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| Prince at FedEx Field - Home of the Washington Redskins |
After I ate, I got back on the highway and I drove to Landover where FedEx Field is located. It's the home of the Washington Redskins who are celebrating their 80th anniversary season. In addition, it was their home opener and it was Robert Griffin the Third aka RGIII's home debut as the Redskin quarterback. I wound up parking the car in a nearby neighborhood on the street for free. It's a nice walk to get to the stadium from there but it's good exercise and it beats sitting in traffic to get out of the parking lot after the game. I parked the car at 10:45AM. I started walking over towards the stadium and I e-mailed my pal and fellow roadtripper, Charles Stephenson who has Redskin season tickets. He has five altogether so he can accommodate his whole family which includes his wife Betsy and their three young children Grace, Abbey and Charlie. I met Charles for the first time last November at FedEx Field when the Redskins played the San Francisco 49ers. He had an extra ticket that day and he gave it to me. It was really nice of him. I was very grateful. This time he told me all his tickets were accounted for. In a side note, Charles went to New Orleans to see the Redskins open the season which was RGIII's NFL debut. He also went to Heinz Field in week two where he saw my Jets play.
I told him it's not a problem. I'll get one outside the stadium when I get there. He had invited me to tailgate with them before the game. I had a great time last year doing that with him. This time he told me they diverted him from the area he normally parks at for the game. Since I needed a ticket I wanted to secure one before I tried to meet up with them. After trying to get a ticket for a little while, I finally found a guy who was willing to take $30 for a ticket. I met a guy named Jack who was with two young guys, they were probably his sons. He told me to follow them. He had to go to the will call window which was right nearby to get the tickets. It worked out beautifully for me. I told him I'll see them inside. I have a friend who's tailgating and I want to go see him before I go inside. He gave me the ticket and I promised him I would come up to the seat. I got in the building after I spent some quality time with the Stephenson family who feed me well. I had a bratwurst and some steak while I was with them. I want to personally thank them again for their tremendous hospitality. I got to meet Charles' wife Betsy for the first time. I told her how lucky she is to have Charles for her husband. He's such a great guy. He seemed embarrassed but I prefer to tell the truth. That's what I think and I told her so. I'm sure she knows she knows she's truly blessed. After they cleaned up, we all walked over to the stadium and we headed inside. We parted ways and told each other we'll get together again in the future.
As for the game we saw, the Redskins kicked off and they fell behind on the first play from scrimmage as the Cincinnati Bengals called a direct snap to Mohammed Sanu who's a rookie from Rutgers who I saw play at Yankee Stadium in the Pinstripe Bowl back in December. Sanu threw a bomb to wide receiver A.J. Green who ran it in for a 73 yard touchdown to give the Bengals the early 7-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game. I saw it downstairs before I wound up going up to my seat in the upper deck by the 30 yard line in section 429 row 14 with Jack and the two young guys which had a $79 face value. I had a great a view of the action. Shortly thereafter, the Redskins evened the score at seven just four minutes into the first quarter as former Kansas State linebacker Rob Jackson intercepted a pass in the end zone that resulted in a touchdown for the Redskins. Upon doing so, they played the Redskins' fight song, Hail to the Redskins. The Bengals proceeded to score the next 17 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead in the second quarter. The Redskins added a field goal just before the half to trail 24-10.
The Redskins got the ball first in the second half and they carried the momentum over as they marched down the field to get within a touchdown at 24-17. Later in the quarter with 3:29 left, they got even again at 24. Unfortunately for the natives the Bengals responded by scoring two more touchdowns to take a 38-24 lead. The Redskins got one back to cut the deficit to seven as RGIII ran one in from two yards with 3:35 left in the fourth quarter. The Redskins almost got the onsides kick but it went a yard too short when they recovered the ball. They had one last gasp chance but a costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty took away that chance as the ball was knocked down as the Bengals held on to beat the Redskins, 38-31. It was an exciting game to be at. I felt bad for Charles and his family. On the other hand, my Mike Carroll who couldn't join me is a Bengal fan so I was happy to bring him back a victory.
RGIII finished the game with 85 yards rushing on 12 carries. He's a tough guy and I think he has a bright future in the NFL. For the good people I know who live the in the DC area, I hope so. Time will tell.
Stay tuned as I continue to recap my adventurous Sunday as I went to Baltimore for Sunday night football.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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