A Special Election for Thompson

"When they started counting the ballots, I had as many butterflies in my stomach as when my teams played for the national championship," John Thompson said. (By John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)
Buy Photo

Has it been 21 years since Doug Williams replaced Jay Schroeder near the end of the 1987 season and took the Redskins to Super Bowl XXII? Williams threw four touchdown passes in a 42-10 Redskins victory over the Broncos, making him the first African American quarterback to be selected Super Bowl most valuable player.

In an interview this week, Williams remembered being asked in a pregame news conference how long he'd "been a black quarterback" and chuckled at the writer's choice of words. "I don't think the writer meant it to come out that way," Williams said. "My answer to him was, 'Since I left Grambling.'

"Tuesday was a great day for all of America," Williams continued. "It's one thing to talk to minority kids about what they can accomplish; it's another to tell them a black man is the president of the U.S.

"I used to ask my Grambling coach, Eddie Robinson, why he carried the American flag all over and he'd say it's the best country. No one could out-America Eddie Robinson. But when you see a black man become president, now that's something. Coach Rob must be smiling down at this."

Opponents Beware

The headline in the Examiner on Tuesday screamed, "Monday Night MELTDOWN." But the big story Monday night wasn't the Redskins' 23-6 loss to the sharper Pittsburgh Steelers but rather how so many Pittsburghers, with their gold Terrible Towels, got into FedEx Field.

Of the 90,512 fans on hand, at least a third of the crowd seemed to be wearing Steelers jerseys and waving Steelers towels. They made so much noise that Redskins running back Clinton Portis called their presence "shocking."

How did these people get tickets to a stadium supposedly sold out to Redskins diehards? EBay? StubHub? Scalpers standing on the Beltway?

For future games, here are some suggestions to keep out invaders:

· Season ticket holders must sign loyalty pledges and agree to dress for games in gaudy burgundy jackets and burgundy slacks to go along with the team's gaudy new burgundy look, approved by Jim ("Don't call me Calvin Klein") Zorn.

· Non-Redskins fans entering the stadium should be taken to a holding pen by the owners' beefy, humorless security guards, where they would be forced for six hours to listen to tapes of Vinny Cerrato's "Inside the Red Zone."