A Few Anti-Fans Refuse To Board Redskins' Bandwagon

An Antipathy for the Team Has a Variety of Causes

Jacques Morgan, right, and shop manager Erica Hoffmann, who loves the team so much she got a tattoo of the team logo on her ankle two years ago. (Bill O'leary - The Washington Post)

Jacques Morgan, the proudly contrarian owner of an Adams Morgan used-book shop, could not help himself: The Washington Redskins must go down, he insisted, even though his wife had told him he should not go public with that sentiment, if only because it could anger customers.

It's not that he's a fan of another team, and he doesn't dislike the Redskins, per se. He abhors sports in general and football in particular. Let the Redskins lose, he said as he drove downtown to pick up some books this week. Let the season end. Let peace return to his city.

"The time and energy people spend reading the abstracts -- are those statistics? -- what a crummy waste of time," Morgan said between drags on an unfiltered cigarette. He railed about the way the games sound emanating from a television, something he finds akin to fingernails screeching across an endless blackboard. "It just goes on and on," he said.

In these days of unfettered Redskins fever, it is not difficult to find devotees of the burgundy and gold. They can be spotted on street corners, in bars and in hallways at work paying homage to Joe Gibbs, fretting over whether the offense will get its act together and making plans to watch Saturday's game against Seattle as if it had all the weight of a rocket launch in the early days of the space race.

But for all the unabashed boosterism, there is a murmuring subset of Washingtonians who don't smile dreamily at the thought of Santana Moss catching a touchdown pass. They would, in fact, enjoy nothing more than seeing the Redskins go splat. For some, the reason is the owner. For others, it's what they see as unceasing hype. And for a few, the reason is history, sometimes personal.

David Hickey of Alexandria acknowledged that his passion for the Cowboys is the primary reason he hopes the Redskins go belly up. But he said he is also turned off by what he described as the hubris of Daniel Snyder, even as he conceded that he is somewhat jealous of the team's owner. "He's a lifelong fan and was able to buy them -- isn't that every fan's dream?"

Snyder's spending -- to acquire whatever player or coach he desires -- drives a lot of antipathy toward the Redskins.

Scott Sanders, 41, a Northwest communications consultant, went to the movies during Saturday's game. This week, he said, he will be at a Buddhist retreat in Bethesda.

The traveling band of Hogettes, with all that "bad drag" they wear, are part of the problem, he said, but "Dan Snyder is the icing on cake." Nothing is more depressing, Sanders said, than the prospect of the Redskins winning the Super Bowl and fans partying all night. "It's too much to stomach," he said, sighing.

A case of Redskins rage has prompted the 30-year-old blogger who created the why.i.hate.dc Web site to offer pages full of text excoriating Snyder for everything from high ticket prices to cutting down trees on his Potomac estate. In an August posting, he included a photo of the owner followed by an equal sign and the word "EVIL."

"It's the atmosphere at the games, it's Snyder," the blogger said by phone, speaking only on condition that he not be identified because he fears fan retribution. "It's the attitude of, 'I can do whatever I want.' "

Morgan, who owns Idle Time Books, said his dislike of the team is rooted in a long-standing distaste for anything American that involves a ball. Years ago, he said, when he lived in a communal house, he made prospective tenants promise never to watch sports on television or read sports pages.

When he shares his anti-football fervor, Morgan said, people "look at me like I'm Osama bin Laden, like I'm un-American."

Still, he acknowledged that he sometimes wishes he could experience the camaraderie of yakking with pals about a game, a sentiment echoed by Eddie Becker, 56, an Adams Morgan researcher who said he feels "alienated" when he can't join in.

Of course, he's not exactly working double time to bone up on his knowledge, having passed the hours during last Saturday's game repairing his toilet. This Saturday? "Fixing the fixes I made to the toilet."

Henry T. Arrington, a former mayor of Seat Pleasant who lives close to FedEx Field, traces his animosity to the fact that the Redskins were the last pro football franchise to integrate, in 1962. "Every time they play, I root for the other teams," he said. "It's that feeling I can't get rid of."

Catherine Gira has her own unpleasant memories. She was in charge of Frostburg State University in Maryland when Snyder abruptly broke off a 10-year lease in 1999 and relocated the team's training camp.

Prior to that, Gira said, she "watched them avidly. I got to the point where I was a fan." These days, she said, she is pleased for Gibbs, whom she considers "an outstanding person."

Gibbs's boss, however, is another matter: "I don't care about Mr. Snyder's fortunes."