This section is dedicated to my favourite NFL Team, the Washington Redskins. I have been a fan of the 'Skins since 1982 when they were the first team introduced to me by my friends who were getting interested in American Football as it first got introduced in the UK. I guess they liked the Skins because the first TV coverage we got of the NFL I think was the highlights of Superbowl 17, Riggins and all. The first live Superbowl was Superbowl 18 which is referred to here as "The Superbowl we don't talk about". In any case, I even missed that one and didn't really start avidly watching it on TV until the following season when the 49ers took over.

Our favourite players of course were John Riggins, Joe Theismann and Art Monk. Riggins was the hero and in fact when I played American Football for our local team I had the number #44 jersey. I wish I had been a few years older when the Gibbs era was in full swing so I could have appreciated those early years better. Riggins best years were the 82 and 83 years that I didn't see a lot of, Theismann would bow out to LT's big hit broken leg incident in 1985, although Art Monk and Darrell Green would last a little longer ;-)

Thank goodness we had full time NFL coverage by the time 1987 came around and it was odd that in both strike shortened seasons, the Redskins won the Superbowl! Watching that first live Redskins superbowl was awesome even though it did not start out too well with Denver 10-0 up and seemingly recovering a kick return fumble. Of course, Timmy Smith and Doug Williams soon put that to rest in dramatic fashion! Odd that blowouts are not boring to watch when it's your own team winning!

I think the Redskins were one of the most popular teams in the UK because the boom time for the NFL over here was really 1984-1992 when the Redskins were one of the powerhouse franchises. The 92 superbowl once again was a great highlight although as I was at university at the time I had to put up with lots of drinking and gangs of friends shouting and screaming but not really interested in the game. I hope one day to be able to watch a superbowl and sink some beers with a fellow Redskins of even football fan rather than just casual observers. The NFLs popularity over here declined in the 90s for some reason, odd because the NFL Europe brought a team to London and they did very well to begin with. My all time wish remains to get to see the Redskins play live in RFK Stadium but of course that can't happen :-( So I guess it will have to be in the new FedEx stadium. I am really envious of all you guys out there who see the Redskins regularly and especially who got to see the Superbowls in person, and witness the great Riggins trampling all before him behind the Hogs

The Joe Gibbs era saw the Redskins compile a 140-65 record, winning three Superbowls with three different QBs. Gibbs remains the 3rd winningest head coach in NFL history, and over 12 seasons he only once finished with a losing record - and that was a 7-9 finish in 1988. He took the Skins to the playoffs in 8 of his 12 seasons.

The decline in interest was also matched by myself when I went through a period where TV and sports just weren't a big factor in my life and I sort of lost touch from the mid 90s. Little was I to know the Redskins would be in big trouble soon after and have not enjoyed much success in these years. That wasn't why I lost interest though, I got more and more into golf, but have finally come back to my roots and taken up my former passionate interest in the NFL over the past few years. Seems like a long time ago when the Redskins were one of the top teams, and the whole NFL has changed with free agency, salary caps, realignment and expansions not to mention the west coast offense is everywhere and no one runs the football any more. I have to say I do prefer the old days with bruising defense based encounters, lots of ground out rushing yards and players who stuck with a team for many years, but I guess that's just life.

Pretty strange then how Statis Pro mirrors things very neatly, because the 1980-1992 sets reflect the boom time for the NFL over here in England, as well as being the Redskins best era, but also the era before the new free agency and salary cap rules meant players swapped teams every season it seemed. I'll be adding as much Redskin stuff to this page as I can, below is a recap of some of the main things I want to include and will be adding over time. If you are a fellow Redskins fan and can contribute in any way or have any suggestions then let me know. I am really looking forward to comparing the Statis Pro cards for Redskins past and present and playing loads of replays, including Superbowls, Classic Matches, Dallas rivalries and more.

One thing I am always looking out for is a poster I used to have in the mid to late 80's. It featured John Riggins either airborne or maybe just crushing through a group of Dallas Cowboys and into the end zone. I am sure this is a very famous photo, and probably came from the 83 NFC Championship game. If you know where I can get this poster or photo, or who took it, or what magazine or publication it came from I would be very grateful if you could let me know. Success! I found the photo, thanks to 'Knightowl' from the Redskins newsgroup

• See the Famous John Riggins Photo

I will be posting cardsets for the Washington Redskins, including the official Avalon Hill cards between 1980 and 1991[2], and then custom made cards from 1992 to the present day, as well as some older historical sets from before 1980 where stats are available to make those cards. These sets will be downloadable in a number of different formats for easy printing or manipulation of the numbers as you see fit. I'll be posting season by season reviews of these years including the glorious Superbowl winning efforts in 1982, 1987 and 1991.

I will endeavour to create custom cards for the 70 greatest Redskin players as nominated last year in the historical celebrations and throwback tributes. For the better known players this will include season by season cards, as well as total career cards for each of them. I'll be posting plenty of information about these players, and picking out my own personal favourites with profiles, photos and career summaries

Which Redskins team was the best? I hope to find out with a special Redskins only tournament which will put together the great Redskins teams of the past 20 years and simulate a playoff tournament to crown the overall greatest Redskins team. The three superbowl winning teams will be joined by the NFC Champion 1983 team, and possibly some other teams too.

Simulated replays of great Redskin games from the past 20 or 30 years. This will include classic games that we won as well as lost, and that were thrilling contests which made for compulsive viewing. Full box scores, stats and play by plays will be posted for each of these games, and compared to the real life scores and stats where the information is available. This will include the Superbowls and playoff appearances as well as classic Monday Night encounters and gripping regular season games.

Possibly the greatest rivalry in the NFL, I'll post historical information and reviews of great Redskins-Cowboys games of the past, and a summary of the key moments in the series. Of course, we'll be replaying many of the great Redskin-Cowboy matchups from over the last 20 or 30 years and trying to recreate that special atmosphere that you only found when RFK stadium was rocking to the rafters. We Want Dallas !

Links to various sites on the world wide web that hold historical results, stats, data and info about the Redskins. I will post as much of this info as I can find here on the site and will endeavour to keep it updated year by year. Let's hope it's not too long before we add another Super Bowl to our glorious history!

Last update: 21st February, 2003 © Lee Harris