. J.K. Rowling had already begun writing Harry Potter and the Philsopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone.

Major movies of 1992 included A Few Good Men (based on the play written by Aaron Sorkin, including Jack Nicholson's "You can't handle the truth!" diatribe), Scent of a Woman (finally getting Al Pacino his Oscar), The Bodyguard (and, despite the belief of the Kim Fields character on Living Single, it was not a comedy), In the Line of Fire (another bodyguard film, with Clint Eastwood saving a fictional President from John Malkovich), Unforgiven (which may turn out to be the last great Western movie, and may be Eastwood's best film), and the original, quite campy version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starring Kristy Swanson.

That year, Swanson also appeared in The Program, starring James Caan as a beleaguered college football coach. (Filmed at the University of South Carolina, including its Williams-Brice Stadium.) Michael Keaton was about to appear in Batman Returns. Dean Cain would soon begin filming Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. The James Bond franchise was in legal limbo, between the Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan eras. Also in limbo was the Doctor Who franchise, with Sylvester McCoy standing as the last and Seventh Doctor.

Michael Douglas, 47 years old, was starring in Basic Instinct with Sharon Stone. And Catherine Zeta-Jones, just 22, was starring in the British TV series The Darling Buds of May, and sang "For All Time," a minor hit on the British charts, which was recorded for a concept album titled Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus – which was apparently never filmed, unlike the 1960 version of
Spartacus, starring Catherine's future father-in-law, Kirk Douglas.

Johnny Carson was about to hand The Tonight Show off to Jay Leno. The Arsenio Hall Show was doing well, and would soon be booming. The Sci-Fi Channel debuted. NBC dropped Saturday morning cartoons in favor of Saved By the Bell. TV shows premiering included Barney & Friends, MTV's The Real World, Melrose Place, The Larry Sanders Show, and one of my all-time favorites, Mad About You. Shows that closed included The Cosby Show, Growing Pains, Who's the Boss?, MacGyver and Night Court. Seinfeld aired "The Contest," effectively proclaiming Jerry Seinfeld to be master of the domain of televised comedy.

The Number 1 song in America was "All 4 Love" by Color Me Badd. The big movement in music was grunge, led by Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. Paul Simon became the 1st major musical artist to tour South Africa after the end of apartheid. The Freddie Mercury tribute concert was held at the original Wembley Stadium in London.

Singer Selena eloped with her guitarist, Chris Perez. David Bowie married Somali fashion model Iman, who had once been married to basketball star Spencer Haywood. This marriage may have been the first one where a supermodel married a man who was thinner. Whitney Houston married Bobby Brown. Dr. Dre was about to release The Chronic, which would introduce the world to Snoop Dogg – or Snoop Doggy Dogg, as he was then known.

Shakira Mebarak was 15 years old. Kanye West, Brian Dietzen, Sean Murray and Chadwick Boseman were 14. Stana Katic was 13. Alecia Moore was 12 years old and not yet Pink. Kourtney Kardashian, Heath Ledger, Brandon Routh and Cote de Pablo were also 12. Kim Kardashian, Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys were 11. Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Alba, Stephen Amell, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Chris Evans, Beyonce, Britney Spears and Sienna Miller were 10.

Natalie Dormer, Hayley Atwell, Kirsten Dunst, Seth Rogen, Stephen Amell, Matt Smith and Anne Hathaway were 9. Henry Cavill and Robert Pattinson were 8. Khloe Kardashian, Emily Wickersham, Katy Perry and Scarlett Johansson were 7. Peter Gene Hernandez (the future Bruno Mars), Chrissy Teigen and Raven-Symone were 6. Stefani Germanotta (the future Lady Gaga), Aubrey Drake Graham, Richard Madden, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington were 5. Rose Leslie and Rob Kardashian were 4. Robyn Rihanna Fenty and Emma Stone were 3. Taylor Swift, Daniel Radcliffe and Liam Hemsworth were 2. Kristin Stewart and Emma Watson were 1 1/2. Jennifer Lawrence was 1.

