Of the 31 other games through Week 2, just four drew fewer fans than the Redskins' home openerGETTY IMAGES
Most Redskins players interviewed after the team's loss to the Colts on Sunday either "shrugged off the poor attendance or said they didn't notice it at all," but RB Chris Thompson "emphasized the importance of fans showing up," according to Matthew Paras of the WASHINGTON TIMES. Thompson: "We want to have our stadium packed. ... For it to be as empty as it was, to me, it was a little bit of a shock." Thompson added, "We've just got to win games. We win games and we dominate, I'm sure more fans will show up" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 9/18). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said the end of the sellout streak is a "big deal locally," as the top deck at FedExField on Sunday "looked like the Miami Marlins games." Kornheiser said of the Redskins, "For 50 years, they owned Washington DC. There’s a combination here of a bad team, a dull team, a terrible in-game experience, the sense that you’re being gouged, unresponsive management. This is beginning to feel like the beginning of a revolution” (“PTI,” ESPN, 9/17).
ISSUES ABOUND: In DC, Barry Svrluga writes the "most significant takeaway" from Colts-Redskins was the "lousy attendance." Of the 31 other NFL games through Week 2, "just four drew fewer fans" than the Redskins' home opener (57,013), with Chiefs-Chargers at 25,351 in Week 1, Ravens-Bengals at 50,018 in Week 2, Rams-Raiders at 53,857 in Week 1 and Eagles-Buccaneers at 56,552 in Week 2. The Redskins have a "penchant for off-the-field nonsense, a tendency that stretches out over two decades." For the Redskins, the "losing and the junk stadium and the maddening traffic and the long walk from Metro and the relative comfort of the couch and the frustration, years of frustration" with Owner Daniel Snyder are all "factors in this truth: This has been coming." The problem is that the fans that the team has lost can "turn their attention to products that are more consistently pleasing, or are not owned by Daniel Snyder, or both." The good part of this problem is that there is "no longer pretense around the Redskins" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 9/18).
