For the first time in 33 years, the Washington Commanders will play in the NFC Championship Game, facing the NFC East-rival Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday. This marks the first time since 1991 that Washington will play in the championship game. That same season, the team won the Super Bowl, which was also the last time they did so.
A lot has changed since 1991. The Arizona Cardinals are no longer in the NFC East, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers did not exist, and the Washington and Philadelphia Eagles met in the playoffs at Veterans Stadium. The Twins won the 1991 World Series, and the Chicago Bulls were in the second season of an NBA three-peat.
The New York Yankees drafted Derek Jeter, a future Hall of Famer, a few months after Washington’s Super Bowl win. The NBA did not have a team based in Canada, and the Vancouver Grizzlies were the only one in Canada. The Pittsburgh Penguins repeated as Stanley Cup champions, and Mark Messier was in his first season with the New York Rangers, with whom he would later win the Stanley Cup in 1994.
The WNBA did not yet exist, and the Miami Hurricanes split national title honors with the Washington Huskies. The Big Ten Conference had 10 teams, and the Stanford Cardinal won its second women’s college basketball championship. The album “The Chronic” was released in 1992, as was “2Pacalypse Now” and “Ten.”
Popular movies included “White Men Can’t Jump,” “A League of Their Own,” “Beethoven,” “My Cousin Vinny,” and “Sister Act.” TV shows like “Barney & Friends” and “Martin” premiered in 1992, as did season two of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” The world was on a hiatus from the “Star Wars” series, with a 16-year gap between movies.
Other 1992 releases included the popular video game “Super Mario Kart,” which was exclusive to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Famous birthdays include soccer star Neymar, country music singer Lainey Wilson, actor Jennette McCurdy, pop stars Selena Gomez, and Nick Jonas.
In 1992, the world was not yet introduced to Woody and Buzz from “Toy Story,” which would not be released until 1995. JetBlue Airlines and AirTran Airways did not exist, and the Animal Kingdom theme park in Disney World was not built. The Disney Cruise Line would not be established until 1998, and FOX Sports did not exist.