Daisy Ridley, Jack Gleeson, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Cardi B, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Ashley Frangipane (the future Halsey), Sophie Turner, Zendaya Coleman, Hailee Steinfeld, Chloe Grace Moretz, Maisie Williams, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner weren't born yet. In fact, Miley's father Billy Ray hadn't even released his shaky flaky song "Achy Breaky Heart" yet. Sarah Hyland was the only one of the Modern Family kids, and Louis Tomlinson the only member of One Direction, who had yet been born.

No one had yet heard of Alex Cross, Fox Mulder, Andy Sipowicz, Ross Geller & Rachel Greene, Doug Ross, Alan Partridge, Jay & Silent Bob, Bridget Jones, Xena, Ash Ketchum, Austin Powers, Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Robert Langdon, Master Chief, Jack Bauer, Omar Little, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Rick Grimes, Wynonna Earp, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White, Jax Teller, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope or Sarah Manning.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.82 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 29 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.25. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.19, a cup of coffee $1.60, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $4.00, a movie ticket $4.15, a new car $16,334, and a new house $144,500. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the preceding Friday at 3,232.78.

The tallest building in the world was the Sears Tower in Chicago. The leading home video game system was the Sega Genesis. There were mobile telephones, but they were still pretty big. High-definition television was something that was beginning to be heard about, but most people hadn't yet seen it. Microsoft released Windows 3.1. The Internet existed, but most of us hadn't heard of it yet. There was no Netscape, no America Online, no Google, no Wikipedia, no Facebook, no Twitter, no YouTube, no Instagram, no Pinterest. There were birth control pills, but no Viagra. 

In the Winter of 1992, the Serbian atrocities in Bosnia got underway. Ethnic Armenians killed over 600 Azerbaijanis in the Khojaly Massacre in Azerbaijan. Turkey lost over 200 people in a coal mine collapse, and another 500 in an earthquake. Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris) opened. Comedian Sam Kinison was killed in a car crash.

Menachem Begin, blues legend Willie Dixon, and Walmart founder Sam Walton died. So did Paul Heinreid, the last surviving major actor in Casablanca. Kyrie Irving, and Jack Wilshere, and Neymar were born.

January 26, 1992: The Washington Redskins won Super Bowl XXVI. It would be the last World Championship own by a team representing the American capital of Washington, D.C. for 26 years.

Given the current positions of the Capitals and the Nationals, D.C. may not have to wait so long again. But, given their current conditions, it probably won't be either the Redskins or the Wizards who wins it next.

Top 10 Athletes From the State of Washington

November 11, 1889: Washington is admitted to the Union as the 42nd State.

Top 10 Athletes From the State of Washington

Honorable Mention to Fred Hutchinson of Seattle, who went 95-71 as a major league pitcher, mostly for the Detroit Tigers, making the 1951 All-Star Game. In 1955, he managed the Seattle Rainiers to 1st place in the Pacific Coast League -- 62 years later, still the last Pennant won by a Seattle baseball team. He won the National League Pennant with the Cincinnati Reds in 1961.

He had the Reds challenging for the Pennant again in 1964, but developed cancer, and had to leave late in the season to undergo treatment. He died a few weeks after the season, and the Reds retired his Number 1.

Major League Baseball then instituted the Hutch Award, to be given annually to a player noted for persevering through adversity. (The hockey is equivalent is the Bill Masterton Trophy.) The 1st winner was Mickey Mantle.

Honorable Mention to Ron Santo of Seattle, the Hall of Fame 3rd baseman and later broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs, the 1st player to admit to having diabetes while still playing. You would think that this, plus his Seattle background, would have made him a natural honoree for the Hutch Award, but he never got it.

Honorable Mention to T.J. Oshie of Everett, the greatest hockey player to come from the State thus far.

Honorable Mention to Ron Cey and Jon Lester of Tacoma, and Tim Lincecum of Renton, who won the Babe Ruth Award for most valuable player of baseball's postseason: Cey in 1981, Lincecum in 2010, Lester in 2016. Cey also won the World Series MVP award. Lester, who was treated for lymphoma at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (founded by Fred's brother, Dr. William C. Hutchinson) in 2006, was granted the Hutch Award in 2008.

