Why do Washingtonians chant “We want Dallas” practically every chance they get?
It’s a rivalry thing. Washington is a Redskins town. Please tell me you know the Redskins are football team or you can stop reading now. That and my main job for too many years has been covering the Redskins for The Washington Examiner and before that The Washington Times.
The Redskins-Cowboys rivalry is one of the NFL’s top twice annual slugfests. For many years, the games determined who went to the playoffs. Twice it decided Washington went to the Super Bowl instead of the Cowboys.
But that’s just part of the deal. Some say the rivalry was born when the Cowboys owner blackmailed the Redskins into voting for the expansion team’s inclusion into the NFL by obtaining the right to the team’s fight song. Some believe Washingtonians never forgave Dallas for being the site of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
I co-wrote a book on this rivalry called America’s Rivalry and I’m not sure there’s one thing, but it has become something Washingtonians do more than Dallas hates on Washington.
The best thing to do when hearing “We want Dallas” is to chant along.
Though I don’t keep up with football too often, I definitely know enough to hate Dallas — and, while we’re at it, Duke. Go Terps!