Tag: Julie Donaldson

Commanders minority owner does not like Commanders’ name?

What does one of Washington’s co-owners think of the nickname?

Washington Commanders minority owner Mitchell Rales is not a fan of the name “Commanders?”

Burgundy Blog (from X, formerly Twitter), as a guest on the “Al Galdi Podcast” this past week, conveyed to Galdi that Rales is indeed not excited about the name “Commanders”.

An acquaintance told Burgundy Blog that at a social event a few months ago, Rales asked a few attendees what they thought of the team’s current name.

The answer he got was extremely negative, and he (Rales) corroborated his feelings of not being excited about “Commanders” either. Rales reportedly then expressed something to the effect of we will see if we can do something about that.

No, this is not confirmed. Burgundy Blog continues to hide behind his anonymity. Nor did he name his acquaintance who conveyed the story to him.

The vast majority of the fan base would certainly love to hear one of the more visible owners (Josh Harris, Rales, Mark Ein) speak negatively about the current name.

But that is not going to happen—at least for a while. The Harris Ownership Group (HOG) wisely keeps its priorities in order and realizes it can wait and see if a winning team changes the fan base’s attitude.

There has been no season with a winning record since Kirk Cousins led Washington to an 8-7-1 season in 2016. The HOG understands this fan base most needs a winning team, period.

But also, Jason Wright’s terrible television rebranding announcement was executed horribly. How did Wright and Snyder not realize Julie Donaldson would have been so much more energetic, experienced, and attractive in front of television cameras?

Head coach Dan Quinn recently wearing the T-shirt containing the “W” logo while also adding the feathers from past Redskins logos ignited excitement in the fan base. Hopes were raised of a change from Commanders.

But for now, we wait…

 

Commanders do not renew Julie Donaldson’s contract

BREAKING: Julie Donaldson no longer Washington’s SVP of Broadcasting.

There is a shakeup in Ashburn.

Julie Donaldson, Senior Vice President of Broadcasting, is being relieved of some of her duties.

Commanders Wire observed and found it strange that Donaldson was not on camera nor facilitating any of the activities which announced the transfer of ownership to the Josh Harris group last weekend.

Commanders Wire contacted Donaldson, and she was reluctant to convey anything initially. After three consecutive days, she relented, expressing there is going to be a change in her job description and responsibilities.

Donaldson, to her credit, was careful, attempting to be a good employee as the Commanders had expressed to her that any comment needed to go through Commanders PR.

The plans currently are that Donaldson will remain a part of the Commanders Radio Broadcast team, have appearances for the team throughout the year, and will thus be working game days.

Her contract expired after three seasons, regarding her weekly duties, which included hosting and overseeing the direction of the live streams from training camp and “Command Center” shows at the Ashburn facility.

In addition to last weekend’s absence during the celebratory times on air, was Donaldson’s absence on “Command Center” Wednesday. That show was hosted by Michael Jenkins.

Those following the team will recall that Ron Rivera is in charge of all football operations, and this falls under the business operations headed by Jason Wright.

This comes after Donaldson was nominated by National Chesapeake Capital Emmy for a Sports Anchor. Yet, the Commanders are choosing to part ways with her.

The Washington NFL franchise hired Donaldson in July 2020, making her the first female regular on-air voice of Washington’s radio broadcast. By doing so, Donaldson became the first female to have a full-time position in an NFL radio broadcast booth.

When Daniel and Tanya Snyder hired Donaldson, she was brought aboard as their first hire to change the culture of the organization. She was thus the highest-ranked female in the organization.  Wright was hired one month later as team President.

She was given the freedom to hire her own team who would broadcast the games and those who would work on the productions team in Ashburn. She hired DeAngelo Hall as the analyst (later replaced by London Fletcher) and Bram Weinstein to handle the play-by-play. She also brought on Santana Moss, Fred Smoot and Logan Paulsen as part of the on-air team.

Donaldson has spoken in the past very highly regarding her broadcast team and also Ryan Yocum (Director of Studio and Broadcast production) as one who worked hard to keep things together well.

Julie had gained a decade of experience in the field, reporting on the Redskins, while working for Comcast Sports Net in Washington and then as a reporter, host and anchor for NBC Sports Washington. Previous to that decade, Donaldson also hosted the show “Mets Weekly” (MLB’s NY Mets) and “Heat TV” (NBA’s Miami Heat).

Donaldson, as requested by the team, pointed us to the Commanders Chief Communications Officer Thursday morning. At the time of publication, the team had not offered a comment.

Commanders Tress Way: ‘I just try to make a play’

Tress Way always credits his teammates, which is one of the many reasons of why he is so popular.

