The last month as a Redskins fan has been an interesting one. It certainly is exciting to see a star player at a key position come to town, but the "fandemoneum" has reached levels higher than anything I've ever seen, sort of. First, let's recap some of the hysteria:
- The RG3 "HOPE" Obama poster appearing everywhere, including in front of RG3 for autographs.
- Fans using a RG3 Photoshopped version of Jesus as their avatar.
- All of the RG3 license plates seen around town.
On and on. Fans have every right to be excited about Robert Griffin III, but hasn't DC sports history taught us anything?
- May 18, 2010 - With Irene Pollin on stage, the Wizards win the NBA lottery and the rights to John Wall. Two years later the Wizards are still the laughing stock of the NBA.
- June 10, 2009 - Nationals draft Stephen Strasburg #1 overall. After an exhilarating 12 starts, he undergoes Tommy John surgery sending the city into gloom and doom. (Glad to have him back).
- Redskins Nation has been WR-starved for a long time now, and there was TONS of hype Hankerson would be the next Art Monk. None of us projected he'd be benched the first half of the season and then end up on IR shortly after starting. I also didn't expect fans to continually tweet to him to get his hands operated on as well (not cool).
- Alex Ovechkin brought a ton of optimism to D.C....as much as one could for a lowly hockey franchise at the time. However, the Russian Machine's star ability has dwindled along with the franchise's chance of long-term success.
Let's be clear. Robert Griffin III is a different cat. He's a born leader and has an amazing skill set, but we've seen the DC life tear down many athletes over the years as success doesn't come. The Redskins roster is not much different now than it was last year, so what are fans really expecting? YES, WE GOT RG3 IN DC!!!!! But now what? Does that mean we must make the playoffs? Is it OK if we go 6-10? RG3 is going from reading Big 12 defenses to NFC East defenses.
As bad as the Redskins have been, it's our nature to push all of our chips on that next, new player being the guy to get us over the hump. My point? Enjoy the hysteria because it's going to be a bumpy ride throughout the 2012 season.