Redskins fanbase makes an appearance on the annual Fandom 250
By Ian Cummings
The teams themselves get all the glory, but the life of a fan has its own trials and tribulations. Redskins fans know this better than most.
The true test of any fan base is not size, or volume, or happiness. The true test of fandom is loyalty. Can you stay with your team, through the hardest times, to be rewarded in the best of times? It is loyalty that makes a fan, and it is the fandom that imbues them in the experience.
If loyalty is the test of a fan base, then no fanbase has been tested more than that of the Washington Redskins. Once a perennial winner, and a three-time Super Bowl winning team, the Redskins have fallen into the depths of despair, and for twenty years, they have remained there, save for brief, misleading glimpses of hope.
The team has conducted itself to mediocrity on the field for years upon years, and off the field, Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder have done little to command the respect of outsiders. They have done nothing to command the loyalty of the fans.
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And yet, the fans come.
It speaks to the kind of person the capital breeds, and it speaks to the strong foundation sports has forged in even the most tumultuous landscape. Washington does not win. But the fans remain loyal. They pass the test, every year. And that is why the fans of the Washington Redskins appeared on FanSided’s Fandom 250 for yet another year.
In FanSided’s 2018 Fandom 250, the fans of the Washington Redskins found themselves ranked at No. 135, the No. 16 best fan base in the NFL, according to the rankings. The Fandom 250 rankings rank not just the fan bases of the NFL, but fan bases of television shows, music icons and bands, countless other sports, and even comic books. Thus, to be ranked No. 135, in the world, is a high achievement, and a worthy testament to the emotional investment Redskins fans choose to make every year.
In 2018, it seemed, for a time, that such an emotional investment would pay off; The Washington Redskins began the 2018 season with a record of 5-2, and at one point, they had a two-game lead in the NFC East, with a favorable schedule ahead. Now, they are 6-6, with Mark Sanchez at the helm, and seemingly half of their team on injured reserve. Whatever hopes may have blossomed are now gone.
But the fans are not.
If they were, who could blame them? The team has not produced, and the men in charge refuse to change. But fans in Washington don’t give it a thought. They sport the burgundy and gold as proudly as they did thirty years ago. Because they are loyal. Because they have passed the ultimate test.
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We want to say thank you to the fans, regular, ordinary, everyday people who make sacrifices to support a team that might not deserve their support. Sports may revolve around the player, and the glorious play itself, but you, the fans, are what keeps the machine alive. And perhaps, in the near future, your investment will bear long-awaited fruit.