Former longtime Washington long snapper Nick Sundberg was watching when the Commanders at long last retired franchise great Sonny Jurgensen's No. 9 jersey on Sunday.
A move that was long overdue, Jurgensen, 88, became just the fourth player in franchise history to have his number retired, the festivities for which took place at FedEx Field, fittingly in their regular-season finale against top rival Dallas.
Sundberg, who is intimately familiar with the team facilities after playing 11 seasons for the franchise (2010-2020), was dismayed to see that the Commanders weren't better prepared to honor Jurgensen, with a ceremony they'd known about all season.
According to Sundberg, the Jurgensen jersey presented at FedEx Field was taken directly off the wall of the team equipment room.
This isn't the first clumsy effort by the Commanders to honor a franchise legend. Earlier this season, the franchise unveiled a 'statue' purporting to represent the late Sean Taylor, but it was actually just a wire mannequin dressed up in a Redskins uniform.
The season prior, they also bungled what was supposed to be an in-game tribute to Taylor by giving fans such short notice of the event that many were outraged they couldn't be in attendance.
And there was another aspect of this presentation that the organization mishandled, when not offering Frank Herzog — Jurgensen's longtime broadcast partner on the legendary "Sonny, Sam, and Frank" Redskins game broadcasts — an invite to Sunday's festivities. They later corrected this.
Jurgensen, who last played for the Redskins in 1974, is still the franchise's second all-time leading passer with 22,585 yards (second to Joe Theismann). He also threw for 179 touchdowns in his 135 games for Washington, which ranks second behind Sammy Baugh (187 TDs).
Jurgensen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
