In 1981, Los Angeles Dodgers rookie pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela’s 8-0 start to the season sparked a phenomenon known as “Fernandomania” as Valenzuela won the National League Cy Young Award, National League Rookie of the Year Award and led the Dodgers to a World Series championship.
Just a few years later, in 1983, “Hulkamania” took over the country after professional wrestler Hulk Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at Madison Square Garden.
Ironically, the 1980s were also the last time the Washington Commanders were consistently good as a franchise, but after a virtuoso “Monday Night Football” performance from rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels in a Week 3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, we could be on the cusp of “JaydenMania” — and a resurgence of pro football in the nation’s capitol.
Bill Simmons broke out the old term for Daniels on the Sept. 24 episode of “The Bill Simons Podcast” titled “Biggest NFL Bummers, JaydenMania, Hot Food Takes, and ‘Mr. McMahon’ ” in which he talked to celebrity chef and longtime Washington fan David Chang about Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
“It is beyond exciting,” Chang told Simmons the day after the Commanders’ 38-33 win. “I got to be honest … I actually shed a tear last night out of sheer joy. I legit cried and I don’t care.”
“… it’s been almost 30 years since we’ve had a legitimate quarterback … it was unbelievable. But one of the best days I’ve had in a long time.”
Simmons and Chang weren’t the only ones blown away by Daniels.
The Athletic: Daniels Seems ‘Out of Central Casting’
For 1 game at least, Daniels was as good as any rookie quarterback in NFL history after he finished 21-of-23 passing for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions to go with 39 rushing yards and 1 touchdown. His completion percentage (91 percent) set the NFL single-game rookie record.
The Commanders’ offense hasn’t had to punt over the last 2 games — back-to-back wins over the New York Giants and the Bengals.
The Athletic’s David Aldridge wrote a column sparked by Daniels’ 27-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin in the fourth quarter against the Bengals.
“You try not to get caught up in any one play, or one drive, or one game in a season,” Aldridge wrote. “But if you don’t realize how special that seed Jayden Daniels threw to Terry McLaurin at Paycor Stadium was, on ‘Monday Night Football,’ with Joe Burrow watching on the other sideline and a few million folks watching at home … well, let’s just say there’s a material difference between the kind of balls we’ve seen other quarterbacks throw for Washington the past few years.”
Commanders’ Recent History of QB Busts
At the quarterback position, the Commanders have been defined by a recent history of busts. Most notably with Baylor’s Robert Griffin III — a former Heisman Trophy winner like Daniels.
After Griffin III was drafted by Washington with the No. 2 overall pick out of Baylor in the 2012 NFL draft, he was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowler. As a rookie, he led Washington to the playoffs but tore his ACL in a Wild Card loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Griffin III was never the same after the injury. He went 14-21 as the starter over four seasons before he was released.
Griffin III got another chance as a starter with the Cleveland Browns in 2016 but went 1-4 to start the season before he injured his shoulder. He followed that with three seasons as a backup with the Baltimore Ravens then was out of the NFL for good, finishing his career with a 16-26 record as a starter.
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