“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I wish we were in New Orleans, but that aside, I couldn’t be prouder of everyone: the team, the players, the fans, the coaching staff, the front office. I just want to say thank you to Adam Peters and his staff, and Coach Quinn and his staff it’s a testament to your leadership and the culture we built that we ended up in our first NFC Championship Game since 1991 – and I acknowledge the players. It was a new situation and you guys killed it.”
That was the opening salvo of Josh Harris’ press conference on Monday, six days before the Super Bowl and eight after the Commanders’ dream season ended in said NFC Title Game in Philly.
The first true full season of the Harris era ended there – as he bought the team in July 2023, everything was in place for Ron Rivera’s final season – and of all the people involved in making it a success, Harris twice singled out you, the fans.
“On behalf of our ownership group, thank you to the DMV…you showed up!” Harris said. “I went to every game and I saw Commanders fans everywhere I went, and it grew and grew, and I can’t tell you how much it means to everyone here; knowing the fans are in our corner when we go to war, it means a lot to us.”
Harris had taken out a full-page ad in the Washington Post last week to thank said fan base he grew up a part of, but this was a double down on how much the support has meant as the Commanders have been completely rebuilt in the last 13 months since Rivera was fired, far beyond anyone’s wildest dreams already.
“Obviously, this season came out amazing, better than anyone expected, and no one could have seen a new coaching staff and front office and team (doing this),” Harris said. “But, credit to Adam and Dan and their staffs for bringing everyone together, and credit for the players for making it happen on the field. We’ve arrived, and that changes expectations, but we welcome it, and we’re going to work harder to create a situation where next year, we win.”
And of course, Harris addressed the possibility of a name or brand change – don’t count on it, basically – and again said the focus was on winning games, fixing up the current facilities, and moving forward. And he pushed off any notion of where and when a new stadium could be built, even if he had ideas of what he wants that area to look like, but one thing WAS clear: when you see this winter and spring’s transactions, you can, to borrow a phrase from one of his other teams, trust the process.
“We’re looking for Commanders, whether it be in free agency, the draft, or trades, and we have a lot of cap flexibility and a full slate of picks,” Harris said. “Wherever we can find players who are great at what they do, are great teammates, fit our culture, are situationally aware and tough, we’re gonna get them to come. We’re totally focused on improving our team from last year, and I think we’re gonna do that. We have a massive opportunity, and none of us are taking that lightly; we’re fully committed to continuing to build our team and being elite in the long-term.”