We got some news for the crowd ahead of Week 10’s Commanders-Steelers game at Northwest Stadium Sunday – we’re bringing our OWN Terrible Towels, and it’s thanks to one of our own!
“I saw BMitch on the sidelines on a video in the last week saying it would be so cool if the Commanders handed out red towels on Sunday so that it blew away whatever Steeler fans are there with their yellow towels and made the whole place burgundy and gold,” minority owner Mark Ein told JP Finlay and Logan Paulsen Wednesday. “So, we're doing it: we're giving out burgundy rally towels to everyone who shows up, and we're really excited about it. We think it's great. The fans have been unbelievable this season and this game is, by far, the hottest game of the year so far, and we just think it's gonna add to an incredible atmosphere.”
Brian Mitchell’s vote of confidence may have brought it about, but the idea was that a fan sent the Commanders a social media message weeks ago with the seed of the idea?
“A fan named Chris Gelner sent me some messages on social media at the end of September that said, ‘I’ve had this idea for the Steelers game forever, but I could never really get anyone to listen to the idea.’ I was like, that’s a good idea, let me look into it, so I called Josh, because we talk literally every day on things we want to do to make the place the most amazing fan experience we can. He said he loved the idea, and we got it done,” Ein said. “The icing on the cake is that we have these dinners from time to time with sponsors and partners, and our guy from Verizon heard the story and said, “I want to get behind that, I want to sponsor them,’ and so it all came together.”
The fan experience in 2024 (and even 2023) has been night and day over the Snyder era, and that’s one thing the Harris group is both proud of an proud to have made possible.
“If you guys know Josh, Mitch, and I, we grew up with this team when it was everything for this community, and that was the goal from the beginning,” Ein said. “Seeing the fans come back this year already has been unbelievable, the crowds have been great, and the amount of Commanders gear you see around town, I think I've seen more this year than the last 10 years combined, so people are proud of this team. This game is totally sold out, Cowboys is basically standing room, only and there's like literally only a couple thousand seats left for the whole rest of the season.”
Take a listen to Ein’s entire visit, as he also talks a little bit about Jayden Daniels’ appeal, other fan experience improvements in Landover, and more!