Guest Writer! Wales Commander Aled in Tampa Bay

Here at UKHTTC something a bit different his blog as we hand over the reigns to a UK fan who travelled to Tampa Bay for the season opener.

Whilst the result might not have gone the way of the burgundy and gold, Wales Commander Aled shares his experience in the USA.

Hail, to the Redskins! Hail, Victory! was the sound that rang out at the Commanders fan rally hosted by Rally Captain. Over 900 passionate Commanders fans squeezed into Mugs Sports Bar in Clearwater, Florida on Saturday evening and created a party atmosphere like no other for an exciting and long-awaited opening weekend of Football! The NFL is back!

People had travelled cross country and even the world to see the first game (in a hopefully long tenure) of #2 overall pick Jayden Daniels.

Sunday morning! Game day! No surprise for Florida and as we say in the UK it is ‘Scorchio’ Hopefully our players adapt for this different climate and give a good account of themselves for game 1.

I drive a short distance in my Dodge Charger to Raymond James Stadium for the tailgate. Stadiums in the U.S are so unique and look nothing like what we have in the U.K.

Fans get to the parking areas early to start cooking their food before the game. It’s always a party atmosphere with music playing and everyone in good spirits especially for the first game where all fans of the 32 teams dream of lifting the Lombardi trophy at the end of the season.

The area around the stadium was electric, so much optimism for both teams. The heat was beating down but that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits.

The stadium is not like anything we have in the UK with a full-size pirate ship behind one set of uprights, that makes cannon noises after every point the Buccaneers earn.

Up comes Jayden Daniels with his first official snap but unfortunately, it’s a screen to Robinson that goes behind after being touched resulting in a loss of yards. Tampa Bay scored all the points for the first quarter. They were showing their dominance and reminded us that they were a play-off team last season.

Washington has a long way to go in their rebuild to get where we all so longingly want them to be. Washington then start to find their groove. Up steps Robinson Jnr to official go down as the first player to score points for the 2024 season.

The defence mainly the front 7 played very well as a unit and right at the end of the half forced Tampa to kick a field goal. 7-16 at the half.

The problems with kicker remain evident and not helping to get the points ticking on the scoreboard to keep us in games.

Daniels with the second touchdown of the game after an amazing zig zag run from Robinson Jnr and with that the kicker has found his boots. 14-23

Another touchdown in the game of chess to the home team. 14-30

Another one this time to the evergreen Mike Evans. 14-37

Time is slipping away for a comeback that all the burgundy and gold fans want.

Another run in and touchdown for Daniels his second of the game. Right at the end. A small shining light in a very dismal start to the season. 20-37

My first holiday with my partner was to Orlando back in 2007 and the Buccaneers held their training camp at Disney. I went along to experience it. I haven’t had the opportunity to do that with Washington. But like our football you never change allegiance, and I will always be burgundy and gold until I’m dead and cold.

The people you meet along the way who become friends and welcome this little old Welshman into the Washington family makes it such a great experience.

Despite the result I’ve had a great weekend in Tampa, watching the team that I love live. Win or lose you can’t beat that feeling. Very privileged to have been here and I implore anyone from the UK to head out to the states to watch a game in person.

Hopefully we can see a better showing next Sunday.