Political Venue: The History of RFK Stadium, Part Seven

Home cookingNaming the stadium after Bobby Kennedy was an inside baseball affair, bureaucratic infighting at its best. The name change also signaled a change in the fortunes of a franchise. Curly R's special series on the history of RFK Stadium continues.Part One: Faded GloryPart Two: Government InterventionPart Three: Football and RacePart Four: A Complex RelationshipPart Five: Ernie Davis, Bobby Mitchell and Ron HatcherPart Six: Palace IntriguePart Seven: The Stadium Becomes LegendPart Eight: FridayReferences=====That first season in the newly renamed RFK Stadium, 1969, serves as a bridge to what fans of a certain age think of as the start of the modern era of Redskins football. Vince Lombardi had come to Washington as head coach. Larry Brown, Pat Fischer, Chris Hanburger, Sam Huff, Sonny Jurgenson, Brig Owens and Charley Taylor were all on a team that suffered fewer losses than any Redskins team in fourteen years. RFK sold out every game. Within two years, Billy Ki...