The Redskins picked a fine time to welcome back alumni members from the good old days, as Washington staged the largest comeback in franchise history — defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-30 at FedEx Field, Oct. 25. Here is a selection of my favorite images I was able to capture from the sidelines during this historic occasion. The full gallery of my Week 7 photos can be found here.
My good buddies from Big O and Dukes might not be in a band, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know good music. Every once in a while, Big O and Dukes decides to use their powers of persuasion for good and convince a musical act to come to town and play a show for the horde. That’s exactly what happened on this night, when the Wrinkle Neck Mules, along with If Birds Could Fly, played in front of a sellout crowd at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia, Sept. 19.
The Washington Redskins stumbled out of the gates — losing their 2015 season opener 17-10 to the Miami Dolphins at FedEx Field, Sept. 13. Here is a selection of my favorite images I was able to capture from the sidelines. The full gallery of my Week 1 photos can be found here.
The Pietasters have played with everyone from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to the legendary James Brown, and if that doesn’t tell you all you need to know about this D.C. institution, I don’t know what to tell you.
On this day, The Pietasters, along with Black Masala and Askultura, kicked off the new year in style with their annual show at the historic 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., Jan. 10. While I had been fortunate enough to attend a Pietasters show or two previously, this was the first time I ever worked a show as a credentialed photographer.
What I quickly learned is just how spoiled a photographer is because there are so many people on stage, all playing their asses off, it’s almost an embarrassment of riches as you’re deciding which musician to focus the camera on.
(photo by Brian Murphy)
I have no idea whether or not the Washington Redskins are the only professional football franchise who celebrates a homecoming game each year. But I can tell you this — I fully understand why being named Washington’s homecoming opponent could be perceived as a slight by the team on the other side of the field.
“I look on there and it says ‘homecoming.’ And I’m thinking to myself: This is the National Football League. Are you serious? Homecoming,” said Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams after last year’s homecoming game. “And it’s not like you tried to hide it — you blatantly put it on the front of the Game Day. And you’re talking about somebody fired up today? I was pissed.
“It was the whole team,” he continued. “That was definitely motivating. You don’t say you’re going to have a ‘homecoming’ in the National Football League. You do it in college. It’s one of those teams that’s just terrible. You don’t book, like, a good team for homecoming.”
That being said, I can also see why the Redskins would want to hold a homecoming — to honor those players of yesterday who helped make the burgundy and gold worth rooting for. After watching so many losses pile up during my eight seasons on the sideline, it was refreshing to see Doug Williams, Dexter Manley and many other players from Washington’s Super Bowl XXII winning squad honored at halftime.
And let’s not forget, there was also a game to be played on Sunday — one that saw Washington rack up 500 yards of offense, the defense make a possible season-saving goal-line stand and special teams … well … let’s keep things positive for this post.
So please take a moment to check out my favorite photos I was able to capture from the sidelines this week. There are some pretty solid action shots, as well as some photos of the homecoming festivities that should be enjoyable to anyone other than DeAngelo Williams.
(photo by Brian Murphy)
As the first month of the season has quickly proven, wins are tough to come by in the National Football League.
The Washington Redskins might have been a playoff team one season ago, but that means nothing in 2013.
Through three games, the Redskins struggled in all three phases of the game and the natives were officially becoming restless. Enter the Oakland Raiders.
While the silver and black happily kicked off their pre-game festivities by showing highlights from their Super Bowl XVIII victory over the Redskins, that was 30 years ago. With just three trips to the playoffs since ’94, the Raiders are no longer one of the league’s dominant franchises.
After digging themselves an early 14-0 hole, the Redskins finally remembered that and easily dispatched Oakland. It wasn’t always pretty and it took longer to get going than they would have liked, but at the end of the day, Washington earned a hard-fought victory, thanks to huge individual efforts by players such as Barry Cofield, David Amerson and Pierre Garcon.
Sure, it’s only one win and it came against a team forced to play backups at quarterback, running back and fullback, but it counts just the same in the standings. That being said, this one win against a not-very-good Raiders squad doesn’t exactly mean it’s time to start booking flights for the Super Bowl either.
“I think what you do is you go back and you’re tough on yourself, especially when you win when you look at the film,” said head coach Mike Shanahan. “You talk about things you could have done to put the game away much earlier or what it takes to have a great day on both sides of the football. That’s what you’re constantly trying to do is look at the things you did poorly, try to improve on those. You always feel good when you win. That’s the objective. Our football team is pretty realistic. They know what type of effort we have to have to get to the next level, what type of play we have to do consistently to win the division.”
So enjoy the win ‘Skins fans, and please feel free to check out my favorite photos I was able to capture from the sidelines this week. After all, it’s going to be two weeks before the burgundy and gold take to the field again, so you might as well savor this one for a day or two longer.
(photo by Brian Murphy)
The Washington Redskins have not gotten off to a very enjoyable start in 2013.
The offense, especially in the first half, has been missing in action. The defense, pretty much every time they take the field, has looked completely overwhelmed and under-prepared for seemingly whoever lines up against them.
Oh, and the special teams has done nothing worth highlighting — unless you’re a fan of missed field goals, shanked punts, poor returns and penalties. So yeah … even the most optimistic homer is struggling these days to keep things positive.
And yet, a group of 26 rowdy and enthusiastic Redskins fans made the trip from D.C. to sit as close to the action as possible as the burgundy and gold traveled to historic Lambeau Field.
They had signs featuring the likeness of prominent Redskins personnel — like Sean Taylor, Daniel Snyder and London Fletcher. Even during warm-ups, these dedicated gentlemen cheered with such passion that players such as Fred Davis had to swing by and recognize their efforts.
And by the way, they were so rowdy and entertaining that even hoops royalty Kevin Durant had to get in on the action. Durant, who is a ‘Skins diehard in his own right, was watching the team run drills pregame while these guys were doing their thing — chanting “Free Tenard! Free Tenard!” and a half dozen other similarly witty comments. By the time they started chanting for Durant, he was already walking over to them.
Next thing you know, everyone joins together for a spirited rendition of “Hail to the Redskins,” Durant included. And then the game started and all of the fun times quickly went away.
At any rate, here are my favorite photos I was able to capture from the sidelines this week. Don’t click them for me. Do it for Durant and the diehard D.C. fans who showed up and cheered their respective asses off.
Even after the loss, those guys were still trying to keep things positive. Take a look:
I Love my skins!! Win or lose. Being at Lambeau for the game was one of the best experiences ever! Green Bay is a legendary town! #respect
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) September 15, 2013
