10 fascinating achievements from Washington Commanders franchise history

Most intriguing Commanders two-year span

• Kurt Gouveia – 1992-93

The Washington Commanders franchise has had some of the most prolific tacklers in the history of football. Pro Football Hall of Famers like Chris Hanburger and Sam Huff, and should-be Hall-of-Famer London Fletcher. But none did what often-forgotten Kurt Gouveia did in consecutive seasons in the early 1990s.

The Hawaii native set a team record for combined tackles in 1992 with 169. He then broke that record the following season with 171. That 340 tackles puts him in some very elite company over a two-year span.

A few asterisks do accompany the record. Tackles weren’t an official statistic until the 1970s, and Gouveia did get a few extra playing on special teams. But it is still remarkable that a guy who played 13 NFL seasons recorded 40 percent of his tackles over a two-year period.

What makes it even more idiosyncratic is that Gouveia’s teammate, safety Brad Edwards, had 318 combined tackles of his own during that same span. I do not know how many of those tackles were shared.

Most intriguing Commanders three-year span

• Sammy Baugh – 1940-1942

I could include Sammy Baugh in pretty much every category here. And, spoiler alert, his name may pop up again.

I like this one in particular though because it reminds people that Baugh wasn’t simply the first great downfield passer in NFL history. He was also one of the greatest punters the game has ever seen.

During these three seasons, Baugh booted the ball 102 times for over 5,000 yards – an average of 49.4 yards per kick. There have only been 14 individual campaigns with a higher average than this three-year run. And one of them, as you might expect, was by the man himself.

Baugh gave up primary punting duties after 1947. But he barely fell off from that torrid pace, finishing his career with a punting average of over 45 yards per kick.

Both punting and Baugh will be getting another reference before I am done here.