Dishonorable Mention to Alan Embree of Brush Prairie, who, with his Boston Red Sox teammates, was given Sports Illustrated's Sportspeople of the Year award in 2004, when we now know that they cheated (although, as far as I know, Embree himself was only a beneficiary of the cheating, not one of the cheaters himself).

It's worth noting that Embree was the lefthander warming up in the bullpen that manager Grady Little refused to bring in when Pedro Martinez faltered in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series.

Honorable Mention to 4 members of the U.S. team that won the 1st Women's World Cup, in 1991, 1 of whom was good enough to make the overall Top 10. The other 3 are Lori Henry of Shoreline, Shannon Higgins of Kent, and Amy Allman (now Amy Griffin) of Federal Way.

Honorable Mention to Hope Solo of Richland, the starting goaltender on the U.S. team that won the 2015 Women's World Cup.

Honorable Mention to Tara Kirk of Bremerton, whose swimming at Stanford University won her the 2003-04 Honda-Broderick Cup as female collegiate athlete of the year. She won a Silver Medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

10. Phil Mahre of Yakima. The skier won 27 World Cup races, more than any American before him,  and only 3 have surpassed him (and only Bode Miller among men). He won a Gold Medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Bosnia (then in Yugoslavia). His twin brother Steve was also a competitive skier.

9. Mark Rypien of Spokane. A 2-time Pro Bowler, he was a backup quarterback on the Washington Redskins' Super Bowl XXII winners, and led them to win Super Bowl XXVI, and was named the game's MVP. This remains the last title won by a Washington team, unless you count D.C. United's 4 MLS Cups.

Injuries led to him bouncing around, but he was named to the 70 Greatest Redskins on the team's 70th Anniversary in 2002.

8. Drew Bledsoe of Ellensburg. The Washington State University star was part of Bill Parcells' rebuilding of the New England Patriots, and he became a 4-time Pro Bowler. He led the Pats to the 1996 AFC Championship, and it certainly wasn't his fault that they lost Super Bowl XXXI to the Green Bay Packers.

But football history was changed in the 2nd game of the 2001 season, when Mo Lewis of the Jets injured him on a sack. Tom Brady stepped in, and has been the Pats' starting quarterback ever since. An injury to Brady forced Bledsoe to step back in during the 2001 AFC Championship Game, and he led them to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the last game ever played at Foxboro Stadium. He then got a ring when they won Super Bowl XXXVI.

Knowing they had Brady, the Pats led Bledsoe go. He started for the Buffalo Bills the next 3 seasons and the Dallas Cowboys the year after that, and was always cheered by New England upon his return to Foxboro (now at Gillette Stadium). In spite of last being an NFL starting quarterback at age 33, he threw for 44,611 yards and 251 touchdown passes.

He is in the Patriots Hall of Fame, but not the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is now an assistant coach at a high school in Oregon.

7. Earl Averill of Snohomish. The American League's starting center fielder in the 1st 6 All-Star Games, 1933 to 1938, he was a .318 lifetime hitter, with 238 home runs, a pretty big total for the time. The Cleveland Indians retired his Number 3, and he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. His son Earl Jr. was a major league catcher.

6. Earl Anthony of Tacoma. Is it a stretch to say that bowling is a sport? Maybe. Is it a stretch to say that The Earl is the best bowler ever? Not really.

No player won more tournaments on the Professional Bowlers Tour than his 43, or more PBA Player of the Year awards than his 6. Along with Dick Weber - and ABC Wide World of Sports - he made bowling big business in the 1960s and '70s.

5. Ryne Sandberg of Spokane. A 10-time All-Star and a 9-time Gold Glove, he was the spark that brought the Chicago Cubs their 1st Playoff berth in 39 years, winning him the 1984 National League Most Valuable Player award. He led the NL in home runs in 1990. The Cubs retired his Number 23, and he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

4. Michelle Akers of Seattle. A forward, she was the 1st woman to score 100 goals in international play. She scored both U.S. goals in the 1991 Women's World Cup Final, to gain the victory. She also converted one of the penalties in the Final of the 1999 Women's World Cup, won the Gold Medal with the U.S. team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and is in the National Soccer Hall of Fame. She and her 1999 teammates were named Sports Illustrated's Sportspeople of the Year.

