It’s been a celebratory two weeks for fans of the Washington Commanders. When Josh Harris replaced Dan Snyder as owner of the Commanders two weeks ago, there were parties and celebrations. Harris even called into one of those celebrations to buy everyone in attendance a beer.
When the Commanders opened training camp last week, some wondered if the same passion would follow. It was clear from the first two open practices of training camp that fans were on board with the new regime. Fans packed the new bleachers, and Washington superfan Kevin Durant even made an appearance.
Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post showed a side-by-side picture from precisely one year before at the exact location.
Commanders training camp turnout, year over year. pic.twitter.com/hTIShYv6ZO
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) July 27, 2023
Things really turned up on Saturday for the NFL’s “Back Together Saturday,” as 10,000 fans made it to Ashburn. The players were pumped. Head coach Ron Rivera was thrilled.
Legendary NFL writer Peter King of NBC Sports likened fans returning to training camp post-Snyder to the classic movie, “Field of Dreams” in his latest Football Morning in America column.
I think watching the fans streaming into Washington training camp is reminiscent of the final moments in “Field of Dreams,” with the cars lined up in Dyersville, Iowa to recapture what they loved so much and what they thought was lost forever. Good luck to the Josh Harris group in making the team what I remember from the late eighties and early nineties. Games at RFK Stadium were almost religious revivals. The ground shook and the press box swayed with the game on the line in the fourth quarter of so many of those games. May it happen again.
King covered a lot of games during Washington’s glory years from RFK Stadium. Recapturing that past glory seems much more attainable in the post-Snyder era.
The Commanders are back on the practice field Tuesday, and it is open to fans.