Well, that was AMAZING :-O

I belong to a group called YPO (Young Presidents Organization) – I’m a member of the DC/Baltimore Chapter.

I just got back from a Chapter Event at the Redskins Training Facility in Ashburn VA.

It was amazing…

Absolutely Amazing.

As I entered the facility, I was immediately greeted and charmed by the official team photos of the three Superbowl Champion Teams:

And much to my surprise, who was there standing next to the team photos?

None other than former-Redskins Pro Bowl Wide Receiver, Gary Clark. :-)

I then proceeded downstairs towards the cafeteria past the super-cool Wall-of-Fame, segmented by decade:

And who did I run into as soon as I arrived in the cafeteria?

None other than the legendary Pro Bowl Redskins Tight End Chris Cooley. :-O

I immediately talked his ear off…

I told him how much I miss his morning drive time talk show on The Team 980 AM (no offense Rick Doc Walker).

He told me he works out of the Redskins training facility these days and does a Podcast that I immediately subscribed to.

I think his film breakdowns are the best in the business. Makes me come away feeling like an expert.

I asked if anyone (besides me) knew about his performance at Utah St. and that he was a champion wrestler in high school. He said “nobody.” ;-)

We actually ate lunch alongside the Redskins players and staff.

I snuck in this pic of Redskins Super Bowl MVP Quarterback (and currently SVP of Player Personnel) Doug Williams (seated far right) jamming with Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky (seated right next to Doug):

On the way out while walking back up the stairs, I snuck another quick pic – this time of Head Coach Jay Gruden and QB Alex Smith.

We proceeded to the main presentation room where we were greeted with authentic NFL Redskins Jerseys with our names on our assigned seats, each with the #18 to represent the YPO Year 2018. OMG – felt like Christmas came early this year. I immediately put it on. :-)

The presentation was kicked off by Redskins Head of Player Development, Malcolm Blacken.

In the coolest role-reversal EVER, several members of the Redskins team had business questions they wanted to ask US – the AUDIENCE, including:

·         Vernon Davis, TE

·         Tress Way, P

·         Dustin Hopkins, K

·         Colt McCoy, Backup QB

·         Jehu Chesson, WR

·         Nick Sundberg, LS

·         Arie Kouandjio, OG

·         Matt Flanagan, TE

NFL veteran Vernon Davis (from UMD and originally from the DC area) appeared to be the most business savvy.

Of course, I had questions for Vernon about his revolutionary “IPO” in 2013 the first of its kind via Fantex.

We then enjoyed a world-class TED-talk style presentation about various aspects of health and conditioning from Redskins Team Physician of 25-years, Anthony “Tony” Casolaro, M.D. (who I had the pleasure of eating lunch with) and Team Doctor Sue Wittig, M.D.

I caught a glimpse of a very large injured Redskins on the way out of the presentation room, but couldn’t quite recognize who it was:

The last segment of the event was a behind-the-scenes tour of the entire facility – including some areas where photos were not allowed.

The outdoor field:

The sprawling weight room and conditioning gym:

And the massive indoor field:

My final photo of the day was next to the display case containing the THREE(!) Super Bowl Trophies:

Can you tell I’m excited for a FOURTH. :-)

10-years as a YPO Member – this is one of the best events EVER. One that I will remember forever, and not just because I’m posting here in the ABOVO Redskins GROUP by sending it to Redskins@abovo.co

If you’re receiving this via Email, simply Reply-to-All (including the Redskins@abovo.com Email to comment, reply, or react. :-)

Cheers.

SPF