Dan Quinn loved to see the Washington football fans who filled up bleachers this week at their training camp at Commanders Park.
“It’s such a cool reminder to know this historic fan base here and knowing finally a real part of that,” the Commanders coach said of his first football exposure to the fan base. “And so to see that, it definitely brought up a good feeling of what is next here. As far as the energy that happens, it’s good because what you want at practice is really getting ready to practice performing. And so the more people, energy, crowd noise of things that can go with that, that’s all part of performing. It’s a fun part of having that experience.”
He couldn’t get enough of them.
“The only way to become excellent at something is to practice,” Quinn told reporters. “That is the way, and so adding the fan base into that, the excitement, the performing that goes with that, that’s really important because you don’t want to ever assume, ’OK in the lights, how’s it going to go?’ But seeing that type of support and enthusiasm with that, that’s a really big piece. So yeah, we’re really pumped about everybody being here.”
Somebody might want to tell him that this may be the best it gets. There’s no mistaking who the home team is at Commanders Park training camp.
If it’s so great, why not more practice with fans? Why only five open practices, plus two more for season ticket holders? You would think new owners Josh Harris and company would be running buses around the DMV picking up fans for a trip to Ashburn. They could use the distraction from arguing about the team’s name.
There is some work to be done to repair this fan base, and more open practices would seem to be a smart gesture.
Circumstances, though, appear to have prevented the Commanders from opening the doors, because in part the doors and other pieces of Commanders Park need repair. The 32-year-old facility is undergoing $10 million in renovations, building upgrades and the installation of a new grass field after tearing up the old Astroturf (in 2012, the team announced $30 million in headquarters upgrades, some of which was paid for by Virginia taxpayers).
All that is considered a roadblock to more fans in attendance. However, if I were this team, I would let the fans play with the heavy equipment if they wanted to.
Also, their preseason schedule — two road games plus joint practices in New York and Miami limits the days they are at Commanders Park for training camp.
How do Washington’s open practice dates compare to other teams? The Baltimore Ravens have 20 open practices — four of them limited to specialty groups like suite holders, military people and others. Baltimore can accommodate 1,200 fans for practice. Commanders’ officials said they can handle 3,000 fans.
The Philadelphia Eagles had just one open practice this summer on Thursday, but that was at Lincoln Financial Field, with a $10 charge to go to the Eagles Autism Foundation.
Neither the Ravens nor the Eagles have to rebuild a fan base like the Commanders do.
The team may not be long for Commanders Park. In June, theburn.com reported that the team filed plans with Loudoun County to build three data centers on the headquarters/training camp property.
The team issued the following statement: “The Washington Commanders are committed to the Commonwealth. Loudoun County is where many of our coaches, players and employees not only work, but also call home. Our intention in filing for this approval is to secure the option and flexibility for possible future development on our 162-acre site and it is not a plan to take any action in the near future. Any development we do will be leveraged to reinvest in our football program and fan experience.”
Buddy Rizer, the county’s economic development executive director, told theburn.com that the filing was not a surprise.
“We were aware this was coming,” he said. “(The Commanders) have been very transparent with us.” He said the Commanders were preserving the value of their land for all potential future uses, and that there are no actual plans to build data centers on the property at this time.
But the team is also pursuing plans for a new stadium, and it’s likely those plans would include a new headquarters and practice facility.
When former owner Dan Snyder and general manager Bruce Allen had previous stadium talks with the District, that included a new training home as well. Maryland and the property where the existing stadium sits in Landover will likely have the same plans. Virginia doesn’t even qualify as a stalking horse anymore.
There has been a full house for all the open practices to date and the remaining three — Friday, Sunday and Monday — have been “sold out” (there is no charge for the tickets) as well. There was a hunger, albeit a limited one, for the new Washington Commanders menu.
Putting more food on the table would have been welcomed.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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