Top 50 Washington Commanders
The WashingtonCommanders can be traced back to 1932, when they were originally the Boston Braves, a nickname that existed one year before they became the Boston Redskins. They relocated to Washington, keeping the Redskins name in 1937, and they won the NFL Championship in both 1937 and 1942 on the strength of Sammy Baugh.
They struggled throughout the 1950s and 1960s, slowly reascending in the 1970s, and winning two Super Bowls in the 1980s (XVII & XXII) and a third in the early 90s (XXVI) on the back of the Redskins Offensive Line, the famed "Hogs."
Prior to the 2020 season, societal pressure caused them to dismiss the Redskins nickname, and after two years as the Washington Football Team, they were rechristened the Washington Commanders
Note: Football lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
This list is active up until the end of the 2023 Season.
At TCU, Sammy Baugh played basketball, baseball, and football, and he was excellent at all of them. Baugh was more passionate about baseball, but football was his true calling, and he signed with the Washington Redskins, who made him the Sixth Overall Pick in the 1937 Draft.
A late First Round Pick in 1983 by the Washington Redskins, Darrell Green became the most successful athletes ever from Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Chris Hanburger may have had a good career at North Carolina, but it was only worthy of generating an 18thRound Pick in the NFL Draft. It is likely that nobody noticed the selection of Hanburger by the Washington Redskins, but they noticed his overall professional career.
One of the best college players at Arizona State, Charlie Taylor was a star baseball and football star as a Sun Devil. On the gridiron, Taylor was the Third Overall Pick in 1963, which would transcend into a Hall of Fame career in Professional Football.
Art Monk showed a lot of promise at the University of Syracuse, so much so that he was a First Round Pick (18thOverall) in the 1980 Draft.
Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1957, Sonny Jurgensen was the Eagles’ backup when they won the 1960 NFL Championship. Jurgensen took over after as their starting QB, leading the league in Passing Yards in both 1961 and 1962. Jurgensen was hurt for much of 1963, and the Eagles deemed him expendable, and he was traded to the Washington Redskins for fellow…
The Washington Redskins got maximum value for their Ninth Round Pick in 1964 when they chose Len Hauss, a Center from the University of Georgia.
Larry Brown was considered an underachiever at Kansas State, which explains why he dropped to the Eighth Round in the 1969 Draft despite his immense talent. The Washington Redskins were the team that took him, and new Head Coach, Vince Lombardi had a special project on his hands.
Ken Houston was already established as one of the game’s top Safeties, where he played for the Houston Oilers and went to five straight AFL All-Star/Pro Bowls. After six seasons with Houston, he was traded to the Washington Redskins for five players. Despite giving up five vets, the Redskins got the better end of the transaction.
The Washington Redskins won three Super Bowls within the 1980s and early 90s, but unlike most great teams, the Offensive Line was considered the star attraction. They were the elite group that did not just win three Super Bowls but protected three different ones to a title. This group were the "Hogs," and the best of the group was Russ Grimm.
The Miami Dolphins drafted Joe Theismann in 1971, but he never signed with them, instead electing to go north to the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts, where he was a two-time CFL All-Star. The Dolphins would trade the Quarterback's rights in 1974 to the Washington Redskins, where he would sign as Billy Kilmer's backup.
Joe Jacoby went undrafted in 1981, but he found employment with the Washington Redskins where he would become one of the greatest undrafted players in franchise history.
The first Offensive Lineman chosen in the 2010 NFL Draft was Trent Williams of Oklahoma, whom the Washington Redskins selected with the Fourth Overall Pick. As gridiron history would show, it was an excellent choice.
The Washington Redskins owner, George Preston Marshall, did not want to integrate his team, but the team was forced to do so by the National Football League. In 1961, under pressure from the NFL and the Federal Government, Marshall drafted Ernie Davis, the first ever African American Heisman winner.
Charles Mann was a Third Round Pick from Nevada in 1983, and the Defensive End became a starter in his second year in the league.
We have to way back for this one, right to the franchise's origin when they were called the Boston Braves.
After two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, the team traded Dave Butz was traded to the Washington Redskins in 1975, which would be the team where he spent 14 seasons.
After becoming one of the first players in Washington State history to be named an All-American, Turk Edward signed with the Boston Braves and joined them in their inaugural season in the National Football League.
Gary Clark was so good at James Madison that he would later become the first football player to have his number retired. That being said, Clark did not begin his professional career in the NFL, as it was the Jacksonville Bulls of the USFL, which would become his first landing spot.