Wyn Delano
WMAL.com
RICHMOND — (WMAL) Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is lobbying to get the Washington Redskins to move to Virginia once their current contract at FedEx field is up.
Speaking to Redskins TV, McAuliffe made the case that Virginia’s size made it the natural choice for the Redskins, in the process calling Maryland “a nice little state.”
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan brushed off that insult – remaining confident that the Washington’s NFL team will remain in Maryland.
Speaking to WMAL’s Larry O’Connor, Governor Hogan shot back “The poor guy…He has to talk down about Maryland because we’re going to keep the Redskins in Maryland, there’s no question about that…I can’t imagine them wanting to go out to the middle of nowhere and fight all that Virginia traffic.”
Yet McAuliffe continues to make the case for a Virginia stadium – citing the contributions that residents of the state make to the team:
“When you think about it, the headquarters are in Ashburn, we’ve got the training camp kicking off here in Richmond, the players all live here, about 66% of the season ticket holders are Virginians – we love the Redskins, no question about it.”
The fight over the Redskins is the latest example of the friendly rivalry between the Governors of Virginia and Maryland, who had a recent spat over the origin of Maryland’s famous Blue Crabs.
And speaking to Larry O’Connor, Hogan couldn’t let sleeping dogs lie:
[Governor McAuliffe] made the claim that all the crabs originate in the state of Virginia…I don’t think that’s true, but even if it was I know when they all get smart enough and grow up they all move to Maryland.”
Hogan wasn’t finished yet,
“We got the Redskins, we have the crabs, poor guy – I like Terry, but he’s just having a bad time.”
Time will tell as to whether Virginia can lure the Redskins away from Maryland – but for now its another chapter in an extraordinary relationship between the two Governors of these two very interconnected states.
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