Well I perhaps should have come here first
I put a bit about myself in another thread and in my profile, but let me formally introduce myself.
Hi everyone! I'm Knightingale (aka Jon)
I'm a long time fan of the Washington Redskins who is living in Birmingham in the UK.
Quick repeat of the blurb from the other thread.
I've been a fan since 1984 when I picked the Washington Redskins because of their uniform colours. It was Superbowl XVIII and I could go with either the black and silver of the Raiders or the Burgundy and Gold of the Redskins. Red has always been my fave colour so the choice was easy.
I was 13 years old and this was my first exposure to the sport, but I loved it. I didn't understand what the hell was going on yet, but I loved it. It was so much more exciting than our crappy soccer and cricket. At the same time I started to follow the NBA too (Chicago Bulls fan, the Red theme again!).
Initially my team choices seemed bad, the Skins lost that game, but I never wavered in my support. I've always been a 'stick with em' kinda guy. The 90's were a glorious time. The Bulls were winning with MJ on the court and the Redskins were winning with... well with a variety of players under Joe Gibbs. It was a good time. While I followed both sports it was definitely Football that had the upper hand in my affections.
Then came the 2000's and the swing in fortune. The Redskins were just universally bad. I'm ashamed to admit that I started to follow the NBA much more closely than the NFL. But even through it all I still followed the Redskins. They were still my team, it was just there was little to get excited about. Then Lebron James came to the NBA and sparked my interest.
Every NFL season was just pretty painful. It was sad to watch my team be so bad all the time. There was just nothing to get excited about really. Anytime my hopes got raised they were dashed again. Sean Taylor, Donovan McNabb, Joe Gibbs... All the great things that either ended too soon or never really played out as we hoped.
Then for some reason 2011 came around. The season was a disaster but the hype around the draft dragged me in. Luck or Griffin? Who would it be? Either way it looked like FINALLY we might have that franchise QB that we'd been searching for really since the Theismann days. I mean we'd won with Williams and Rypien, but what we really needed was our very own Brady or Rodgers. And these prospects looked GOOD.
I didn't really care who we got, just that we got one.
RGIII's first game lit the fires that had been smouldering for so long. Even through the rough patch before the winning streak I was back on the NFL full time. This team could ignite at any point I was convinced of it.
The 2012 season was one of epic highs and a crashing low at the end. RGIII may be done here, but he is the man responsible for igniting my NFL passion once again.
From there I started to trawl the internet looking for Redskins news and information. I started listening to the SkinsCast podcast and ate up every episode (and getting frustrated when there wasn't one!).
On there I heard an advert for BGO.
A place for respectful and friendly discussion about the Washington Redskins?! AWESOME! I needed to be there. There's too much hate on the internet and I wanted a place away from that. So I came looking and here you guys and gals are.
I've lurked for a while and watched what you guys talk about and it just seemed like a great place to chat and talk about the games and the news. So I finally broke my silence and posted. You guys have been awesome welcoming me and I look forward to being here a long time and chatting with you about all things Redskins.
In August this year I married my partner. It was a brilliant day. I couldn't be luckier... apart from the fact that she's a Green Bay Packers fan.
(The above picture was our Wedding day! LOL We didn't actually get married in the shirts, but changed into them for the reception!)
She embraced the sport because of me, and picked the team because she likes the colour Green. LOL
It makes for some interesting times.
(She has even started writing a blog about her new love of the NFL and the Packers from a female perspective and someone who is just learning about the game. If you're interested - Facebook page:
Packers Princess Facebook and her blog:
Packers Princess Blog/ - Its fun to see her getting to grips with a sport I love).
Other notes about me: HUGE movie buff. Bit of a gamer. I write fiction as a hobby. Dabble in art (though I'm rubbish at it!) Love Formula 1. Huge comic book nerd! Work as an IT consultant. Spend far too much money on Redskins gear!
Anyhow. Thank you for having me here, feel free to chat if you see me on.
Now how do I make a Blog??