Like a football spiraling through the air, the Washington Commanders’ football history has seen multiple changes in ownership and names amid less-than-stellar performances. This led to aggravated fans and the team being sold to the current owner, Josh Harris, in July of 2023.
This began a new era in Washington football history. In the first season with a new owner, the Commanders finished with a 4-13 record, receiving the number two overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. After 2023’s abysmal effort, Harris decided to start fresh at the head coach position and fire four-year head coach Ron Rivera. Just four days later, Harris hired his new general manager, Adam Peters. Peters, 46 years old, has worked for the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos in past seasons.
In April, leading up to the 2024-2025 NFL season, the Commanders selected Jayden Daniels as the new quarterback of the team. Professional analysts and fans questioned the pick, with words spreading about his size. ESPN’s John Keim even asked, “Would he protect himself long enough to last in the NFL?”.
The supporters of any team are one of the most important parts of a franchise. By sharing their voice and opinions, teams may be forced to make changes within the team. Alongside this, fan voices can have a major impact and are essential to the success of a team. With the Commanders being the local NFL team to PA, many teachers and students are very vocal about the team, including senior Russell Baker.
Baker has been a Commander’s fan for most of his life, but really started to watch and follow the team over the last couple of seasons. When asked about the Commanders’ recent success, he said, “We were pretty horrible for a while, then last year we turned it around, new management, new coach, new quarterback, and I think we are a much better team than we were a couple of years ago.”
The new quarterback, Daniels, has been the main bright spot of the team and the leader in the resurgence. Baker attributed the team’s success to “a combination of the new leadership with Jayden Daniels and Dan Quinn. We wouldn’t be where we are right now without Jayden Daniels.” Baker cites Daniels’ personal traits as a cause of his accomplishment: “I love how humble he is, he takes accountability, and he’s a phenomenal talent.”
Ashley Karunaratne, an IB Science teacher, is a lifelong Washington Commanders fan. Karunaratne noted, “I grew up in Roanoke, so my family and I grew up watching them, so the last ten years have been very tumultuous.”
Karunaratne added, “The bar is high for this year. I have to constantly remind myself where we were two to three years ago, only winning a couple of games.”
With the leadership changes, Washington went from winning eight games in 2022, four games in 2023, to now 12 games in the 2024 season and making the NFC championship, falling just one game short of the Super Bowl.
Karunaratne believes Daniels’ injection of spirit will continue. “He is the franchise and he’s what we need.” However, she caveats the success, adding that the rest of the team needs to keep pace, “Obviously, he is very good, and he seems to be the savior, but he can’t fix everything.”
Fans have learned to trust Quinn and Peters with the way they have turned the team around in a short timeframe. “I think you have to be [excited for the future],” says Karunaratne. “The GM knows what he’s doing and the team is definitely managed better now, which makes you feel like there’s always hope for the future.”
Daniel Burton, a senior at PA, has also grown up watching the Commanders. Burton grew up in a multi-team household, with his mom supporting the Green Bay Packers, in contrast to his dad’s side of the family, who backed Washington.
Burton comments on last year’s turnaround with a comparison of Daniels to a Commanders player of the past, praising him as “honestly one of the best things that has happened to the team, giving me flashbacks of Robert Griffin III.”
Going into the 2025 season, Commanders fans had very high hopes since the loss in the NFC Championship game. Currently, the Commanders are 3-4 with a laundry list of injuries just halfway through the season. When asked about her expectations for the rest of the year, Karunaratne stated, “Our schedule is really hard and at this point I think we’re lucky if we get nine or ten wins.”
Likewise, Burton adds, “We’ve got a pretty stacked schedule. But if we make the playoffs, I’ll be happy.”
Even though this is not the start of the season the Commanders would’ve wanted the excellence in the Commanders’ comeback to relevance is undeniable.
