At last, the definitive account of the Washington Football Team's championship decade. A must-read for any fan, Hail to the Redskins is full of interviews with key inside sources to vividly re-create the plays, the players, the fans, and the opponents that shaped this unforgettable football dynasty. Based on more than ninety original interviews, here is the rollicking chronicle of the famed Washington Football Teams of the Joe Gibbs years—one of the most remarkable and unique runs in NFL history. From 1981 to 1992, Gibbs coached the franchise to three Super Bowl victories, making the team the toast of the nation’s capital, from the political elite to the inner city, and helping to define one of the sport’s legendary eras. Veteran sportswriter Adam Lazarus masterfully charts the Washington Football Team's rise from mediocrity (the franchise had never won a Super Bowl and Gibbs’s first year as head coach started with a five-game losing streak that almost cost him his job) to its stretch of four championship games in ten years. What makes their sustained success all the more remarkable, in retrospect, is that unlike the storied championship wins of Joe Montana’s 49ers and Tom Brady’s Patriots, the Washington Football Team's Super Bowl victories each featured a different starting quarterback: Joe Theismann in 1983, the franchise’s surprising first championship run; Doug Williams in 1988, a win full of meaning for a majority African American city during a tumultuous era; and Mark Rypien in 1992, capping one of the greatest seasons of all time, one that stands as Gibbs’s masterpiece. Hail to the Redskins features an epic roster of saints and sinners: hard-drinking fullback John Riggins; the dominant, blue-collar offensive linemen known as “the Hogs,” who became a cultural phenomenon; quarterbacks Williams, the first African American QB to win a Super Bowl, and Theisman, a model-handsome pitchman whose leg was brutally broken by Lawrence Taylor on Monday Night Football; gregarious defensive end Dexter Manley, who would be banned from the league for cocaine abuse; and others including the legendary speedster Darrell Green, record-breaking receiver Art Monk, rags-to-riches QB Rypien, expert general managers and talent evaluators Bobby Beathard and Charley Casserly, aristocratic owner Jack Kent Cooke, and, of course, Gibbs himself, a devout Christian who was also a ruthless competitor and one of the sport’s most adaptable and creative coaching minds.

A you-are-there history of one of football's most successful and beloved teams Who is the greatest quarterback in Redskins history? Baugh? Jurgensen? Theismann? Rypien? However you answer that question, you'll find plenty of evidence to support your argument in Hail Victory. Based on sportswriter Thom Loverro's exclusive interviews with a host of the greatest players ever to wear the team jersey, this comprehensive history of the tradition-rich Washington Redskins puts you on the 50-yard line to witness all of the team's most memorable moments and meet its greatest players, and you'll hear what they have to say about the brightest and darkest moments from the Skins' past. You'll discover: * Sonny Jurgensen's last conversation with Vince Lombardi * Jeff Rutledge's account of "the Greatest Comeback in Football History" * Joe Theismann's take on the tackle that ended his career * How George Allen assembled the "Over the Hill Gang" * Joe Jacoby's Hog's-eye view of all three Redskins Super Bowl victories * Gene Pepper's memories of playing with the legendary Sammy Baugh * And much more You'll also find color photos of outstanding players and coaches in action, including Lombardi, George Allen, Theismann, Jurgensen, Joe Gibbs, and many others. If you love the Skins, you must have Hail Victory!

The Washington Redskins franchise remains one of the most valuable in professional sports, in part because of its easily recognizable, popular, and profitable brand. And yet “redskins” is a derogatory name for American Indians. The number of grassroots campaigns to change the name has risen in recent years despite the current team owner’s assertion that the team will never do so. Franchise owners counter criticism by arguing that the team name is positive and a term of respect and honor that many American Indians embrace. The NFL, for its part, actively defends the name and supports it in court. Prominent journalists, politicians, and former players have publicly spoken out against the use of “Redskins” as the name of the team. Sportscaster Bob Costas denounced the name as a racial slur during a halftime show in 2013. U.S. Representative Betty McCollum marched outside the stadium with other protesters––among them former Minnesota Vikings player Joey Browner––urging that the name be changed. Redskins: Insult and Brand examines how the ongoing struggle over the team name raises important questions about how white Americans perceive American Indians, about the cultural power of consumer brands, and about continuing obstacles to inclusion and equality. C. Richard King examines the history of the team’s name, the evolution of the term “redskin,” and the various ways in which people both support and oppose its use today. King’s hard-hitting approach to the team’s logo and mascot exposes the disturbing history of a moniker’s association with the NFL—a multibillion-dollar entity that accepts public funds—as well as popular attitudes toward Native Americans today.

A classic NFL/civil rights story—the showdown between the Washington Redskins and the Kennedy White House In Showdown, sports historian Thomas G. Smith captures a striking moment, one that held sweeping implications not only for one team’s racist policy but also for a sharply segregated city and for the nation as a whole. Part sports history, part civil rights story, this compelling and untold narrative serves as a powerful lens onto racism in sport, illustrating how, in microcosm, the fight to desegregate the Redskins was part of a wider struggle against racial injustice in America.

The definitive history of the Washington Redskins.

Football historian Richard Whittingham brings together vintage and contemporary photographs and a colorful blend of facts, features, and profiles to create a book no Washington 'skins football fan should be without. Whittingham traces the club's beginnings in Boston as the Braves, through its successful move to our nation's capital, from the almost slapstick inept teams of the 1950s to George Allen's Over-the-Hill-Gang that began a resurgence that carried the Redskins to three Super Bowls under legendary coach Joe Gibbs. With more than 100 archival photos this is a "keeper" for Redskin fans of all ages.