Washingtonians still have a rooting interest in the NFL playoffs even though the Redskins finished 5-11 — at least according to Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh. He’s inviting everyone to the Inner Harbor when the Ravens face the Houston Texans on Sunday. “It’s an amazing East Coast area,” he said. “You’ve got the Redskins, the Ravens, the Eagles, the Jets and the Giants, the Steelers. It’s all right there. A lot of those teams are NFC teams. We’re kind of in the middle of that. We welcome all those teams’ fans.
“We want to be their AFC team. That’s all we’re asking.”
First, funny how the Ravens coach mentioned the Redskins before his own team.
Second, the invitation is declined.
No bandwagon jumping. No trading jerseys. No wearing purple and heading north.
No true fan abandons his or her team — ever. Maybe an exception can be made for those who are relocating to another city and want to join the locals. But there’s no coming back. The Redskins lost plenty of fans in North Carolina to the Panthers, in Tennessee to the Titans and in Maryland to the Ravens.
The Ravens have tried to get a piece of the D.C. market since their 1995 arrival. The Baltimore Colts’ “corrals” were as far south as Bowie before the team left for Indianapolis in 1984. Not too many Colts fans were absorbed into the Redskins’ fold, though.
Because Redskins tickets were impossible to get until recent years, the Ravens successfully gained fans in the District’s Maryland suburbs who wanted to attend NFL games. It was a state team, after all, and in another conference, which means there’s little conflict of interest because the Ravens only meet the Redskins every three years.
Some D.C. families now include a Ravens fan, much to the same dismay as when Cowboys fans emerge just to annoy the clan. It’s called being anti-social.
Baltimoreans don’t like the Redskins, believing former owner Jack Kent Cooke tried to block the Ravens’ move from Cleveland. Indeed, Cooke wanted to build a stadium in Laurel.
But Cooke’s alleged interference was nothing compared to Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who tried to stop the Nationals from coming to Washington in 2005. Angelos could have shared the markets, especially since the Nats are in the National League and the Orioles are in the American League. As retribution, Washington fans have abandoned the O’s for the Nats.
That Harbaugh and his players even care about winning over Redskins fans is surprising. M&T Bank Stadium will be overflowing. Their fans are beyond passionate. It’s a solid organization that doesn’t need to poach Redskins fans, who aren’t looking to cross over anyway.
“Our fans are fantastic,” Harbaugh said. “You don’t see many opposing colors in our stadium ever.”
That’s fine. Ravens fans can fill M&T, and Redskins fans will, uh, half fill FedEx Field. But whenever the Redskins return to postseason, there won’t be any room for Ravens fans inside FedEx.
Or anyone else who traded burgundy and gold for purple.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
