Dreams Do Come True Part IV: Redskins Game Day

Editor’s Note: “Dreams Do Come True” is a five-part series. For Part 1, click here. For Part 2, click here. For Part 3, click here.

I left Bruce Allen’s hotel suite and had a million thoughts going through my mind. I felt I had done just about everything I could have done and said everything I could have said, except about the suite sales thing. I tried my hardest to get hired without pushing it too hard. I wanted this so badly and I think based on Mr. Allen’s reactions, I got that point across. I had told my wife Samantha if I ever got the chance, I would close it and I told her before she dropped me off at the airport that I wasn’t coming home without the job.

I felt like I had pushed it about as hard as I could to get myself hired with the team without going over the edge with things. It’s a very fine line. I was left with a strong and strange feeling and a mixture of uncertainty and optimism at the same time. It was like a sudden unexpected ending to a movie that leaves you wanting more. I really got along well with Bruce and we seemed to really connect and we liked each other. Things flowed very naturally in our interactions. I thought all of that was a great sign, but it just wasn’t time yet. I called Samantha and told her all about my meeting with Bruce, everything I outlined and told in Part III of this story.

I went back to my hotel room. We had a free night, meaning no Alumni events were planned for the evening. It was Saturday night.

I reached out to Charlie Brown, my friend and the former All-Pro Super Bowl Champion wide receiver of the Redskins. Charlie had always been so good to me throughout the years and on this trip. I texted him and asked what his plans were for dinner. He texted back to meet him in the hotel lobby. I went down to the lobby and met up with him. He suggested we go somewhere to grab something to eat. I was all for that. He drove and I told him all about my meeting with Bruce Allen that day. We ended up at a Buffalo Wild Wings, where we ate and visited for a good three-four hours.

It was great catching up with Charlie, he’s truly one of the best guys I have ever known. I can close my eyes and still see him jumping up in the air in the endzone with the “Fun Bunch” celebrating touchdowns. It’s wild how it all works out and now so many years later we are such good friends. We have so much in common about our faith in God and our love for the Redskins. Once we get to talking, it’s hard to stop us.

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It’s wild to sit across the table from the man who beat the legendary Ronnie Lott on that deep post pattern back in the 1983 NFC Championship against the 49ers. It’s actually very surreal. He drove us back to the hotel around midnight after our good and long visit together. It was great catching up with him. He too thought everything I shared with him about my time with Bruce Allen sounded really good and “He wasn’t just bringing me out here for the game.” He too felt I probably would end up getting hired.

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep around 2 a.m. after calling my wife Samantha and telling her all about my dinner with Charlie Brown. Before I knew it, my phone alarm went off. It was GAME DAY! Redskins vs. 49ers and the pre-game Alumni breakfast I was invited to opened at 7 a.m. Anyone who knows me, will tell you I am practically late for everything in my life, but there’s no way I was going to be late for this!

The rain was falling hard outside as I had to walk from one part of the Gaylord Convention Center to a connecting building outside where the Alumni breakfast was being held. It was raining hard and it was coming down steadily. I imagined what it was going to be like for the game. I had grown up seeing all those games in the mud at R.F.K. and couldn’t wait! How exciting! I was going to get to be a part of everything in the rain!

I walked to the conference doors where the Alumni breakfast was being held and I checked in at the table by the door. The woman there crossed out my name and encouraged me to enjoy my breakfast. I walked in and literally nobody was there yet! Nobody except one man sitting at a table all by himself. I walked in and the closer I got I could see it was the legendary No. 9, Sonny Jurgensen! I could not believe it!

I approached him at his table and put out my hand to introduce myself. He reached up and shook hands with me. “Mr. Jurgensen, it’s so nice to meet you, I’m Daniel Kelly, I’m here for the Alumni weekend. I used to have a Sports Illustrated with you and Vince Lombardi on the front cover. I won a sports trivia contest that asked me what other team did Lombardi coach for other than the Packers, I knew it was the Redskins because I had that Sports Illustrated. I can’t believe I’m meeting you, you are a Redskins legend, would you mind if I took a picture with you?” He said, “Sure that’s fine.” I got out my phone and snapped a quick selfie of us together. Wow, Sonny Jurgensen!

I grabbed a plate and filled it with eggs, bacon, sausage, a blueberry muffin and got some juice. One by one they started trickling into the huge conference room that must have had fifty tables set and ready with white table cloths. It was surreal because it really reminded me of that Redskins team breakfast conference room I waited outside of when Dexter Manley had invited me to the team hotel back in Minnesota when I was 13 years old. It was a surreal experience.

A couple of older guys who must have played back in the 50’s or 60’s sat down at my table and started talking back and forth. One guy said, “It’s a miracle I was even able to get out of bed this morning. He talked openly about how he already had one hip replacement and he was scheduled to have the other hip replaced soon. The other older player at the table said, “Yeah, I feel you, it takes me a long time to get going in the morning.”

