FedEx Field: A Travesty of a NFL Stadium -

By Luke Weidenkopf

Before the 2022-2023 NFL season started, USA Today published an article rating the best and worst NFL stadiums. To no one’s surprise, FedEx Field, home of the newly named Washington Commanders, was ranked dead last.

The horrors of FedEx Field may remain unknown to the uneducated NFL fan, but to die-hard Commanders fans it’s something that never leaves their minds. One fan remarked, “It’s absolutely the worst and it’s not particularly close.”

Every year it seems that something new breaks at FedEx, causing either fans or players themselves to get injured. Last year, Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts, was celebrating a victory over the (then) Washington Football Team, when the railing collapsed, launching numerous fans to the ground. Hurts and the Eagles fans escaped injury, according to the Washington Football Team.

During Washington’s 2021 home opener against the Los Angeles Charges, a mysterious fluid started spewing from a broken pipe, leaving many fans covered in a mysterious and possibly hazardous goo. After the incident, Washington said the disgusting liquid was just rainwater, but to anyone who watched the video and those who were sprayed, it was clearly not rainwater.

Additionally, in the 2013 NFC Wild Card game, the groundskeepers at FedEx Field decided to not properly landscape the field. Instead, they threw grass on top of the field and spray-painted it green. After 15 minutes, the entire field had turned into a giant mud pit. Many have hypothesized that these poor field conditions were a leading cause of Washington’s starting quarterback, Robert Griffin III, getting injured in 2013.

Maybe the most tantalizing and worst feature of FedEx Field is its curse on players. In recent memory, 7 players have been seriously injured while playing on the field. 4 of those players (Joe Burrow, Adrian Peterson, Robert Griffin III, and Chase Young) tore their ACLs. Alex Smith also suffered a leg injury which snowballed into him having to undergo 17 surgeries and two years of rehab before he finally played another game. Two other Washington quarterbacks, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Keenan Allen, also suffered serious lower body injuries at FedEx.

Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Commanders, has started to position his team for a move because their contract with the FedEx Field expires in 2026. This past summer, the team acquired 200 acres of land for $100 million in Prince William County, Virginia, which is located 23 miles away from D.C.

President of the Commanders, Jason Wright, said in an interview with WUSA9-TV, “Whether it’s Maryland, D.C. or Virginia, this is first and foremost about what they need to create in terms of economic outcomes for the next 30 years for their citizens.”

This departure would not be unnatural to the Commanders who have been playing in Landover, Maryland, since 1996. Wright added that the new stadium is, “about providing a destination experience for the community.”

So, whether the Commanders move farther away from the city or not, the one thing that truly matters is that they get away from FedEx Field.