Aaron Recaps Pierre Garcon's "All-White" Charity Party

Last Thursday night I had the pleasure and privilege of attending Pierre Garcon's fourth annual "all-white" clothing charity event which benefited the local Boys and Girls Club. I was able to take the place of our fearless leader, Ken Meringolo, who is in the process of celebrating his 40th birthday. Happy birthday, Ken. You're likely halfway dead at this point.



The event was able to raise nearly $100,000 to go towards support programs for at-risk youth in the Washington, D.C. area, so it's a really great cause.



Hogs Haven was granted a premier spot on the "red carpet" (which was blue, go figure) to take pictures and interview players. It was kind of cool to be rubbing elbows with "the guys" in DC sports media that most of you have seen on TV and are considered authorities on Redskins news. The downside was of course that they had legit camera crews and equipment, and I was a dude in a white polo with an iPhone. So they were easily able to out-muscle me to get interviews and soundbites with key players before they were whisked up the elevators to the rooftop party. However I was able to get plenty of pictures on the red carpet; I hope to get those uploaded soon.



Then the players started arriving. The first group of guys were primarily rookies, then the core of the team showed up, and later in the evening, the man of the hour Pierre Garcon arrived. I stood literally feet from, and took several pictures with, past and present Redskins including but not limited to: Joe Theismann, Doc Walker, Kirk Cousins, Pierre Garcon, Trent Williams, Ryan Kerrigan, Niles Paul, Preston Smith, Bashaud Breeland, Spencer Long, Trent Murphy, Morgan Moses, Ricky-Jean Francois, Chris Baker, Will Compton, Josh Doctson, Jamison Crowder, Shawn Lauvao, Arie Kouandijo, Martrell Spaight, Keith Marshall, Ryan Grant, Matt Ioannidis, Nate Sudfeld, and Houston Bates.



The first thing that struck me about seeing a lot of these players in the flesh is DAMN, they are big guys. Now I'm of average stature, and I knew most of these NFL players would be towering over me, but I was shocked at how big some of these guys are in person. I could simply not comprehend Ryan Kerrigan plowing into me at full speed; I think I would be dead or severely injured, like not even kidding. Standing next to them in person really gives you a perspective at how tough and physical this game is. Players that really shocked me with how tall/wide they are in person: Trent Murphy (looks easily 280-290 now; massive frame), Morgan Moses, Will Compton (he's a really broad-shouldered dude), Kirk Cousins (looked every bit of 6'3" and about 220), Keith Marshall (not super tall, but built), Preston Smith, and Nate Sudfeld (holy crap is he tall). Players that didn't necessarily shock me in person: Stephen Paea, Ricky-Jean Francois, Chris Baker, Niles Paul, and Shawn Lauvao. Basically, what I took away from this is that our offensive line is massive and our defensive line is a bit undersized -- although who are we kidding, they're all very large humans.



After the whole red carpet ordeal, which was about 2 hours, I finally headed upstairs and enjoyed the party. There was an open bar (which was sponsored by Tito's Vodka, very legit) and basically 60% of the Washington Redskins organization hanging out on a rooftop at sunset in Washington D.C., chumming with regular people like myself. It was a pretty awesome, almost surreal experience. The players were clearly enjoying themselves and everyone was getting pictures and talking. Over the course of the evening I got to chat/take pictures with: Keith Marshall, Bashaud Breeland, Ryan Grant, Ryan Kerrigan and Niles Paul. Nothing we really spoke about was of ground-breaking nature to share with you: Keith Marshall's knee is feeling "awesome" after his ACL tear in college, Ryan Grant misses New Orleans, Niles Paul was rocking a top-and-bottom gold grill, and Ryan Kerrigan wants "at least" 12 sacks this season. The one prevailing theme was that, without exception, every player I spoke to was EXCEEDINGLY nice and went out of their way to talk with me, even though I know for a fact they took about 100 other pictures that night. I couldn't be more impressed with the quality of men on the team and the way they represented themselves in a non-ideal setting with a lot of expectations.



My takeaway from the evening is that there's a real sense of camaraderie on the team; we're building something special here. Not only do the players look like professional football players but they seem to genuinely like each other, too. I think that's an underrated attribute of a winning organization; it's not just about assembling talent, but playing together. These guys look like they play together for for each other. I'm excited for what the future holds and for the upcoming season.