Tress Way is the longest-tenured Commander, having been here since 2014, so reaching the NFC Championship Game after enduring the last decade of mostly futility is, as you might expect, a happy culmination of a long journey – and as much fun as he’s had along the way, he’s thankful for the fans who stuck through the bad times and are now here for the good times.
“Being in the area and getting to know the fan base more and more over the years, I completely understand things for them, but even the times that we have not had great seasons and it’s kind of been a mess here and there, I’ve had awesome teammates and great memories,” Way said. “I’ve loved being a part of this franchise, but it really hit home for me at halftime of the Atlanta game. We were losing at halftime and our fans were still cheering us on, clapping and yelling in an uplifting way. I’m getting chills thinking about it right now, and now obviously seeing what has transpired since that Atlanta game, it's so powerful, and so cool to feel like we have won back over the city.
It’s been such a special time.”
Of course, part of the reason the Commanders are where they are is because Way HASN’T been doing his job, as in punts have been rare – he’s only got one in two playoff games – so Grant & Danny have resorted to calling Way “The People’s Holder.”
“Kliff came up to me after the game when we were all celebrating in the locker room and he apologized that I had to go out and punt,” Way laughed. “He came up and apologized, and I told him it’s okay, I'm still ready in case it happens, but, that apology goes a long way, so no big deal!”
Way was No. 5 for a decade before giving that up to Jayden Daniels, so, at least his number is still getting a lot of work, even as Grant joked what it would look like if Daniels had No. 11 or something.
“I think obviously this dude's pretty special, and I don't know if you could technically do this within the organization, but there's a chance after as little as we have punted and how great he is, I might have just been removed from No. 5 if I hadn’t given it to him,” Way laughed. “I'm glad it all went down the way it did – maybe let’s get our rings and then starting next year, I hate to be that guy, but I'm gonna need to get 5 back! But yeah, he’s a special human and a special football player.”
All jokes aside, though, if it means a Super Bowl ring, Way will keep his helmet on the bench for the entire next two games if he has to.
“I got a kick out of you asking me if I was ready to not punt in the NFC Championship Game, but we go to Tampa, I had some friends and family there, and I was just standing in the middle of the field thinking, we’re not done playing ball,” Way said. “And then we go into Detroit and in the fourth quarter, we're sitting there up two scores, and again, I'm just sitting there and I'm going, holy crap, here we go, we’re gonna play some more ball. This is the bomb. We got another week, let’s just go play ball.”
And if you needed one more reason still why the Commanders are where they are, Way spilled the beans on a moment last season that exemplifies just what kind of culture is in the building now that, as Danny would put it, ‘adults are in charge.’
“Mr. Harris, when he bought the team, he and Mr. Rales had a bunch of the veterans up for lunch and he said, ‘I'm gonna get the people in place that we need. I've done this before, I'm passionate about this franchise and I'm a part of this fan base,’” Way said. “He told us the catalyst is gonna be you guys going and winning, and we can win this city back. And I just so happy and thankful to have witnessed that. He wanted to get to know us and talk about the vision, and let us know what he had planned so we could be all gas on the field. He’s just so humble and approachable, and he reminded us that his door’s always open if we have question of anything with the franchise. That’s really special and cool.”
And, he’s got a pretty special staff in place that is crushing it.
“I think everything is so incredibly intentional. There was one day I was driving home from the facility and I was listening to you guys, and you said that since AP came in, the free agents and the draft picks and everything like that, everything at minimum has been a base hit,” Way said. “I think the intentionality and how purposeful they’ve been – I’m obviously one of the old dudes in the locker room and I have a locker at the end, and you look out and you have the franchise quarterback who is unbelievable to watch, and it’s an inclusive, fun environment, and I cannot speak enough about how special DQ is at bringing grown men together and giving them a clear picture of what it's gonna be like. His attitude of let’s just go play and keep playing, it’s a very special group.”