I looked around the room and I definitely got a sense of the physical toll the game had taken on a lot of the greats who were all around me. Former Special Teams great linebacker, Ravin Caldwell sat down with his plate of breakfast at my table as did Charlie Brown. I mostly just listened to all the interesting conversations going on around me. I spotted Jay Schroeder getting breakfast. It was wild. All of a sudden, I spotted the architect of all those great Redskins teams I loved growing up, it was the legend himself, the man who I consider the best and greatest General Manager in the history of the game, Hall of Famer Bobby Beathard!

I said to Charlie Brown, “Please watch my food for a moment, it’s Bobby, I’ve got to go see him and shake his hand.” Charlie said, “Yeah definitely man, go,” I briskly walked towards him as he was leaving the conference room.

“Mr. Beathard,” I said. He turned towards me. “Hi, I’m Daniel Kelly, I just wanted to congratulate you on making it into the Hall of Fame and thank you for all those great Redskins teams you put together, I am friends with your son Jeff on Facebook and he’s a great guy, I’ve talked with him a couple times.”

Mr. Beathard replied, “Great, I’ll let Jeff know I saw you here.” I said, “Thank you Sir, would you mind if we took a quick picture together?” He responded, “No, not at all, let’s take a picture.” I took out my phone and snapped another quick selfie with the legend himself. I grew up studying him and one day I wanted to be just like him.

Wow, what a start to the day, first Sonny Jurgensen and now Bobby Beathard. What next, I thought. I was already on sensory overload and the day was just beginning.

After breakfast, I called one of my childhood best friends, J.J. Shockman. He had left a message for me asking me all that was happening and what everything was like. I took a few minutes and tried to share everything that had happened so far, which was next to impossible. I had to let him go because it was time to board the Alumni bus that was going to take us to Fed Ex Field for the game.

I boarded the bus and it pulled out onto the open road in the rain. I spent time texting my wife and I spent time just trying to soak in every moment. One of women who worked for the team stood up on the bus and said that she needed to hand out wrist bands for the Alumni to get into the tunnel for the pre-game introductions! Everyone raised their hands and so did I. She walked by and handed me a pink wrist band that read, “FED EX FIELD.”

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Oh my gosh, I was going to get to go down in the tunnel?! I breathed a deep breath and was practically overwhelmed by this point. I looked out my window where I was sitting as raindrops continued moving across the glass. Then we pulled into the stadium drive. This was it! I saw all the 49ers fans tailgating with their team’s flags flapping in the wind. I saw some Redskins fans all standing under a big burgundy and yellow open tent.

All the Redskins Alumni who were riding the bus with me got off the bus and headed towards the East end tunnel. I followed, showing security my wrist band and I walked right in. Wow! I was in the tunnel underneath the stadium! I looked to my right as I walked and saw the Fox Television camera guys all wearing yellow vests that said, “FOX SPORTS.” I continued walking and saw some members of the famous Redskins marching band! Oh wow, I thought, this is incredible.

I so wished my wife Samantha was with me to experience all this. I tried to take as many videos and pictures with my phone as possible to share with her later. I saw all the players from the 2000s, 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s and 50s and earlier all gathering by the front of the tunnel for the pre-game introductions.

I got a text from Charlie Brown asking me to meet him by the entrance to the tunnel, so I went to meet up with him there. Charlie greeted me with a fist bump and a hug. He asked me, “Where are we going?” I said, “All the guys are gathering by the tunnel to go onto the field, what should I do Charlie when you guys go out, I mean I really didn’t play or anything?” Charlie looked at me with a smile and said, “You’re going out with us.” Really, I thought, are you serious, I’m going to get to go out on the field with all the greats from the 80’s when they’re introduced, the decade I became a fan with all the players I loved growing up?” 

I looked around me and I was surrounded by many of the greats in the tunnel. I looked to my right and I was standing next to Jay Schroeder.

I looked behind me and there was big ‘ol Highway 66, Joe Jacoby.

To my left was Timmy Smith. Timmy looked at my new J’s and said, “Those are some nice looking shoes, you know it’s rainy and muddy out there.” I responded, “Yeah, I know, it’s just like you guys played in at R.F.K.” He looked at me and smiled and I smiled back at him.

It was time and we all started walking out of the tunnel and out onto the field. I was actually walking out onto the Redskins field! I heard the squishy sound of the wet grass beneath my feet as I walked forward by the side of the end zone!

This is something I have dreamed of doing since I used to pretend my parents front yard was the Redskins field. Back when I played football by myself as a kid, wearing my Redskins helmet and I used the two big tall pine trees as imaginary goal posts. Holy smokes, this was actually happening. I was literally walking out onto the field with so many of my childhood heroes. I don’t know what heaven is like, but I was literally feeling like I might have died and I was already there!

The stadium was practically empty, which saddened my heart a little, but I was too busy taking pictures and video with my phone. I was standing out at about midfield next to Gary Clark, Ricky Sanders and Charlie Brown and the PA Announcer said, “Let’s hear it for the greats of the ’80s.” I was right there with all of them standing next to them. It was truly one of the highlights of my life.

After the introductions, everyone headed in to get out of the rain, everyone but me. I was going to literally soak in every moment I could on the field. It was coming down pretty good at this point as raindrops were rolling off my Redskins hat. Suddenly, four referees jogged past me, each holding footballs wrapped up in white towels. 49ers fans filled the railings by the tunnels as the 49ers team was running out of the tunnel, next to where I was standing by the corner of the end zone. It was the same end zone pictured in this picture I found writing this story.

