Brenda on Loving the Redskins

"I grew up in Baltimore and went to the Briarwood School for Women in Connecticut to take a two-year college course in the legal field. After school, I went back to Baltimore, but it had changed for me. I was ready for a new city. I worked as a secretary in a law firm in Baltimore for a few years and then moved to D.C. in 1975. Most of my career has been spent in the field of law. In D.C., I worked at Williams and Connolly for 21 years. I left there to to work for a Federal District Court Judge who was a former partner in Williams and Connolly. I left her in 2006 to work in the Executive Branch. You know, I really miss the law and still read the Legal Times online. I witnessed so much history with the law firms. I worked on the Hinckley case and Oliver North. Most of what we did was white-collar crime, which I really liked. I don’t have a master's degree, but I have been around the block a little bit. I have been fortunate enough to meet a lot of people, including Presidents Bush and Obama.

"One of the greatest things about working for Williams and Connolly was that, at the time, Edward Bennett Williams, the founder of the firm, was also the owner of the Washington Redskins. At the time, he also acquired the Baltimore Orioles. Well, he couldn’t have major stock ownership in two major teams so chose to give up ownership of the Redskins. Before he did that, I was able to purchase season tickets through Mr. Williams because any employee could buy tickets, all you had to do was ask him. So, I did, and have been a season ticket holder since 1981. That is when I became a real Redskins fan. As I am from Baltimore, I was, and always will be, a Baltimore Colts fan. I was really angry when they moved to Indianapolis. In my heart, they are still the Baltimore Colts. I still follow them and they remain my true love, but I love the Redskins, too.

"Now, I have a daughter who is 27 and a die hard Redskins fan. I can’t do the cold, but she is out at the stadium no matter how cold it is. She absolutely loves the Redskins. For Christmas, I gave her a Redskins key chain, socks, toothbrush, pajamas, earmuffs, cap, coat, and tennis shoes. I have had my tickets since 1981 and will probably turn them over to her. I have been through so much with that team that I will never let the tickets leave my family. I remember my proudest moment was when they won the Super Bowl in 1982. I was working at the law firm and they let us go to the parade. It was raining and I was still out there. Meeting some of the Redskins was like meeting God! My saddest moment was when Lawrence Taylor took out Joe Theismann and the death of Sean Taylor. He was just too young.

"Now, it is pretty depressing to be a Redskins fan. I only went to two games this year because they weren’t playing good enough for me to go sit in that parking lot for two hours trying to get out of the stadium at the end of the game. But, I don’t care if I miss every other game, I will never miss opening day at the stadium. People are so ready for football, I know that I am. I feel like you can explode when football season is back. I get so excited. To me, that is the number one best day of the year, opening day. I am hoping that Shanahan, the new coach, will bring renewed hope and spirit to the city of Washington."