Over the past couple of decades, several former Washington Redskins who played duriing the franchise’s heyday in the 1980s and early 1990s have come to the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival as sports guests, and they’ve expressed things that gave them reason for optimism about the state of the franchise now known as the Commanders.

For the most part, the things those players were enthused about either didn’t pan out, or the success of the subjects they talked about was short-lived.

This past weekend featured Charles Mann and Brian Mitchell as Washington Super Bowl champion sports guests of the 98th Apple Blossom Festival. And while sustained success hasn’t been synonymous with the Commanders the past few decades — since 1998, Washington’s only back-to-back winning seasons came in 2015 (9-7) and 2016 (8-7-1) — the two Redskin greats feel that can change now.

An ownership preparing for its third season after a spectacular second season, a talented young quarterback and the possibility of a new stadium at the RFK site have created a buzz that hasn’t been this big since since Mann and Mitchell helped Washington win Super Bowl XXVI in Minneapolis after the 1991 season.

In the 2024 season, Washington went 12-5 and reached the NFC championship game. It marked the first time the Commanders won more than 10 games since 1991 (every other NFL franchise had an 11-win season during that time) and the first time they advanced to at least the NFC championship game since 1991 (every other NFC team had achieved that feat during that time).

Mann (a defensive end for Washington from 1983-93 who won two Super Bowls with the team) and Mitchell (a running back and return specialist with the Redskins from 1990-99) got to play with Washington when it was routinely one of the best teams in the NFL.

Mann — who was interviewed a few minutes after Mitchell on Saturday afternoon at the First Presbyterian Church’s Donegal Building — said there are a number of things that made those Redskins teams special under Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs.

“The camaraderie,” Mann said. “Everybody believed in each other. Everybody wanted to see each other win. Everybody wanted the other players to be successful. It was a lot of that.

“If you show me a team that’s close, I’ll show you a team that one, has good coaching, and two, is probably very competitive. The team, it’s not ‘I,’ it’s not one person. It’s a group of individuals. Joe Gibbs just knew how to bring players together. He was unique for that, and that’s why he’s in the Hall of Fame. Yes, he won Super Bowls, but the way he won them, the teams were so close.”

For example, with Gibbs, Mann noted that he would approach eight to 10 “natural-born leaders, not appointed leaders” on the team and ask them what day they would like to have Bible study. Mann — one of those leaders — said Gibbs would schedule practice to avoid conflicting with Bible study.

“He knew that keeping the players together and showing them that this is their team [was important],” Mann said. “If we lost a game, he’d call those eight guys upstairs to his office and say, ‘What’s going on guys? What do we need to do? You guys laid an egg out there. Go back and tell me what we need to do.’ And we would come back to him and we’d tell him, ‘Guys are tired. We practiced really hard on Friday. We need a little break.’ He really gave us the reins to own the team, and then he called on us when we fell short and asked, ‘What do we need to do? You guys aren’t getting it done.’ ”

Mitchell also said the members of those Redskins teams believed and supported each other.

“We didn’t want to let the other person down,” Mitchell said. “I played ball with some of those guys maybe one year, or two or three, and we still have relationships as if we never left each other. Everything back then was bent for one goal, one reason — to promote everybody, not just one person.”

Mitchell and Mann believe Washington is getting back to those days because of the ownership group led by Josh Harris, which took over in July of 2023 following Daniel Snyder’s run as owner from 1999-2023.

Both men mentioned that Harris’ lifelong fandom of the Redskins as a plus, as well as the fandom of minority owners like Mitchell Rales and Mark Ein. Mitchell doesn’t think Snyder was as big of a Redskins fan as he’s made out to be — he believes his father’s passion for the team is what ultimately led to Snyder’s purchase.

“I believe this new ownership cares about the football team and the community, just like Jack Kent Cooke did,” said Mitchell, referencing the Redskins owner from 1969-1997. “[This ownership group] is from [the Washington, D.C] area and sat in those seats at RFK back in the day. Those guys were supporting the team.”

Mann thought it was important that Harris upgraded what is now known as Northwest Stadium in Maryland upon taking over, and getting former players involved in events. For example, Mann said it was great to see Darrell Green’s jersey number retired last year.