That is exactly what it looked like when I was standing there in that exact corner of the field by where this ref was standing. All of a sudden the song, “Lose Yourself,” came on by Eminem. It was time for the Redskins to come out onto the field. People ran out flying the Redskins flags. All I could hear was “boos” from the chorus of 49ers fans that filled more than half the stadium. That part was really disheartening, but I tried my best to ignore it and I cheered as loud as I could for my Redskins!

A security guard approached me and I showed him my credentials. He said, “You’re still going to have to leave the field, you can’t be on the field for the game.” I talked him into letting me stand just inside the tunnel for the National Anthem, which was really emotional for me. Tears were streaming down my face as the raindrops were rolling off the brim of my Redskins hat. This was as close to my Redskins dream as I had ever gotten.

I walked into the tunnel and there was a man standing there waiting for me. He introduced himself and said, “Mr. Kelly, I would like to show you to your suite for the game.” I chuckled to myself and said, “Okay.” It was surreal to say the least. He took me up the elevator and walked me where my suite was. I walked in and of course, my suite was right next to the famous Redskins marching band and where they were all sitting right outside the windows that were open. Turns out, I was in there sharing the suite with former Redskins great receiver, Roy Jefferson and his family. I sat down by the window and took in the game. It was a slug fest in the mud and rain. It was classic Redskins football.

At halftime, there was no need to go and try to get any food or anything to drink. They had trays of hotdogs and buns and a fridge full of Bud Light and soda. I felt really special. I really did. I was like, “This is so great.” I grabbed a hot dog and beer and sat back down in my seat. I spent most of halftime texting my wife, who was at a sports bar back in Arizona with our kids watching the game. She kept texting me about how the Redskins needed to win. She was really getting into the game.

The players continued to slip and slide throughout the second half as the rain continued pouring down. The Redskins defense kept it close, but slowly it became clear the Redskins weren’t going to come back on this day. In the waning seconds, I couldn’t believe it. I sat there with my head in my hands watching several of the 49ers’ players slipping and sliding all over our field as some sort of tasteless victory celebration. Something deep from within me rose up and all I could say to myself over and over again is, “Never again, they will never do this again here.” It really affected me, deeply.

Back when the Redskins lost to the Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII when I was nine years old. After the Redskins lost, I threw up and missed three days of school. It wasn’t unusual after other losses I would skip dinner and not really recover until mid-week while growing up. I had always taken losses hard. I’ve mellowed a little over the years, but for some reason, this thing the 49ers were doing on our field was really getting to me as I sat there watching it.

I’ve never seen such disrespect in my 38 years of watching Redskins football. It had a feeling to it of being personal and it turns out, it was. I guess Kyle Shanahan was trying to somehow avenge him and his dad being fired from the Redskins and they were really trying to stick it to Mr. Snyder. I’m so sorry the Shanahan’s were so devastated over getting fired. I’m mean I’m so sorry they were so devastated after getting paid millions of dollars to produce absolutely nothing during their time in Washington. I just sat there watching it with a sense of promising myself someday they’ll pay for this unprofessional celebration.

Let’s put it this way, I will tell my Coach not to take a knee or run out the clock when the game is out of hand in the fourth quarter. I won’t take a job from the 49ers if they called me tomorrow.

On the other hand, I was proud of how hard our team fought and I was more than anything, grateful for the experience that I didn’t want to come to an end. I continued sitting there watching as the field emptied out. I eventually left the suite and convinced security to let me walk down the stairs, by the field in the lower deck just to take in a few more moments.

By this point, the stadium was practically empty and all I could hear was Coach Callahan’s loud post-game press conference playing on the Jumbo-Tron. I got out my cell phone with the idea of filming a special thank you message to my wife Samantha with the field in the background. “I love you Samantha, it’s beautiful being out here at the Redskins stadium, dreams do come true baby, I love you very much, I love you, it’s incredible, I’m standing out here in the rain and I love it, should’ve called that “989 Zip Zoom” today (a play I designed that my wife and I joke together about), should’ve done it, it would’ve worked, but I love you baby, I love you, thank you God and thank you honey for all your love and support.”

I walked up the stairs of the lower deck and had the idea to go and get a little souvenir for each of our eight living children from the Redskins stadium. I did that and then boarded the Alumni bus to go back to the hotel. I just sat there in my bus seat, starring at Fed Ex Field through the raindrops rolling down the window next to my bus seat as the bus started to roll forward.

A proverbial million thoughts were going through my mind. God, I wanted this. God, I wanted to be part of the team. As the bus drove down the road I replayed so many things in my mind. I thought back to my time with Bruce and everything he said replayed in my mind over and over again. I thought about what it was like to go out onto the field with all my heroes. I thought about how I didn’t want my dream weekend to end. I was feeling it. I was closer than I have ever been. I wanted this worse than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.

I wanted to come back to Fed Ex Field next time, not just as a fan, but as part of the family…