By Karl Vick and Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, September 15, 1997; Page A1

The first day at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium was a lot like the first football game at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium: The ending was a lot better than anyone had a right to expect after such a start.

On the field, there was Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte, in overtime, breaking free of a frantic Arizona Cardinals pass rush to get off the pass, and Michael Westbrook flying backward through the air 40 yards downfield to catch it, then falling — hard, but with the ball — into the front corner of the end zone.

At that moment, it no longer mattered that the first touchdown on the Redskins’ new field was scored by the opponent, on a blocked punt, no less. It didn’t matter that the Capital Beltway had been backed up for about 15 miles before the opening kickoff, or that some concession stands ran out of food at halftime, or even that, for most of the game, the new public address system drowned out the fans.

The crowd was louder now.

Redskins 19, Cardinals 13.

"I feel positively heavenly," said Redskins President John Kent Cooke, emerging from the home team locker room with the game ball he had just been given by his happy employees. "I’m so proud of every bloody one of them. I know my dad would be just as proud.

"It was a great day."

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Eventually, yes.

But, for much of it, fans remembered that they had left home at mid-morning and were still sitting in badly jamming traffic at noon — a mess that didn’t clear until 1:30 — costing many fans most of the first quarter. Surface streets around the stadium started out with good traffic flow in the morning but soon grew as packed as Interstate 95, which was bumper-to-bumper to the I-495 split and beyond.

"I was ready to turn around and watch the game on TV," said Noel Segal, 32.

People found a good deal to complain about after they arrived, too. There were shortages of everything from souvenir T-shirts to designated-driver wrist bands. The lines at automated teller machines ran to 40 deep. Pipes sprung leaks. Women’s rooms may not have had lines, but in several cases they had no toilet paper, either.

Yet as the faithful filed out of the huge new structure after the dramatic final seconds, more than the mood seemed improved. Maybe it was because many among the official turnout of 78,270 already had departed by the time Cardinals kicker Kevin Butler tied the game at 13 with a 47-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in regulation. But after the game, the stadium emptied quickly, and navigating the parking lots and surrounding roads, drivers found it much easier to get out than it had been to get in.

"We’re going to study and make some changes," said stadium manager Jeff Klein, declining to discuss specific problems, such as pay phones without dial tones and escalators that kept breaking down. "Operations were okay. Obviously, the longer we are in the building, the better things will run.

"Our fans understand that it’s a new building. This was a monstrous project. Everyone did the best they could. The stadium was beautiful. Overall, I’m happy."

Not every complaint was about something that can be fixed. Most fans complimented the generally excellent sightlines and savored the spacious concourses that, at 50 feet, are a huge improvement over the cramped corridors of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.

But others had problems with the severe feel of an aesthetic dictated by Jack Kent Cooke. The longtime owner, who died in April, said he wanted a "sleek" look for the stadium that bears his name.

"It looks like a cruise ship," said Matt Kole, 25, a frozen-food salesman from Rockville. "I feel like I’m in the parking lot of King’s Dominion."

Many were put off by the prices. Outside the stadium, Gary Burgess, 38, of Hyattsville, hawked bags of peanuts for $1 by telling passersby they would cost $30 inside. The actual price was $3, but the point was made.

"It’s ridiculous," said James Key, of Landover. "I mean, I’ve been to fights in Atlantic City, and beer wasn’t $5. If they want to sell you a beer for $5, the water fountain ought to be cold."

And while Redskins officials preferred to compare Cooke Stadium’s services with the Spartan traditions at RFK, some fans thought of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and found the football park wanting.

"Tried a hot dog. Disappointed," said Francis Namin, of Washington. "Meatball calzone. Disappointed."

The concession stands ran out early. By the third quarter, one stand was out of bratwurst, cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, grilled chicken sandwiches, crabcake sandwiches, french fries and hot dogs.

"The only thing we have left are nachos and candy," a clerk reported.

