BMitch explains why Josh Harris' letter to fans in WaPo is just another example of the new era's influence
If you ask Brian Mitchell, he found out all he needed to know about Josh Harris when he saw the new Commanders owner sitting with the fans on a rainy night in Cleveland during a preseason game.
"I want to thank Josh Harris, because, since I've met him, he's been a stand-up person, and he cares about the fans. It's not fake," BMitch said. "After that game, I told him that would go a long way, because it made people realize he doesn't think he's better than them. At every game, he's jumping and high-fiving people, if people want a picture he takes it, and you can see he's a real dude."
That's why Brian wasn't surprised by the letter Josh Harris wrote to Commanders fans in a full-page ad in the Washington Post today, which B read and then marveled at.
"He probably didn't have to do that, but I think he felt obligated to, because when he talks about the support and how fans showed up…every week JP and I came back here, we talked about the fans on the road," Brian said. "I went to places this year where I did not expect to see a lot of fans, and I saw them. I have friends all over this country, and people were starting to hit me from California, Vegas, everywhere they have Commanders bars; we always see all these other bars in our location and our locale, but as I began to talk to a lot of my friends, they wanted to find out places they could go. A lot of people have said they wouldn't come back, but a lot have come back, and those players out there are fighting."
Jayden Daniels has the top-selling jersey in the NFL this season, which says a lot, and to Brian, it's all a part of the tone that has been set with the culture of this organization.
"If no fans are back and following the team, who is buying that jersey?" BMitch laughed. "I believe this team, and what Josh just stated, is the beginning of what's to come, and I believe they have all the right people in place. I've talked to Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, and I'm impressed. I've been around a lot of coaches, GMs, and players, and rarely do I talk to people from the same team that all of them think very much alike. It's not hard, but you gotta put some time into it, and they are bringing people in here that see the vision of their leadership."
Austin Ekeler said to Grant & Danny earlier this week that the foundation is laid, and now it's about getting anyone who comes here to buy into the culture and continue the work, and yeah, that's already clearly in focus.
"When you hear Adam speak, then Dan, then the veterans – hell, even the young bucks like Jayden – it's all about the Commander way," Brian said. "I'm sure other teams will say that, but you know what it means? It means someone who comes in here has to work their ass off for the common goal of what this team is trying to get, and sacrifice during the season to make sure they can get to where they can go. I didn't think that they could make it to the NFC Championship Game, but as the season went on, they begin to pull me that way, because I saw a togetherness and a brotherhood, and people willing to work and sacrifice to get where they had to go. When you have everybody to a man doing that, anything is possible."
Brian harkened it back to 1987 and the strike season, when the Redskins had replacement players but Joe Gibbs and his influence was the difference in keeping things afloat.
"That may have been one of the best jobs Gibbs ever did, because he went against NFL players with scabs, and they beat the professionals because they worked, and believed in themselves, each other, and their leader," Brian said. "If you are going to be the person I'm gonna follow, you have to make sure I know that you believe in me. My dad made me believe at 10 years old that I could do anything, and I see that type of thing here. This is the beginning, and we need to go out there and help them out and cheer as much as we can and be as dedicated to the team as we can be, and it's gonna work. We want a winner, and I believe we're going to get a winner, and I believe the guys on this football team, they are winners already, and they're gonna be even bigger winners."
