At first it looked like just another picture of Washington football fans, three old guys in burgundy and gold sweatshirts, enjoying a pleasant Sunday at the stadium.
But when I looked closer, it seemed as if my brain and my heart were not on the same page.
My heart knew these three aging gentlemen were if not friends, at least people who had bought me some happiness in the past. Even if my brain did not immediately recognize who they were.
Having first seen him while covering high school football back in the day when he was at Pulaski County High School, “that’s Gary Clark” was the first voice to pop into my head. As I then turned my eyes right at the professorial looking man in the middle, I realized it was a professor all right. Professor Arthur Monk, who taught defenses what it was like to see him catch pass after pass in a long and stellar career.
Then I heard the voice of the late Ronald Reagan, scanning the White House lawn and asking “where’s Ricky Sanders?” Sure enough, No. 83 was on the right and completed the trio.
Three legends, wearing sweatshirts that imitated the Washington Redskins jerseys they performed so proudly in long ago. If you weren’t a football fan back then, you could have just as easily thought these three were successful businessmen who were guests of the team right down to the VIP lanyards around their necks instead of three people who turned Super Bowl XXII on its ear back on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
Sunday the team honored Darrell Green as his number was retired, and many former players came to witness the event including these three. Darrell is still active in the community in Northern Virginia, so you can see him just about any time you want; seeing these three together, however, was a rare treat.
Not that I’m crazy or anything (that topic is debated regularly in my home) but other voices soon joined in. The signature call of Frank Herzog saying “Touchdown Washington Redskins” emerged along with those of Sam Huff and Sonny Jurgensen. Soon I was seeing the collective leap of the “Fun Bunch” celebrating another Washington touchdown before the No Fun League decided that was too much fun.
The high-pitched voice of Joe Gibbs – the man who ran the same play and formation for 10 weeks with Gary Clark breaking left downfield, only to have him cut right in week 11 at the perfect time against the New York Giants, leaving him wide open for a touchdown – was next. Then came the cheers of Chief Zee, cranking up the diesel as John Riggins ran “70 Chip” on his way to a Super Bowl-deciding touchdown, followed by Darrell Green, grabbing his rib cartilage after leaping a defender as he scored on a punt against the Chicago Bears, giving thanks for the blessings he’d received the entire time.
All from one picture. All from one era. All from one of the happiest times as a sports fan in my life.
This picture prompted more than just sports memories, however. It’s a little like as you grow old and go to high school reunions; the first couple of reunions are a game of seeing how well everyone did. Then as they get up there in number, they become more of a relief that your friends survived the game of life, and seem well adjusted to the aches, pains and challenges of growing old.
That’s what I felt seeing this, although the good people of social media did their best to make me feel like a dinosaur. As I was thinking how these were great times from my 30s, many a poster commented on this picture when I posted it on X, saying they were the best times of their days in elementary school.
Thanks, guys.
It’s a great illustration of the power of sports, as many a Dad bonded with a son over the antics of these three and their teammates in the 80s and early 90s. I can’t remember where my keys are half the time, but I remember Ricky Sanders running free to catch a Doug Williams pass in the Super Bowl. Or Art Monk catching three passes in a row against Denver in a Monday Night Football game, the second tying Steve Largent’s record of 819 passes in a career, and the third breaking it. Or Gary Clark, seemingly catching a pass every 5 minutes in a Super Bowl against the Buffalo Bills.
The memories of all this came flooding back Sunday.
Of wins, losses and great football.
And how lucky we all were to have witnessed it.