Washington Commanders fans packed the team’s first public training camp of 2026 on Saturday, eager for autographs, photos and memories they’ll carry long after the season ends.
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Glendora, who made the trip from La Plata, Maryland, to Ashburn, Virginia, with her friend Ray Taylor, found herself in the right place at the right time.
“The person in front of me asked Jayden Daniels to sign their jersey, and he looked at it. He said, ‘That’s not even my jersey,'” Glendora said. “I said, ‘I got one right here.’ He said, ‘OK.'”
The friends, who traveled nearly 70 miles for their second training camp, headed home smiling.
Joining the veteran fans were children who may become the franchise’s next generation of supporters.
D.C. resident James Jones brought a group of children from the S.O.L.Y.D. Foundations Inc., a youth football program, to experience training camp firsthand.
“Just want to bring the kids out, get them acclimated to the training camp environment,” Jones said. “Starts right here in the grime and the grit with the Commanders, too.”
The kids, including his 8-year-old son Jream, were wearing Burgundy and Gold football uniforms. A fan since the team’s Super Bowl years, Jones said he hopes he lives long enough to see the Commanders play at the new RFK Stadium.
“Our franchise was down for so long that it lost a lot of fans. It’s up to the older ones to bring up the new fans,” Jones said. “It starts with them coming, having these experiences, getting autographs, getting gloves from these players,”
Elijah Bowens, 8, proudly showed off a hat covered in more than 10 autographs.
Bowens went in a Cowboys fan. But thanks to the kindness the players showed him, “I’m a Commanders fan,” he declared.
“One fan at a time,” Jones said with a laugh. “We’ll convert them and get them back to us.”
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