Another review of one of 52 for 52 reading project books…

I grew up a fan of the Washington Redskins.

I went to RFK Stadium exactly eight times with my dad to see games. He went a whole lot more, but I got to go eight times.

The Redskins went 8-0.

It wasn’t the glory days.

These were the Jack Pardee days.

The team was mediocre.

But to me, a kid of 8 and 9 years old, it was heaven.

Seeing John Riggins, Joe Washington, Joe Theismann, Chris Hanburger and many others play was amazing.

Being in the stadium when Hail to the Redskins played, even more so.

I met Barry Goldwater once there. Had no idea who he was. I met him again in college. He didn’t remember me.

George McGovern, too. I never met him again.

I have gone to eight games as a professional reporter over the years.

The team is 0-8.

Funny? Yes. A sign? Maybe.

I saw Boomer Esiason throw for 500 yards against ’em.

I met Darrell Green.

I grew to loathe the team’s owner, like all of us in the past 17 years or so.

Daniel Snyder has finally stepped aside, so maybe it’ll change.

But, probably not.

I just got done reading the book “Showdown…”

It was a decent read. I never knew that much about George P. Marshall, the owner/creator/racist that owned the Redskins.

What I did know can be summed up in that sentence above.

And the book confirmed those things.

I also never knew that the U.S. government got so involved in the Redskins finally signing an African American. Sad, sad, sad tale that is. In the U.S. capital even.

The book read like a history textbook, however. I guess with so many of those involved long ago gone, you can’t add a lot of flavor to it. But, I wish the author had.

Still, if you are/were a Redskins fan, it’s an important read. Educate yourself before donning that jersey.

Oh, and Danny Snyder? He’s just a modern version of the Marshall. Guess he was the perfect fit to own the team…