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After a Season of Real Hope, Fans Share the Pain of Defeat
Redskins fans Steve Hadeed, left, Damon Morton and Dave Ghahhari react to a play during the playoff game between the Seahawks and the Redskins. Hadeed keeps a 10-year-old piece of sod from RFK Stadium to bring good luck.
(By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)
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They gathered at the home of Steve Hadeed, a computer printer salesman, and his wife, Anita Rodrigues.
At 1 p.m., Hadeed went into a guest room and opened the drawer of a bedside table. In it, he and Anita keep keepsakes -- ticket stubs from early dates, their wedding pictures. And a piece of turf that Hadeed had ripped from the ground at RFK after running onto the field in 1996 after the final game.
Hadeed walked downstairs and placed it atop the TV. He does that for good luck for big games.
By 3 p.m., the crowd started showing up. Extended friends. Two kids. Two girlfriends. They grilled steaks and bratwursts. They ate pizza and drank beer.
And as the game got underway, they were fully confident -- a feeling strengthened when Seattle's star running back was knocked out of the game with a concussion. "He's out!" one of the fans yelled. "He's done, baby!" added another.
Later, when the Redskins scored a touchdown, everyone jumped up and yelled. Then they looked around to where they were sitting. No one could change seats. That'd be bad luck. Mike Crutchfield was on the porch, smoking a cigarette.
"Hold on!" Steve Hadeed yelled at him through the sliding glass, holding up his hands. "Hold on!"
"You want a hat?" Rudy Crutchfield yelled. But his cousin was then allowed in.
After the crushing end of the game, the friends drifted into the kitchen. Ozkayan tried to boost spirits.
"Come on, guys. Look, we were five and six, man, and we made it to the second round of the playoffs," he said. "You can't complain about that, Rudy. It was a good season."
Rudy Crutchfield looked at him, while opening another beer.
"It was," he finally said, quietly.
