Redskins '77 - Part One(?)

I could sit at my computer and spend the next couple of hours cranking out an article about how I still believe that Robert Griffin III (who is TWENTY-FOUR years old) can be a very good NFL quarterback (again), or about how the media coverage on Griffin's comments is obviously overblown, or about how the rest of this season should be an extended audition for 2015, with every player's job up for grabs.

Or, I could even talk about how the Redskins may find a way to rally and beat the 49ers this Sunday.  Because, you know, parity and NFL and Harbaugh and anything can happen and blah blah blah.

Instead, I'd rather take my mind (and maybe yours) off of all of the soul-crushing noise that constitutes the majority of Redskins coverage at this point in the season.  Even if that distraction lasts for only a few minutes.

While cleaning out some boxes at my mom's house last week, I found my late father's "Redskins '77" preview magazine.  Costing a princely $2.50 ($9.80 in today's money), the program-style publication featured a message from then-president and part-owner Edward Bennett Williams, a recap of the successful 1976 season, lots of ads, and even more great pictures.

Let's look at a few of those pictures, shall we?

The cover shows a famous, rain-drenched Monday Night football game against the Cardinals from 1976.  The Redskins won 20-10, but the game's notoriety comes from the fact that St. Louis committed ten turnovers, including an NFL-record eight fumbles lost:

Here's a picture including the then-head coach, a future governor and senator, the current general manager, and three dogs who don't seem particularly interested in posing for this family photo:

Here's George Allen celebrating with bespectacled defensive back Joe Lavender during what would turn out to be a 20-17 Redskins overtime victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.  Lavender picked off two passes in the win:

Finally, here's Joe Theismann getting his squat on. Theismann was still a year away from becoming more than an intermittent starter for the Redskins. Also, I want that spotter's t-shirt:

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What the rest of this year holds for the Redskins is anyone's guess.  It's almost certainly not good, but it's probably also not quite as bad as the doomsayers on Twitter (and in the always-joyous DC media!) would have us believe.

Still, trips down memory lane, photographic or otherwise, may continue to be an appealing option for the remainder of 2014.