The First-Ever Commanders Draft Party – A Personal Fan Review

May 3, 2022

By Paul Francis

[Editor’s note: The Hog Sty has covered this event in previous years as credentialed media, but this column is Paul’s perspective as a fan at the event.]

6:25PM

Rolling into Fed Ex Field, it’s a surreal experience just driving up into Lot A and having my pick of parking spaces for free.  The relative ease of access and emptiness of the lot compared to all my gameday experiences of waiting in lines and fighting congestion brings a couple thoughts to mind: First, thanks to the Commanders for springing things open like this.  And second, the gameday experience is such a bear it’s no wonder why so few local fans go anymore.  But I push that critical thought aside.  I’m determined to have fun and enjoy the evening for what it is.  Junior and I head inside the stadium for the first ever draft party for the Washington Commanders.

6:35 PM

There’s a thousand-ish fans milling around the field at the various stations that the Commanders have set up: player meet-n-greets, game challenges, free giveaways, and the locker room tour.  Junior wants to test himself at the FG kicking challenge, so we jump in line.  Stepping down onto an NFL field is a cool experience.  As we stand around midfield, it’s conjuring memories of the different game experiences I’ve had over the years there, but looking at it like I’m on the other side of the mirror.

We’re stand in line chatting it up with a young couple who has made the trip over from Pennsylvania.  In a prophetic sign of things to come, they mention that they are both Penn State grads…hmmm.

7:00 PM

We’re at the front of the FG Challenge line, and here’s where my greatest golden Redskins moment ever would unexpectedly spring into existence.

Ken Harvey and Fred Smoot are yucking it up with fans at the front of the line.  With fan after fan after fan completely flubbing their FG attempts, it’s my turn to line one up.  I let it rip from 20 yards, and it sails through the uprights, with the crowd giving me some applause.  That’s when I hear Ken Harvey’s voice boom from behind me – “Sign him to a contract!”.  Ken and I get to chat and take a picture together.  I’m geeking out like a little kid getting public dap from a Redskins great like Ken Harvey.  The evening is already a booming success, regardless of what happens from here on out.

Over the next hour or so, we’re finding different players and alumni to mingle with.  It’s a fun atmosphere on a nice cool evening, as we get some drive-by selfie moments:

Brian Mitchell – The man has the patience of a saint.  He’s making his way around the field getting mobbed by fans at each turn.  But he stops for everyone to shake hands, chat, and take a picture with a big smile flashing the Super Bowl ring.  I ask him when these jokers in the Hall of Fame are finally going to get him in, and we have a laugh.

Fred Smoot –Even if you don’t recognize him by face, you definitely recognize the voice and the loud chatter.  Smoot is one of the friendliest and funniest ex-pros you’ll encounter.

Ken Harvey – As I mentioned above, Ken was out there mingling with the fans.  Great-spirited guy and even at 56, he looks like he could throw on a helmet and line up.

Evan Royster – You’ve got to be a pretty deep into the fan-game fan to remember Evan Royster.  We made a special beeline to him because he went to Junior’s high school where he was a local legend.  We had a nice chat, and Evan came across as a very down-to-earth guy.

Jonathan Allen – The line and mob trying to get a signature from the big fella was too much to traverse.  Easily the most popular draw down on the field, Junior waited for a while, but then Allen went on a “break” and they swapped in…

Kendall Fuller – Junior got a chance to meet with him, and Kendall was cool enough to give him a live video Instagram shout out.  I asked Kendall who he thinks we should draft, and he shook his head and said “No clue!”

But perhaps the most surprising appearance down on the field was Tanya Snyder.  I had to do a double-take to make sure it was who I thought it was.  Apart from the gopher-intern hovering over her shoulder to run interference when necessary, Tanya seemed very friendly.  She took time to take pictures and chat with any of the fans that recognized her, including me.