3. John Stockton of Spokane. It is amazing that, within 3 years, Spokane produced Sandberg (North Central High School, Class of 1978), Rypien (Shadle Park, 1980) and Stockton (Gonzaga Prep, 1980). Each of them was an All-State baseball player, an All-State basketball guard, and an All-State football quarterback.

A 10-time All-Star, and a member of the 1992 Olympic "Dream Team," Stockton is the NBA's all-time leader in both assists and steals. His jump shot in the last play of Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals sent the Utah Jazz to their 1st NBA Finals, and they made it in 1998, too.

Gonzaga University and the Jazz both retired his Number 12. He was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame and - before reaching his 1st Finals - the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players. He and Karl Malone, together, were such a force in Jazz history that they both got statues outside what's now named the Vivint Smart Home Arena.

2. Mel Hein of Burlington. "Old Indestructible" may be the greatest New York-based football player you've never heard of. The Washington State graduate played center in both sides of the ball for the Giants from 1931 to 1945, and until Frank Gifford and Sam Huff came along, he was easily the greatest player in franchise history.

An 8-time All-Pro, he helped the Giants win the NFL Championship in 1934, and again in 1938 when he was named NFL Most Valuable Player - as an offensive (and defensive) lineman.

The Giants retired his Number 7. He was a charter inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963, and was also named to the College Football Hall of Fame, the NFL's 1930s All-Decade and 75th Anniversary Teams, the Giants Ring of Honor, The Sporting News' 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, and the NFL Network's 2010 list of the 100 Greatest Players - 64 years after his last game and 18 years after his death.

He's arguably still the greatest center ever, and the greatest player in the history of New York pro football -- ahead of Gifford, Huff, Joe Namath, Lawrence Taylor and Eli Manning.

But he's not the greatest athlete, or even the greatest football player, from the State of Washington. That wasn't immediately clear, because the man I have listed at Number 1 was the son of a coach, and thus moved around a lot. But he lived most of his 1st 16 years in Washington, so I have him listed with this State.

1. John Elway of Port Angeles. Along with Alex Rodriguez and LeBron James, no athlete better illustrates the difference in perception between being a great athlete who's never won the big one and becoming one who has.

He was named Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year in 1982, but he didn't even take Stanford to a bowl game. "The Play," which enabled arch-rival California to beat Stanford, dropped them to 5-6, and that was Elway's last college game. Nevertheless, in 2008, ESPN named ranked him 15th on their list of the Top 25 College Football Players of All Time.

He then had to choose between baseball and football -- he'd already gotten to short-season Class A in the Yankees' system -- and chose football. From 1983 to 1996, he helped the Denver Broncos reach the Playoffs 8 times, win 6 AFC Western Division titles, and win the AFC Championship for the 1986, 1987 and 1989 seasons. Along the way, he won more regular-season NFL games than any quarterback before him, was named NFL MVP in 1987, and NFL Man of the Year in 1992.

But the defeats were glaring. They lost Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV -- in each case, to a great team, but they defeats got progressively worse. They blew a 10-9 halftime lead over the Giants and lost 39-20; blew a 10-0 2nd quarter lead over the Washington Redskins and lost 42-10; and got slaughtered by the San Francisco 49ers 55-10, still the 2nd-largest margin in the history of NFL Championship Games (and the largest since they began calling it the Super Bowl). They lost the 1991 AFC Championship Game to the Buffalo Bills, and then in 1996 lost a Playoff game at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a 2nd-year expansion team.

Maybe it was the uniforms: Under the old ones, with the blue helmets with the orange D's, the Broncos were 0-4 in Super Bowls; with the new ones, purple with the horse's head, they're 3-1. With Terrell Davis behind him, Elway led the Broncos to back-to-back titles, winning Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII, and closing his career in 1999 as a Super Bowl MVP and a 9-time Pro Bowler.

Stanford and the Broncos both retired his Number 7. He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team, the Broncos Ring of Fame, The Sporting News' 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, and the NFL Network's 2010 list of the 100 Greatest Players.

He is now the Broncos' general manager, building the team that lost Super Bowl XLVIII and won Super Bowl 50. He is the only man ever to win the Super Bowl as both a player and a general manager.