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Tress Way enjoyed his second Pro Bowl season in 2022.

In celebrating with his teammates.he actually cried when he made a toast during that dinner meal. “I am getting soft in my older age, ” expressed Way to Julie Donaldson recently.

Keep in mind that Way is only age 33. Yet with Terry McLaurin being the longest-tenured offensive player, and Jonathan Allen the longest-tenured defensive player, it is Way who has been with Washington the longest. The 2023 season will be Way’s 10th in the NFL, all with Washington, having first played in the NFL in 2014 with the Redskins.

Though Way enjoyed 37 punts inside the 20 last season, he is quick to credit teammates like Jeremy Reaves, whom Way believes “is an incredible special teams player.”

Way also points to Allen as someone who makes sure Way gets some respect amongst his teammates. “Jon Allen makes sure I have special rights. I don’t actually have them myself, but whenever you have J.A. telling you what is up, everybody listens to him. So yeah, I’m glad I got in good with him… as long as he’s got my back, I have special rights, yes.”

Way points to a significant day in his NFL career coming in 2018 after a win over rival Dallas. Way was upset with himself, having averaged only 40 yards a punt. His wife provided some perspective asking if he played well. Way looked back and realized he had punted six times. Five of them were inside the 20. Four were inside the 10.

Way then told his wife he had played better than he’d realized. She responded, “Just try to make a play, and the numbers will take care of themselves.”

Way told Julie Donaldson, “I kid you not, I have played every game that way since that conversation with her in the kitchen that day. I just try to make a play.”

Later he admitted he knows he makes no plays by himself.

It’s a team game, Way knows it. His humility and humor are the reasons he is liked by so many in the locker room.

 

 

Commanders’ Bieniemy took a day to visit White House; now back to work

Eric Bieniemy visited the White House to celebrate the Chiefs’ Super Bowl but was quickly back to work.

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Commanders new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was not going to go to the White House as part of the victorious Kansas City Chiefs.

Then his wife and mother expressed he really should attend, stressing the work could wait one day. “My wife and mother shamed me into going,” kidded Bieniemy.

Bieniemy told Julie Donaldson (Commanders Senior Vice President of Broadcasting) that sharing the White House visit experience with many he has known in Kansas City for years was “a great experience” and that he is glad he did determine to attend.

Turning his focus back to his present job with the Commanders, “We’re trying to build a culture of responsibility and accountability. These guys have been doing things that really have never been demanded, and I want them to have a complete understanding that ‘hey, if we work at it and we take away the selfishness (not that everyone is selfish) if we take away that selfishness we can gain a lot together.”

Bieniemy talked of the team practicing faster and needing to continue to improve that facet. He talked of how there is still a long way to go, but with what he’s seen, he is “happy, excited, fired up about these guys”.

The former Chiefs OC talked of the challenge of getting his new team to believe that “what you put in today is eventually going to pay off down the line”.  He spoke of believing enough to “make the decision every single day that we’re going to do all the little things necessary to help us be the best team we can be.”

Donaldson jokingly jabbed Bieniemy expressing that “when watching practice, we hear you”. Bieniemy responded in laughter, then directly responded smiling, “I know the players don’t like that, which is fine, and that’s okay. But they understand why I’m doing it. We can’t take anything for granted.”

Bieniemy is putting the responsibility on the players. In fairness to others, of course, other coaches are as well, but perhaps the major difference has been the volume with which Bieniemy leads a practice.

“What I want them to control is the things they can control. You can control how you get out of the huddle. You can control knowing the alignment. You can control your effort. Those are the things that you can control.”

Part two tomorrow

 

 

Commanders DT Jonathan Allen loves and appreciates his two position coaches

Jonathan Allen is thankful for Jeff Zgonina and Ryan Kerrigan. He is super-appreciative of Kerrigan and what he brings as a former teammate and now coach.

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Jonathan Allen loves his two position coaches and likes being coached by them.

Allen sat down for a chat last week with Julie Donaldson, Senior Vice President of Media and Content.  Allen only 28, is now the second-longest tenured Commander, as only punter Tress Way has worn the Burgundy and Gold longer.

Donaldson opened by asking what Allen has learned since coming to the NFL/Washington in 2017. Allen responded he has learned he needs to work smarter, not merely harder. Entering his seventh NFL season, Allen said he is starting to notice he takes longer to recover than he did seven years ago. He and Donaldson enjoyed a chuckle as Allen expressed he has a few gray hairs now too.

