The history and future of Redskins training camp
June 11, 2020
by Steve Thomas
Since we’re now in the heart of the slowest portion of the NFL’s annual calendar, with nothing to look forward to but training camp in about 7 weeks, I thought I’d take a look at the history of the Redskins training camp, what other NFL teams do for camp, and what the team’s options might be for the future.
History
This is the complete history of Redskins training camp locations:
1937: Anacostia Park, D.C.
1938: Ballston Stadium, Arlington, Virginia
1939: Eastern Washington University, Cheney, Washington
1940: Wandermere Resort, Spokane, Washington
1941 – 1942: Brown Military Academy, San Diego, California
1943 – 1944: Balboa Park, San Diego, California
1945: Georgetown University, D.C.
1946 – 1962: Occidental College, Los Angeles, California
1963 – 1994: Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
1995 – 1999: Frostberg St. University, Frostberg, Maryland
2000: Redskins Park, Ashburn, Virginia
2001 – 2002: Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
2003 – 2012: Redskins Park, Ashburn, Virginia
2013 – 2019: Bon Secours Training Center, Richmond, Virginia
2020: Redskins Park, Ashburn, Virginia
What’s most interesting to me about this list is that the team’s original owner, George Preston Marshall, moved the team all the way to the west coast during the World War II years from 1939 – 1944. I assume that he had a financial incentive for doing so, but it seems like a major effort considering the circumstances of the time. As you can see, the Redskins spent a total of 34 seasons in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in two separate stints, including the entirety of the golden years of the 1980s and early 1990s, which is more than any other location. Occidental College is next on the list, with 17 separate visits to that location. Including 2020, the team has done 12 seasons at Redskins Park. Their time in Richmond, Virginia, came to an end last season after 7 years with the NFL’s recent edict that all teams must spend 2020’s training camp at home.
Interestingly, when Jack Kent Cooke took over ownership for George Preston Marshall in 1969, he left training camp on the east coast despite personally living in California until 1978 and owning several California-based assets such as the Los Angeles Lakers and various radio and television assets. As an aside, it’s probably lucky that Redskins were early on in their tenancy at RFK Stadium when Cooke acquired ownership of the team, because in hindsight, if any of the team’s three owners would’ve actually moved the team out of D.C., Cooke in his early days seems like the most likely candidate.
What does the rest of the NFL do?
Because I’m the way I am, I manually counted where each team held its training camp in 2019:
Home facility – 21
Somewhere else in home state – 10
Other state – 3
If you noticed that these numbers add up to 34, and also know that there are only 32 teams, congratulations on the good catch. The reason is that both the Packers and the Saints moved locations in the middle of training camp last year. Regardless, the point is that approximately two-thirds of NFL teams hosted training camp in their home facility, whereas only three actually left their home states. The Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints were the sole real outliers, with the Cowboys going to California (as they have since 2012) and the Saints going to West Virginia for a portion of camp. The Carolina Panthers went to South Carolina, which isn’t far and is still in their home area.
What should the Redskins do next year?
Since the NFL has mandated training camp location for this year, the team has a whole year to decide what to do going forward. From the perspective of what is best for the team in terms in the on-field progress, I think the easy and clear choice is Redskins Park. There are no logistical complications, the facilities are obviously NFL quality, and nobody has to leave home. The only real reasons why any team would ever go away for training are (1) coaches think it will build team unity, (2) money, and (3) money. The chances of Richmond wanting to renew their relationship with the Redskins are most likely close to zero considering the amount of money it cost them in the form of an annual payment to the team coupled with the less than hoped for economic boost, so that’s probably not a realistic option.
It’s too early to say what head coach Ron Rivera’s thoughts are on this topic. His prior team, the Panthers, have been going to the same spot for training camp since the team’s inception in 1995, Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, so that probably isn’t a good indication. I assume that if Rivera had very strong feelings one way or the other, he would have voiced them to Carolina’s ownership; at a minimum, he didn’t object enough to make a public fuss about it. Whether or not that team’s ownership would have listened to him is another story.
One thing that’s clear is that because of the money involved this isn’t just a coaching decision by Rivera. The Richmond deal was a big moneymaker for the team, so I have to think that if some other reasonable location opens up the vault for Dan Snyder, the Redskins will be on the move again.
Beyond the nostalgia of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, there are an essentially unlimited number of places the Redskins could go if someone decided to pay them enough, so speculation is pointless. There’s no reason to revisit Frostberg, and the city of Frostberg probably couldn’t afford them even if they wanted to. As much as we all would love to relive the glory years, Carlisle is in the same boat as Frostburg – the Redskins are too expensive, and Dickinson College probably doesn’t have NFL-quality facilities anyway.
One thing to consider is that the new stadium, wherever it ends up being located, is likely to have the team’s headquarters and practice facilities on site, so the most likely scenario is that beginning in 2028 or whenever that yet unknown stadium opens, that’s probably where camp is going to be. That’s the recent trend in the NFL. But, again, money rules all, so you never know.
What do you think?