How Jayden Daniels Might Help Reduce Partisan Polarization

That's a lot to put on a 23-year-old, but hear me out.

By Mark Strand

The Washington Redskins last won the Super Bowl in 1991. George H.W. Bush was the President when Mark Rypien led the team to a 37-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills. It was also the beginning of the end of partisan cooperation in Washington, DC.

You think I jest. But I don’t. There was something about the Redskins (now formally named the Commanders) that brought this town together. The football team was like a common reference point that gave everyone something to talk about to each other. Liberal, conservative, Republican, or Democrat could strike up a conversation with each other at any time by simply saying, “What a game that was.” 

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” – Bill Shankly

They didn’t have to say what a game the Redskins played because we knew what you were talking about the moment you opened your mouth, whether you were in line at the grocery store or hanging out in the Speaker’s Lobby of the House of Representatives. And no matter your ideological views, odds are you would respond with a smile or a groan, depending on how the game went, and then proceed to give your opinion on a great play or what the ‘Skins could have done differently. 

The Redskins were something everyone in Washington had in common. Granted, having a Congress that represents all 50 states, there were a lot of other favorite teams around town, but even if you favored your hometown team, you still had to follow the Redskins.

“Sports creates a bond between contemporaries that lasts a lifetime. It also gives your life structure, discipline and a genuine, sincere, pure fulfillment that few other areas of endeavor provide.” – Bob Cousy

There is something special about sports and the humans who follow them. Sports teams give us passion and rouse us to cheer them on to success. They bring us together with other like-minded fans who are only too happy to put aside the world’s worries for three hours on a Sunday afternoon when we only see the team we hold in common rather than ideological, ethnic, or religious differences. 

Football has rules, and there is a penalty for breaking those rules. Congressional debate has rules, but lately, there has been little penalizing or social rebuking for breaking the rules. Football has heroes – certainly the ones on your favorite team – but also those on other teams that a true fan learns to respect. In Congressional debate, Republicans and Democrats cheer on their own but have been lacking in respect for the skilled legislators in the other party. In football, it is great to win, but sometimes you lose. Being able to lose a vote and still respect your opponent allows you to come back stronger and learn from your mistakes. But in today’s Congress, neither the House nor the Senate leadership risks bringing votes to the Floor unless they are assured of victory – which leads to very little being accomplished. You can’t win a game if you are afraid to play the game.

“Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss.” - Doug Williams

What was the benefit of having a football team that everyone cheered for? Well, it’s pretty hard to exchange laughs and thoughts about a football game and then go onto the Floor of the House or inside a Committee Room and insult that same person. Having something in common encourages civility and, perhaps, even teamwork.

Nothing was so appalling from a teamwork perspective as the circular firing squad that made up the House Republican Conference last year. For months, the dysfunction of a political party was on full display, undermining any hope of legislative accomplishment or a coherent policy message. 

“Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.” – Magic Johnson

So what does this have to do with Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders? After the 1991 Super Bowl some 33 years ago, the Washington Redskins lost their magic. First, they were just average. They won some and lost some, but the team’s traditions and the fans’ dedication sustained the team in the eyes of the city for several more years. Then, after Dan Snyder purchased the team in 1999, those traditions faded, and the fan’s loyalty faded. For fifty years, the Redskins had sold out every home game, when that remarkable streak came to an end in 2018. 

Under Dan Snyder, the ‘Skins had become a frustrating and losing franchise. People did not talk about them the same way. They lost their ability to bind the city together. They tried many different things to restore the team – even bringing the iconic Joe Gibbs back to coach from 2004-2007, but the magic was gone. They somehow managed to lose their name – going two years without a team moniker, known only as the Washington Football Team. 

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth

And when they were finally renamed the Commanders, no one, except those who had to use the new name, did so. Even today, when the team scores a touchdown, the fans will break into a rousing version of Hail to the Redskins, in defiance of the politically correct name. When you think about it, no one celebrates the name of something they do not respect. Small wonder that in 2016, a poll done by the Washington Post revealed that 9 in 10 Native Americans were not offended by the Redskins name. 

But here we are in 2024. The much-despised Dan Snyder is gone, bought out by a more serious-minded group of owners who seemed interested in winning. They spent their first year observing and planning, and then in 2024, went to work building a winning team. The team’s centerpiece was a young college quarterback named Jayden Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy – college sports top honor. And they went for the best – he started his very first game after joining the team. His smile is infectious. He makes his teammates better – both on offense and defense. And he has, after only eight games, made the fans start to believe again. 

“One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” – Knute Rockne

Yesterday’s game against the Chicago Bears will be remembered by football fans for decades to come. The offense did not play particularly well, and the defense held as long as they could, giving up a go-ahead touchdown with 25 seconds to play. And yet that rookie, hurting from a rib injury last week, was still smiling, thinking, and leading. The team made a few plays to move the ball down the field, including a brilliant 13-yard pass to Terry McLaurin, who slipped out of bounds with two seconds remaining.

And there we were – still watching the game. Three decades of mediocrity could not get us to turn off the television to eat dinner. This young quarterback had given us hope again. We watched even though it would take a miracle to win the game. I explained to my 20-year-old daughter, who started watching this year, what a “Hail Mary” pass was – a pass thrown up in the air like a prayer, knowing its only chance of success would be an act of divine intervention. 

Daniels took the ball, ran back, ran to his right, evading tacklers, and then ran back to his left – in a thirteen-second effort to let his teammates get down the field. And then he threw the ball as high and far as possible. And, whether or not divine intervention was involved, a football miracle occurred as Noah Brown caught the tipped ball in the end zone for an improbable and glorious victory (go ahead and watch it - I’ve watched it at least twenty times so far).

“Football doesn’t build character, it reveals character!” – Marv Levy

Today, if you are standing in line at the grocery store, you can turn to the person in front or behind you and say, “Did you see the game last night? And once again, they would know exactly what you were talking about. In an ugly and seemingly endless election cycle, we could turn to our neighbors, no matter who they were and who they were voting for to be President and share a smile and a bit of amazement about Washington D.C.’s football team. For a day, at least, we shared a bond and the once-familiar excitement for the team that once belonged to each of us and now maybe does again.

Who knows if it will last? If the Good Lord is listening to our prayers, He’ll protect that skinny 23-year-old kid from LSU, not only for the Commanders but for all of us who work and live in Washington D.C.  Finally, we have something that binds us together, gives us a reason to smile, and a reason to share a kind word and expression of, dare I say joy with our colleagues, neighbors, and even our political opponents. And that, like Jayden Daniel’s Hail Mary pass, might just be an act of divine intervention that our Capitol City needs.