Allen divulged that assistant defensive line coach “Ryan Kerrigan taught former Washington defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis how to take care of his body. Matt passed that information down to me. So, every day I do Ryan Kerrigan’s pre-practice, pre-game routine, and it works for me.”

Continuing to speak regarding Kerrigan, “He is such a critical tool. He’s a quieter guy, but he knows what he is talking about. I mean, 95.5 sacks in the NFL? Anybody would love to have that career. It’s something that I really try to tell the young guys to take advantage of. He’s not super boastful; he’s super reserved. In some aspects, you would never know, but he is truly one of the best pass rushers in the game. Try to use him as much as you can. He can teach a lot of guys a lot of things.”

Defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina is someone Allen respects as well. “He knows football. He knows how to coach it and how to play it. He’s energetic for sure. We love playing for him. We love having him.”

Here is the link to watch the entire interview.

 

Commanders Terry McLaurin learning what it means to be a leader

McLaurin loves what Bieniemy has brought to the Commanders.

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Terry McLaurin learned this week he is the longest tenured Washington offensive player.

Julie Donaldson informed McLaurin when the two sat down for a chat this week.

McLaurin expressed he has focused on maintaining the standard set by coaches, has been learning to become more comfortable as a leader and have the courage to say what needs to be said.

Eric Bieniemy, the new offensive coordinator, has brought in his new offense, and McLaurin is busy learning it as quickly as he can. “It’s been fun, challenging at times. But it has forced us to come in with a different level of focus each and every day because you’re learning something new.”

McLaurin spoke of the team having a new offensive coaching staff and two new quarterbacks being a challenge in itself. “It’s your job, so you gotta figure it out.”

“He (Bieniemy) definitely coaches hard… I wanted to put my best foot forward and make a good impression, knowing that he can trust me as a leader, as a player; I am going to do my job.”

“I think his intensity is something we all feel so far.”

When Donaldson spoke that this season means for McLaurin another new quarterback, McLaurin paused, simply nodded in the affirmative, and calmly said, “Yeah.” Donaldson responded, “That says enough right there.”

Donaldson then inquired if McLaurin knew how many quarterbacks from whom he had caught passes since coming to Washington. McLaurin replied, “It’s got to be double digits now, right?” Yes, it’s ten, affirmed Donaldson.

The ten quarterbacks to whom Donaldson was referring are: Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy, Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Garrett Gilbert, Carson Wentz and Sam Howell.

Sometimes we have our own idea of what leadership will be for us. We imagine how others will need to adjust to us. However, McLaurin has had to learn the hard way that for him, it is himself adjusting to change and leading teammates to follow his example.

 

Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio ready to get to work

Del Rio spoke about his young secondary, Jamin Davis, the defensive ends and is excited for 2023.

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Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio sat down with Julie Donaldson to talk Commanders defense. Here are a few excerpts from that interview.

“We want to continue to do the things we do well, so the other part is for us to start generating more turnovers, and that is going to be a big push this year.”

“We got to practice in the rookie mini-camp and right away you can see the ball likes Emmanuel Forbes. He finds it, he has a knack for it. He’s got great acceleration, great ball skills and he will definitely produce turnovers.”

“I don’t know if he will ever be 180, but he is plenty big enough for me. His job is to cover and get turnovers.  The rest of the guys will do what they do.”

On Kam Curl becoming a leader at safety:

“We drafted him. He’s developed and played well for us. You add D-Fo (Derrick Forrest), Percy (Butler), and now Quan (Martin). It’s a good room. Again, roles will be determined through competition. We have good players.”

“I love Bobby (McCain). He was a great team player while he was here. But to now have guys like D-Fo, Percy and Quan, it was time to make room for them.

“Jamin (Davis) has incredible splash plays. What we’ve got to do is have Jamin eliminate the ‘What the Hell are you doing’ plays. He has a few moments where that happens. Much less last year. When he eliminates that part of his game, and it becomes more of the splash, he is extremely talented.”

Del Rio continued regarding his defensive line, Montez Sweat and Chase Young in particular. Here is the interview in its entirety.

Commanders announce new preseason TV broadcasting trio

Two former players and a popular local broadcaster will call Washington’s preseason games in 2023.

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The Washington Commanders announced not only the pending sale of the team but a new broadcast team for the Commanders’ preseason games in 2023.

The new team will consist of Chick Hernandez, Brian Mitchell and Logan Paulsen. Hernandez will carry the play-by-play announcer duties with Mitchell and Paulsen providing analysis.

Hernandez has done play-by-play in the past during the preseason. He was once teamed with Joe Theismann as the analyst and former Washington running back Clinton Portis was on the sidelines.

