Brian recently posted about Demetric Evans’ inspirational story as told in this Washington Post article. And now, just a few days later, we get the very sad news of Sean Taylor’s death. We don’t yet know what really happed or if Sean’s death was related to problems that he had in the past. In many ways it doesn’t matter now.
I’m feeling pretty bummed about this whole thing, and also a little guilty. I feel guilty because I wonder if I would feel so sad if it had been someone else on the team - not one of the star players. When I think about that question I realize that there’s a bigger issue going on for me.
As far as I can remember, I became a Redskins fan back in 1981, the first year Joe Gibbs coached the team. I was 8 years old. I’m not sure if I showed interest in it and my dad encouraged that or if my dad, a big football fan, decided that it was about time to get his sons watching football. Either way, a year after I became a fan the Skins won the Super Bowl and went on a great run for about 10 years.
I was very luck to grow up being a fan of a team that was doing well almost all the time. As kids we did all sorts of things like greeting the team at the airport when they flew back from Super Bowls, sitting the audience of the various local Redskins Report TV shows, or getting autographs whenever we happened to bump into a player out in public. In addition to forming strong feelings about the team during that time, my brothers and father and I formed a bond around being fans.
As a kid it was great because Sunday afternoon was football time - we never had any conflicts! If the Skins were playing, we were watching. Back then, half-time was a bit longer so we’d duck out into the back yard to throw the football around some. Sometimes Pop came out with us - that was always the best. We’d play around until Mom hollered for us because the game was back on. The first few minutes of the second half we were always winded, having just run in after one last long bomb.
I’m sure life was miserable for my mom and sister after a Skins loss - having half the family sulk around the house must have been no fun. After a win I’m sure it was a lot better.
Eventually I went off to college and a couple of years later Coach Joe Gibbs retired. Many a phone call back home involved talking to Pop about the Skins. After Gibbs retired the Skins were never quite the same so Pop and I would talk about what the Skins needed to do to get back to their old winning ways. We talked about coaches, other than Norv Turner it seemed like a new one every year or so. We talked about quarterbacks, the Skins managed to try several different ones every year.
After college, when I was living in Houston, I would go to a sports bar on Sundays, usually by myself, to catch the game. It was usually on the smallest screen in the joint and there were always more fans for the other team. But after the game, win or lose, I could give Pop a call to talk about it.
When I moved back to the DC area we would occasionally get together for Skins games. But the Skins usually weren’t that good and there always seemed to be conflicting obligations. Plus who wanted to go get into a funk with other people after a loss? What was once a fun, family bonding experience had now become a fairly depressing, solitary event. But I still enjoyed rehashing the various Skins news with Pop.
Then, back in 2003, Pop died. Obviously there are tons of things I miss about him but for some reason one of the hardest things for me was not having him around to talk about the Skins. Less than a year later the impossible happened, Joe Gibbs came back as the coach. What I would have given to talk to Pop about that move! I was overjoyed and heartbroken at the same time - Pop would have never believed it.
Of course, the second Joe Gibbs era hasn’t been the same as the first. Brian and I have families now and we rarely find time to catch a game together. Heck, if it weren’t for the invention of the DVR, and a very patient and understanding wife, I wouldn’t be seeing many games these days. My kids are too young to be fans and who knows if they’ll even be interested in football. I’ve been holding out hope that Gibbs would eventually get the Skins turned around and if they were winning more Brian and I would make the effort to catch more games together. Maybe the Skins are on the verge of another strong 10 year run, just about the time when I could bond with my kids over it.
For some reason this news of Sean Taylor has almost killed my desire to be a Skins fan, at least for now. Maybe it’s because I felt he was one of the key players on the team and without him I see several more years of struggling. It seemed like if he hadn’t been out with an injury for the previous two games the Skins could have won those - and maybe that would have made this season the turn-around season.
I guess my kids are still several years from being able to appreciate football. Maybe this is for the best. Maybe I should just check out of the Skins fan club for about 5 years and see how things are going then. It obviously won’t be with Joe Gibbs but maybe when Coral is 8 the Skins will have a new, great coach and we can watch some football together - and have fun.