Inaugural-game souvenirs were especially difficult to come by. Vendors were out of programs in the first quarter, and by the second half, construction worker Kenny Barge, of Annapolis, was offering $30 for the souvenir T-shirt being worn by a clerk.

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"Take it off, and I’ll give you mine," he said.

Dan Smith, regional vice president for Volume Services, the stadium food vendor, vowed the situation would improve. "Rather than being too ambitious, we wanted to approach the game with realistic expectations," he said. "For the first game, what we’ve done we wanted to do right. We didn’t want to overreach. We only had three days to move in and get ready."

Beer vendor Fredric Traube, 32, said he was at the opening of Camden Yards, "and this is about the same. It’s opening day. We’ve trained a lot of people, and we’re understaffed. We’ll get this down."

Nothing felt routine about the win, either. It made a nominally historic day truly memorable and boosted hopes that this new stadium might reflect the freshness of a young Redskins team the way old, worn RFK was the perfect playground for the battered veterans who played in the glory days of "The Over-the-Hill Gang."

"I like it, but it feels generic right now," said Mark Walter, 32, of Alexandria. "The victory was certainly a step in the right direction in making it feel like home, but it doesn’t have the feel, it doesn’t have the history, of RFK."

The Metro ride to the Big Jack ran down memory lane. The Blue and Orange Lines also pass through Stadium-Armory, and when the stop was announced on one train yesterday, a few Redskins fans made as if to climb out. Then the train lurched out of the tunnel and onto the bridge over the Anacostia River, and there in the windows appeared RFK.

"Oooooooooh," the passengers chorused, giving voice to a great, collective pang.

"Say goodbye to RFK, everybody," said Robert McElvany, of Arlington. "It served its purpose."

Walter saw the arrival of Jack Kent Cooke stadium as a time to cope with a fan’s grief. "The opening of Jack Kent Cooke Stadium is like reaffirming that RFK is closed," he said. "It’s like those various steps, first you go through denial, then anger, then acceptance."

One thing you never saw at RFK in such numbers was empty seats. Thousands of the yellow seats in Cooke Stadium’s heralded "club" section were vacant throughout the game. Redskins officials maintained that many club patrons preferred to watch the game in "packed" restaurants on the concourse reserved for their use but acknowledged that at price of as much as $250 many remain unsold.

Three floors down, the famed stadium jail saw its first inmates. Frank Holden, 23, of Mount Ranier, and John Robert Barker, 22, of Landover Hills, were placed in the stadium’s holding cells and charged with disrupting an athletic event for running onto the Cardinals’ side of the field shortly before Frerotte’s winning throw to Westbrook. The charge carries a possible $250 fine and three months in jail.

Beyond that, if you don’t count the booing that greeted almost every politician who appeared on the Jumbotron to welcome them, the fans’ behavior was, like the stadium, pristine. Residents of the surrounding neighborhood, who had girded for the worst as the stadium neared completion, reported being pleasantly surprised by their own first-day experience.

Sheriff Road, closed to all stadium traffic except buses shuttling passengers from the Cheverly Metro station, had "no more traffic than it normally does," one resident noted early on.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D), who watched the game from a luxury suite, rode to the game without a police escort. From his University Park home, it took an hour and a half.

"I saw a half dozen things that we could have done better," Glendening said. "As we rode along the Beltway people seemed to be in very good spirits, but the closer I got, you could see the frustration."

Outside the stadium gates, there was, of course, business and politics amid the tailgating. Tim Patterson, 38, of Washington, and his nephew Melvin Patterson, 24, were trying to sell their last ticket for $150.

"It’s my job, professional scalper," Tim Patterson said, pulling out a wad of bills. "I sold 41 tickets at $140 each."

Closer to the doors, Judie Dancing Sparrow Belva carried a sign reading: "Grandmothers Against Racial Slurs."

"I have no problem with the stadium," she said. "My only concern is with the name Redskins. It’s a racial slur." She’s 52 and lives in Landover.

"You feel very alone," she said. "Nobody cares. Most people have forgotten that this is an issue. I just want them to change the name."