While the Washington Commanders prepare for their first preseason game Friday night against the Cleveland Browns, a special guest visited the team’s training camp in Ashburn, Va.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, an admitted Baltimore Ravens’ fan, and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller – former and current Montgomery County residents respectively – appeared in Commanders jerseys at the last publicly-open practice to boost confidence in the team and its fans. Moore and Miller talked and shook hands with those in attendance.
While DC and Virginia have both made their pitches to be the future site of a Commanders stadium, Maryland Governor Wes Moore says "the Commanders belong in Prince George's County." @DCNewsNow #DCNNGameNight @iamwesmoore pic.twitter.com/3wo7zyF7Lz
— Alex Flum (@AlexFlumTV) August 9, 2023
The visit by the governor allowed him to lay out his game plan for the possible relocation of the Commanders’ home stadium. With talks about the Commanders moving back into D.C. or possibly into Virginia, Moore wanted to reassure fans that he wants the team to stay where they are.
“We are excited for them to be able to build, grow, and win in the state of Maryland,” said Moore. “We are unified in this belief that the Commanders belong in Prince George’s County.”
But Moore had some competition of his own in Ashburn. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin came to training camp days earlier to defend his turf and solidify his pitch to relocate the Commanders into Virginia.
“I’ve said many times, Virginia should be the best place to live, work, raise a family, and it should be the best place to have a professional football team,” Youngkin said in an interview.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin also signing autographs at Commanders training camp @wusa9 #HTTC pic.twitter.com/gclopGUWtO
— Darren M. Haynes (@DarrenMHaynes) July 27, 2023
Youngkin’s appearance didn’t faze Moore who sternly stuck to his belief that the new stadium should remain in Maryland.
“The Commanders are an incredibly important and vital part of not just our economy, but part of our culture. And so we know this is going to be a championship team going forward and it’s exciting about the new vision that the new ownership has that’s coming onboard and I think it really does correlate and correspond well with how we are thinking about things in the state of Maryland,” the governor said.
I asked Maryland Gov. Wes Moore about the state's timeline for a stadium. pic.twitter.com/E24uUG7Th2
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) August 9, 2023
Featured photo courtesy A.J. Perez