And both Mann and Mitchell like the personnel changes of hiring Adam Peters as general manager and Dan Quinn as head coach after the 2023 season was completed. Washington went 4-13 in 2023.

“[For head coach], I think they got somebody just like Joe Gibbs, a very young version of Joe Gibbs,” Mann said. “I don’t know [Quinn] that well, but he seems to be very player-friendly. I see Dan Quinn doing the same kind of things he did.”

Both Mitchell and Mann like the addition of players like linebacker Bobby Wagner through free agency and quarterback Jayden Daniels through the draft. Daniels was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year for the 2024 season.

“The guy’s got ice in his veins,” said Mann of Daniels. “I’ve never seen a rookie respond the way he’s responded game in and game out. It’s almost like he’s a robot. I don’t know if he’s real.”

Mann laughed after making those comments, and it was clear it felt good to laugh. The Commanders have basically had a revolving-door situation at quarterback for more than 30 years.

“The quarterback situation is so important now in sports, and they got that right,” Mitchell said. “Not only did they get it right by the athletic talent, they got the right type of person. Jayden is a team-first guy. He is a worker. He has no fluff about him. He’s all about the sport and trying to be better, and be the best he can be.

“When I looks at the Caps, Alex Ovechkin is the hardest-working guy on that team. How can anyone else complain? Jayden Daniels is the hardest working guy on the [Commanders]. How can anybody complain?”

Both Mitchell and Mann have fond memories of playing at RFK Stadium in their careers, and they would love to see the Commanders make that site their future home. The Commanders reached a deal with D.C. to build a new stadium there, but they still need D.C. Council approval to go ahead with the project.

“It was loud and supportive,” said Mitchell of RFK, which was the team’s home from 1961-1996 before moving to Northwest Stadium. “It was a familial-based type of deal. I believe that when you did something so long and had so much success at it, it becomes that spiritual area where people really think, ‘This is where we’re supposed to be.’ And I think [a new stadium in D.C] would bring a lot of that back.”

For Mitchell, this year marked his third Bloom. He appeared as an active player in 1993 and in 2010, he attended the Bloomers’ Luncheon, the Stag Luncheon and Men’s Commonwealth Luncheon. Mitchell enjoyed being part of it again this weekend.

“You see the support that the whole town gives, and the togetherness,” Mitchell said. “It’s a small-town feel, and everybody is out. You can see that no matter what background a person has, they’re here for this festival.

“I heard someone say earlier that it’s about tradition, and in this day and age, not many people keep tradition going. This has been going on almost 100 years, and that says a lot. Someone told me the Firefighters’ Parade is the largest in the country. There’s 27,000 people [living] here. It shows that the people here think that when we do something that’s ours, we come together and support it, and I think that’s a great thing.”

Mitchell and Mann were glad to share the Apple Blossom experience together.

“The great thing about Charles is he’s [still] exactly who he was [when he was a player],” said Mitchell of Mann, who has been successful in business and with companies who provide treatment for people with substance abuse and disabilities. “He’s a stand-up guy. He’s going to put his work in. He believes in what he believes in. He tries to better people around him.”

Mitchell — now a successful sports analyst on radio and television who is also involved with charitable works — has always been grateful for what Mann and his teammates did for him at the start of his career. Mitchell said he still views Mann as a big brother.

“I can remember coming in as a young guy when Charles and Darrell [Green] and those guys saw ways where I could not only improve myself as a football player, but as a person,” Mitchell said. “They made sure I understood it. In any aspect of life, once you know someone cares about you, you can take criticism, and you can take guidance. That happened with that team.”

Mann said he was “getting ready to fight” Mitchell when he first arrived in Washington.

“This little hothead, little Louisiana boy is getting ready to get his butt kicked,” Mann said. “He came in very big-headed. I think he was trying to figure out how to get into this team, and get accepted. He just needed to come in and be himself. He eventually realized that these guys are good guys. Slowly but surely, we loved him onto the team, and the guy was a superstar after that. He was a quarterback in college, and then he’s running backs punts and kickoffs.”

Mann still loves being around Mitchell now. Mann lives in Ashburn and Mitchell lives in Centreville.

“It’s fun to be with him,” said Mann, who has three children with his wife Tyrena. “His wife Monica, and his children … we’re all close. That’s how our team was.”