WASHINGTON — Jayden Daniels has one of the best-selling jerseys in the NFL. Forgive the rookie quarterback for not noticing just how many Washington Commanders fans are now wearing his name and No. 5 on their backs.
“I appreciate them,” Daniels said, “but I haven’t even really paid attention to that.”
Daniels and his teammates are saying all the right things and trying to block out the hype they have created with the franchise's first 4-1 start since 2008. But there's no doubting the Commanders have engendered optimism that has not existed at least since the team has had this name and really for quite some time before that.
“When you’re winning, it just creates a little bit more fire in you,” third-year cornerback Benjamin St-Juste said Wednesday. “Winning, it just puts a little extra smile to your face when you come here because we got the potential to do something great here.”
Washington has not had a winning season since 2016. Daniels is the brightest hope at football's most important position since Robert Griffin III in 2012.
That's the year Stephen Boyd became a season-ticket holder. Forgive him if he is reticent to believe this time around is different.
“It’s like we’re going up the escalator, if you will, but I keep looking back because I know what was behind me and I’m afraid, ‘Will I fall off? Can we keep going?’” said Boyd, who has not missed a home or away game for the past decade and is known for hosting fan rallies on the road. “I keep looking back even though I want to just continue to look up and beyond. But the past still haunts me."
Dan Quinn in his first year as coach has not been part of that past and, when asked about that mentality earlier this week, could hardly wrap his mind around it.
“Boy, I don’t think of it in that way at all,” Quinn said Monday. “For those who are thinking the other way, I’d say it’s 2024, and so just let’s let it ride with these guys and have a blast.”
Ted Abela, a season-ticket holder since 2001, thinks “football is fun again" and “being a Washington fan is fun again.” He has noticed more fellow fans at games in Commanders gear in recent weeks than the interim name or the team's longstanding name that was dropped four summers ago, and the line at the stadium store showed it after a 34-13 beatdown of the Cleveland Browns.
He's willing to believe this season because he thinks this brand of winning is sustainable and enjoyable and no one is counting on an undefeated record down the stretch to make a long shot run at the playoffs.
“Now, they’re actually winning games ahead of schedule, and it almost feels like we’re playing with house money,” said Abela, who's known among the fanbase as “Tailgate Ted” for his pregame gatherings. “The way Jayden’s winning, the way this team is winning, people are back.”
Quinn said he had the best seat in the house for that last weekend, a 360-degree view of fans being back on board after years of losing. Players who have been around for some of it are enjoying being on the right side of games for a change.
"It’s been a lot of fun," seventh-year defensive tackle Daron Payne said. “Just being with the guys and being able to enjoy the locker room after the games, it’s been fun.”
Daniels, who has vaulted into favorite status as offensive rookie of the year, is having plenty of fun. Five games into his pro career, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 draft pick said, “I love playing football, and it makes it even better when you’re winning football games.”
Nick Allegretti, like Daniels and so many others on the roster is new to Washington, so the veteran left guard can't speak to the scars that existed in the organization. But it's a familiar feeling from his rookie year in Kansas City in 2019, when the Chiefs were coming off an overtime loss in the AFC championship game that then fueled three Super Bowl runs over five seasons.
“There’s a drive,” Allegretti said. “Guys, they don’t want to go back to that. They’re hungry. 4-1’s great, but nobody ever makes the playoffs with four wins. So that hunger, that pain from not having success you’ve wanted in the past, it feels similar.”
Safety Quan Martin thinks the Commanders are “just scratching the surface.” Visiting the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday will be a major test, and winning that is what Boyd thinks would make him “really put any fears that I’ve had in the future away.”
No matter the result, players are settling in for a long season and what they hope is a chance to continue to defy expectations.
“I feel like every week we get a little bit better," Payne said. “We are a long way from where we really want to be.”