No doubt, many Commanders fans will be glad to have Hernandez back in the fold. He is a local native; he is a diehard, and he exhibits passion and pleasure regarding the team. Perhaps most importantly, he has demonstrated his enthusiasm for the team for decades.

“I know Chick will be good at this and he and Brian Mitchell have a really good rapport, having worked together for years. Brian is now available with the NBCSW deal going away. Logan will be basically a second analyst from the sideline vs. just a reporter. He’s just too smart,” Julie Donaldson, Commanders senior vice president of media and content, told Commanders Wire.

It is my hope that both Paulsen and Mitchell will be able to continue to be objective and possess the freedom to not only praise the team when it is due but also offer honest criticism when it is also due. Both are no doubt, quite capable.

Most recently, the preseason broadcasts for the Commanders games were the 2022 trio of Kenny Albert (play-by-play), Rick “Doc” Walker (color commentator) and Paulsen (sideline reporter).

When the Commanders were on the clock at No. 47…

Logan Paulsen and Fred Smoot like the Jartavius Martin pick.

When the Washington Commanders went on the clock at No. 47 in the second round, a YouTube live broadcast with Julie Donaldson and her team of analysts dove in, awaiting the selection.

Logan Paulsen asked to name a few names as the better possibilities to be the selection. Offensive linemen Cody Mauch, Tyler Steen, linebacker Daiyan Henley, and “Fred (Smoot), I think you will like this, man. I think we got Sydney Brown and Jartavious Martin. Both from Illinois, both really fun to watch on film.”

Suddenly the card was already submitted, and Donaldson read the name live, “Jartavius Martin.”  Paulsen did not hesitate to respond, “Oh, that’s a bad man right there.”

Paulsen had again nailed it as he often does. The Commanders had chosen Martin. Paulsen said he believed Martin really was the best player left on the Commanders board at this time.

Santana Moss asked if the selection of Martin was “Kam Curl insurance” if the Commanders cannot sign Curl to a contract extension.

Smoot relayed to the fans watching they need to realize 70% of the guys drafted these next two days will not be in the league in four years. So why would the Commanders reach to fill a need? No, they need to take the best player available when selecting early in a draft at No. 47. Paulsen echoed you don’t want to reach and devalue the No. 47 pick.

Moss reminded fans that those who might be upset because Washington did not select a linebacker that the team plays more packages with more defensive backs. Therefore, this pick probably makes more sense for the packages they play.

Paulsen assured fans there are offensive linemen that the Commanders will be able to select later.

But he reminded fans the draft has to fall to you, meaning that, of course, there were offensive linemen they would have loved to have drafted, but other teams in front of the Commanders wanted those players, so they are gone.

Thus the Commanders have to go with better players that fall to you. Smoot echoed this sentiment take the draft as it comes to you; get players who can contribute now.

Donaldson reminded viewers that Bobby McCain is no longer with the team, and he played many snaps the last two seasons, so the Commanders really need to ensure they can plug in players who can contribute this season where McCain did in the past.

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Former NFL Washington player warns free agents

Fred Smoot offers some good advice for all free agents.

The NFL has just concluded its first calendar week of 2023 free agency.

The first week is always the most intense, the most active, and where teams make their biggest splash and or blunder.

Former Washington Redskins’ defensive back Fred Smoot didn’t hesitate however to warn those free agents wanting to change teams. Smoot warned them in the very opening minute of the Command Center episode, “Free Agent Frenzy.”

Julie Donaldson opened the episode by announcing the episode’s focus would be the free-agent activity of the Commanders during the past week. Logan Paulsen was next proclaiming he feels the week has become much more of an event than he recalls it being when he was an NFL tight end.

Smoot’s opening comments no doubt surprised his audience when he opened, “It’s more NBA-ish right now. Right now, the offseason is all about the draft and all about free agency. (It’s) all about guys finding new homes. But I can say this, as a guy that did it. The grass is not always greener on the other side.”

Smoot was drafted in the second round (45th overall) in 2001 by Marty Schottenheimer. Smoot proved to be a good choice, starting 13, 16, 15 and 15 games in his four seasons in Washington (2001-2004).

The former Mississippi State Bulldog corner back then determined he would try his way in the open NFL free agency market. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings in March 2005. But after only two seasons in Minnesota, Smoot was released.

He returned to Washington for three more seasons, playing in Burgundy and Gold from the 2007 through the 2009 seasons.

Apparently, Smoot is warning anyone wanting to listen that by picking up and moving to another job, team, or city; you are naive to think the world is always going to be better for you in your new circumstances.

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