Hail to the Redskins

"Hail to the Redskins" is the fight song for the National Football League team the Washington Redskins. It was written sometime between 1937 and 1938 and was performed for the first time on August 17, 1938. The music was composed by The Redskins Band leader, Barnee Breeskin, and the lyrics were written by Corinne Griffith, the wife of Redskins founder and owner George Preston Marshall.

In 1937, Marshall moved the Redskins from Boston to Washington. With this move and the introduction of his team to the nation's capital, Marshall commissioned a 110-member band to provide the new fans with the "pomp and circumstance" and "pageantry" of a public victory parade. Marshall stated that he wanted his team and their games to emulate the spectacle of the Roman Gladiators at the Coliseum. He also wanted to incorporate elements of the college football experience into the pro game. He oufitted the band with $25,000 worth of uniforms and instruments and asked the band leader, Barnee Breeskin, to compose a fight song worthy of such a team of gladiators and warriors.

The original lyrics were written to reflect the Native American warrior imagery of the team as the Redskins. The lyrics were later reworked to be less offensive to contemporary sensibilities, although the Redskins name continues to be criticized as a racial slur. Nonetheless, the fight song is one of the oldest football fight songs in all of American professional football.

Hail to the Redskins is the second oldest fight song for a professional American football team; the oldest fight song is "Go! You Packers! Go!", composed in 1931. During the 1938 season the Redskins played their new fight song for fans in attendance at the games as they played the Philadelphia Eagles, the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Cleveland Rams, the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions, and the Chicago Bears football teams.

In 1974, Washington, D.C. singer Beryl Middleton recorded "Hail to the Redskins", backed up by members of the Redskins Singers. Barnee Breeskin declared this the finest recording of his song.

...
Wikipedia