Dale Earnhardt Jr was always an entertaining driver, which was one of the reasons why he was NASCAR’s most popular driver for 15 straight seasons. Apart from racing, Junior has an interest in a lot of other sports and one of them is football. He was so much into the sport that he took regular updates about his favorite team’s scores, even when he was driving at almost 200 mph.
Junior is a big fan of the Washington Commanders, who have gone by a few different names in the past. He has been a fan of the team since he was nine years old, thanks to a gesture by his mother. Even today, his love for the Commanders runs deep.
The history behind Dale Earnhardt Jr and his love for Washington Commanders
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In an article that Junior had himself written for ESPN back in 2012, he revealed the time when he gave his loyalty to the Washington-based football team. It all happened in the year 1983 on his 9th birthday. He had asked his mother for the team’s helmet but instead was given a full kit. That was the moment that sealed his loyalty and support.
“Thank God I asked for that helmet for my birthday back in 1983. It was the right decision. Because there I was, soaking in elation with thousands of like-minded individuals, screaming victory at the top of our lungs,” he had written back then.
Junior’s love for the franchise showed on race day. While driving at an incredible 190 mph, the former Cup Series driver radioed his spotter TJ Majors, and asked, “What’s the score?”
When he learned that his beloved Washington team was winning, he let out a triumphant “Hell yeah,” and continued on with his race.
There was a time in 2022 when Dale Earnhardt Jr was asked whether he would be an owner of the Washington-based football team. His answer might be surprising to some fans.
“I don’t have that kind of money,” he had said. “This is billions of dollars.”
Junior also insisted that he would much rather be a fan than go into the owner’s box like he does with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series.
“I love being a fan. I want to be in the stands with all the other fans, I want to wear the merch. And I wanna be mad when they lose, and I want to cheer when they win. I want to go do that. I don’t want to be in the owner’s box,” he had revealed.
Earlier this year, Junior was left emotional as the Washington Commanders were sold for a whopping $6 billion. On an earlier episode of The Dale Jr Download podcast, he revealed the relationship he had with the previous owners.
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Junior was emotional after the team was sold earlier this year
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The former Cup Series driver said that despite him not making it to the Commanders’ games for a few years on end, the owners would never stop sending them invites ahead of every match.
“For the last 10 years, Dan Snyder (Daniel Snyder) and his wife have been incredible to me and my family.,” he said. “I haven’t been to a game in three or four years. They kept sending invites. And we would tell them, ‘Hey, we had..we were locked up in a race season…’ But they kept,and, don’t forget about us and they did it, kept sending em.”
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The owners might have changed but Dale Earnhardt Jr’s love for the Washington Commanders will never change. He will be hoping that his team enjoys some success soon which he could celebrate with the thousands of Commanders fans.
Watch this story: Dale Earnhardt Jr.: A Tale of Unseen Battles