when jayden daniels was drafted in 2024, i didn't really know what to expect. i'm not someone who keeps up with college all that much. the only big name i heard all 2023 season was caleb williams out of USC. so seeing us take what seemed to be the next best thing, i wasn't really sure what we had in him. but when we laid into the bengals in week 3, and i saw the look in jayden's eyes, i knew that whatever happened this year would be very special. and as i'm typing this, we're one week from playing in the NFC championship game for the first time since 1991.
so i was born in late 2001. the biggest moment for the commanders in my lifetime was realistically RGIII's baller season before his injury in the wild card. we won the wild card game in 2005 when i was only 4 years old. so not only is us doing what we're doing the biggest thing to happen to this team in so long, but its the brightest spot of our team's history that i've been alive for. so truthfully, i am just stunned and excited. i don't know what to expect next. i almost don't care at this point. i told myself before the detroit game that as long as we kept it close, that would be all i needed. but i told my partner something that deep down, i really did believe. i believed that with the way we have been playing, facing an 8-10 point spread, that we had the chance to not only cover the spread but completely flip it. and wouldn't you know it, we win the game 45-31 and make jared goff blush. it was then that i realized that we can go all the way. i knew deep down it was possible, but now i'm confident in this. we're going to the super bowl. and i will feel very disappointed if we miss out.
listen, as a lifelong fan of this team, i know what disappointment is like. we haven't had a truly good team in forever. even in 2012, we only had maybe 4 star players on offense and less than that on defense. and it can be argued that we are in the same boat this year. but this team is very different. this organization is different. everything is different. the disappointment of losing next week to the eagles will be a much different disappointment than all the others before it. we have a legitimate shot at shocking the world. the 6th seed in the NFC going all the way. we were told this whole year that we did not belong here. i had us going 7-10 on the season and missing the playoffs completely. and yet... here we are. the lights are getting brighter, the competition is getting tougher. yet there's jayden daniels, smiling and keeping his head down.
i became a washington fan because of my mema. she was the biggest redskins fan of anyone i knew. she had the home and away ceramic joe theismann knick-knacks, redskins blankets, redskins pillows, redskins damn near anything you can name. and when i started to actually pay attention to football again at the end of the 2021 season, i kept my pride in being a washington fan because of her. sadly she isn't here to see what's happening with the team today, but i know for a fact that this is my team. the team i ride with til the day i die. sure, i like the ravens. i like the bills. i like seeing the lions do well. but when you're up against my commanders, you're nothing to me. i saw a comment on reddit earlier that really captures how i feel about it. i root for 4 teams: the commanders, and whoever is against the eagles, giants, or cowboys that week.
and as always, FUCK dallas
all of this to say, we might win next week against the eagles. we might lose. i might get very upset. i might scream down the road by my house. but no matter what happens the rest of these playoffs and beyond, i will always be a commanders fan. and with how shitty this year has been for me so far, its nice to have something to look forward to.