Whatever one may think of Dan Snyder, I thought it was a solid move for Tanya to be down there with the fans.  I couldn’t imagine in a million years that Dan would be mingling freely with the “peasants” like that.  And given the ill-will that Dan has generated with the fanbase, it would have been a lot easier for her to just avoid the public situation.  But she did not.  I can’t imagine what it’s like having to get pushed out front and be the public face of ownership at a time like this, while Dan cowers in the shadows.

8:00 PM

The draft is starting on the big screens, and Junior and I get in the line to do the locker room tour.  I start a small kerfuffle when I spy a fellow exiting from the locker room in a Dallas jersey.  Not sure how he slipped in, but me and the crowd around made sure he knew he wasn’t welcome, as he scurried away.

Going through the locker room was a cool experience.  Junior got to take a photo wearing replicas of the Superbowl rings, and the inner sanctum featured a glass case with the Redskins’ Lombardi Trophies on display.  We snapped some shots next to them, then buzzed past the Interview Room and Entertainment Team photo ops, pausing briefly to get a picture of a Sean Taylor quote the team has painted on one of the walls in the workout room.

9-ish PM

We’re back out on the field, and everyone’s locking into the draft broadcast on the big screens.  I’m excited because it looks like Kyle Hamilton is going to be there, and with no quarterbacks taken yet the prospects for trading down seem good too, leaving us with solid options either way.  When the trade is announced with Saints most of the fans like the move, with a few protests scattered in for passing on Hamilton.  The wait is on again.

9:30-ish PM

For a few brief minutes, I was starting to believe that Hamilton might fall to us again at 16, and if that happened what a coup that would be.  We trade down, get picks AND get the marquee player?  With the top-rated WRs gone, I’m hoping against hope that it breaks that way, but figure there’s no way Hamilton gets past the Texans.  I’m a veteran Washington fan, so I know that you can never actually expect really good things to happen for you.  Then Baltimore goes ahead and snatches him up in a classically Baltimore move, sealing Kyle Hamilton’s fate as a perennial Pro Bowler for years to come.  Oh well.

The pick is in, and Junior is almost exploding with anticipation for Treylon Burks, who he really loves.  As Junior prattles on about his scouting reports and where he has Treylon on his personal Big Board, the pick is announced as…Jahan Dotson?

The first time I’d personally ever heard the name “Jahan Dotson” was when it was announced.  Junior informs me that he’s a wide receiver from Penn State.  The groans from the crowd are audible, and folks begin to file out.  The trip through the restroom on the way out to the parking lot is mildly amusing to me.  Various half-drunk fans are cursing heaven, asking out loud why Washington didn’t just stand pat at 11 and draft this guy or that.  No one seems very excited in the moment about the Dotson pick, my son included.

10:30-ish PM

I’m sitting in the car talking Junior off the ledge as he bemoans the pick, and we wolf down cold chicken sandwiches and mini-tacos before hitting the road.  (I refuse to purchase stadium food – my last bastion of protest against Dan Snyder.  They can have the 5 bucks entry fee that goes to a charity, but they can’t have the 20 bucks that goes into his pockets for chicken fingers, so we held out and ate leftovers in the car).

All in all it was a really fun 4 hours, despite what seemed like an anti-climactic ending.  Chatting with fans, everyone generally feels the same things:  We’re worn out by Snyder’s ownership and “meh” about where the team roster is right now.  But none of that got in the way of enjoying the evening for what it was.  Kids were scrambling around having fun, with players and alumni mixing in.  The crowd got big enough to have a eventful vibe, but not so overwhelming where you felt like you were fighting through mobs everywhere.

In some ways it reminded me a little bit of going to RFK stadium in the heyday of the Skins.  Young and old, urban and suburban, folks that reflect the wide diversity of the DMV were enjoying the moment and feeling unified by the simple purity of football and hoping for the burgundy-n-gold.  But this isn’t the heyday of the Skins.  It’s the dawn of a new era.  Commanders Draft Party 1 is in the books, and it was a good time.  And if a somewhat grouchy old-timer like me can push past team drama and issues, and enjoy the moment without too much grief, maybe there can be a heyday ahead too.  I’ll do my part as fan, and here’s hoping the team will do its part on the field.  Hail.