Although the Washington team joined the NFL nine decades earlier in 1932, the Washington Commanders have only officially existed since 2022. The squad has had a good number of homegrown superstars during that extended period, but it has also seen a large number of well-known players join in the latter parts of their careers.
It may be difficult for many football fans to recall Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders donning the maroon and gold. In 2000, he played for Washington for one season before making an unexpected announcement about his initial retirement. However, Sanders is hardly the only well-known athlete who had success overseas before traveling to the capital to play. These are five former Washington Commanders players that you might not have remembered.
1.Sanders Deion
Deion In 2000, Sanders signed a seven-year contract with Washington, but he left the team after just one season.
With the Atlanta Falcons, Deion Sanders was selected to the Pro Bowl twice—once as a cornerback and once as a return man. Later, he was selected to the Pro Bowl by both the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. Did he play for the Washington Wizards? Although it’s difficult to remember, Sanders did suit up for one of the Cowboys’ main opponents in 2000.
Sanders was selected by the Falcons with the fifth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, and he quickly established his dominance on the field. Sanders, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound defensive back, was a shutdown cornerback in defense in addition to returning punts and kickoffs.
In his final three seasons with the Falcons, Sanders—a two-sport professional athlete who also played Major League Baseball—made the Pro Bowl. Sanders spent five seasons with the Falcons.
With the 49ers in 1994, Sanders signed a contract and had perhaps his best NFL season. He recovered three intercepted passes for touchdowns and won Defensive Player of the Year. In the MVP race, he finished third with 34 solo tackles and claimed a Super Bowl victory.
He joined with the Cowboys after playing one season with the Niners. He spent five seasons with America’s Team, winning a Super Bowl in his debut season. During his tenure in Dallas, he was selected to the Pro Bowl four times and was named to the First Team All-Pro three times.
He signed a $56 million, seven-year contract with Washington in 2000. After making 15 starts and recording four interceptions, he suddenly announced his retirement at the end of the season. Before making a comeback to the NFL in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, he was out of the league for three seasons.
2.Shaun Alexander
Shaun Alexander played four games in Washington to cap off an incredible NFL career.
It is clear how Shaun Alexander came to be known as “Mr. Touchdown.”
Alexander was one of the NFL’s top running backs in his era during his five-year tenure with the Seattle Seahawks from 2001 to 2005. He averaged 17.4 touchdown runs per season and gained more than 1,000 yards of rushing per year during that time.
The Alabama product was selected by the Seahawks in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He started just one game as a rookie before making a huge impact in 2001. After finishing with 1,318 running yards in his second season in the NFL, Alexander led the league in touchdown runs with 14.
He gained his first of three consecutive Pro Bowl selections in 2003 after rushing for 1,435 yards and 14 touchdowns. After rushing for a career-high and NFL-high 27 touchdowns and earning a career-high and NFL-leading 1,880 yards on the ground, Alexander was awarded the league’s MVP two years later. In addition, he received the Offensive Player of the Year award and, for the first time in his career, made the First Team All-Pro.
Alexander played for the Seahawks for eight seasons in the end before being cut in April 2008. That October, he signed with Washington, but he only made four appearances in games. Before being cut in November, he carried the ball 11 times for 24 yards and no touchdowns.
With 9,429 yards, Alexander is still the Seahawks’ all-time leading rusher. His 100 running touchdowns are also a franchise record. With 58, Marshawn Lynch comes in second.
3.Jones, Deacon
Deacon Jones finished his Hall of Fame career with a single dull Washington season. With the Los Angeles Rams, Deacon Jones terrorized quarterbacks for eleven seasons. The Rams selected the 6-foot-7, 272-pound defensive end from Mississippi Valley State in the 14th round of the 1961 NFL Draft, and he proved to be a real steal.
9.5 sacks as a rookie are recorded in unofficial records, despite the fact that sacks were not recognized as an official NFL stat until 1982. From then on, he just got better.
Throughout his career, Jones led the NFL in sacks five times. He finished with 21 or more in three of those seasons. According to those unofficial statistics, Jones had 159.5 sacks while playing with the Rams. From 1964 to 1970, he was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times in a row. From 1965 to 1969, he was named to the First Team All-Pro five times in a row.
He spent two seasons as a player with the San Diego Chargers following his tenure with the Rams. After registering six sacks and recovering two turnovers in his debut season with his new squad, he carried over his Pro Bowl performance.
He joined the Washington football team in 1974, played in all 14 games (with one start), and finished with three sacks. In his 14 NFL seasons, Jones missed just six games. In 1980, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
4.Don McNabb
In Donovan McNabb’s only season starting at quarterback for the Eagles’ division foe, he finished 5-8.
Donovan McNabb is still the Philadelphia Eagles’ all-time passing leader with 32,873 yards. The Syracuse graduate, who was selected second overall in the 1999 NFL Draft, played 11 seasons for the Eagles, finishing with a 92-49-1 regular-season record.
McNabb played in the Pro Bowl from 2000 to 2004. He threw for 3,361 yards and 21 touchdowns in his second season in the league, which put him in second place in the MVP voting. That season, he also set a career high for 629 yards gained through rushes, scored six touchdowns, and helped the Eagles win 11-5.
Ron Jaworski holds the record with 175 touchdown passes in Eagles history, but McNabb’s 216 career touchdown passes are far more than his.
In April 2010, after spending 11 seasons with the Eagles, McNabb was traded to Washington. He spent one season as a starting quarterback for the Eagles’ division opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, going 5-8 with 13 touchdowns and 3,377 yards of passing. Fifteen times was he intercepted.
McNabb played one season in Washington before starting six games (1–5) for the Minnesota Vikings in 2011.
5. Troy Vincent
Troy Vincent played eight games for Washington to cap off a stellar career.
Troy Vincent, a defensive back, played four seasons as a member of the Miami Dolphins to start his long NFL career, but his best years were spent with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Vincent, the seventh overall selection in the 1992 NFL Draft, signed a contract in 1996 with the Eagles of his hometown and played for the organization for eight prosperous seasons. From 1999 to 2003, he spent five seasons in a row in the Pro Bowl.
Vincent recorded 67 total tackles, two interceptions, and was selected a First-Team All-Pro in 2002. The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award was also given to him. Following his eight-year tenure with the Eagles, Vincent signed a contract with the Buffalo Bills, where he spent three seasons playing in Western New York.
After suffering an injury in the Bills’ season opener in 2006, Vincent might have missed up to eight weeks of play. Upon his comeback to the field, the Bills cut him go, and he joined Washington. He made eight appearances for the squad, starting three of them, and logged twenty-one tackles.
After being freed by Washington in February 2007, he never took another snap.
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