“These guys” included active duty members and veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces and current and former Redskins Ryan Kerrigan, Ricky Jean-Francois and Clinton Portis. They had all gathered for the Pros vs. GI Joes “Madden NFL 16” tournament hosted by Redskins Salute, the team’s military appreciation program.

“The Redskins spent all year helping celebrate service and honoring veterans,” Gillums said. “This really is a culmination, now that the season is over, where we can all kind of get together celebrate what we’ve done and keep veterans and veterans issues, and also caregivers, top of mind in society. Even though the wars have ended for most of the country, there are still people living with the consequences of the service, and these are people with spinal cord injuries and diseases.”

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During a break between games in the single-elimination tournament, Kerrigan and Jean-Francois offered their thoughts on the proposed design for the Redskins’ next stadium.

“I personally think it looks awesome,” Kerrigan said. “I’m all for the new-age stuff. Everyone’s saying it’s ridiculous. Maybe, but it’s cool. I think it would be awesome.”

“I understand some people said it’s ridiculous, but it’s not ridiculous, because you’ve got to look at it from Dan Snyder’s point of view,” Jean-Francois said. “We play in there and then the season’s over. We’ve got to make the stadium all-purpose. A prime example, you can look at the Dallas Cowboys. That stadium is used year-round, people come take tours and everything. D.C.’s a beautiful place. We do have beautiful monuments, but let’s put something else here that represents the Redskins, and something you can come to each and every day or you can rock climb, you can swim in the moat, you can raft, you can do whatever.”

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A few military members joined in the fun at Wednesday’s event remotely from overseas. Participants chose their respective Madden teams for a variety of reasons. Army veteran Robert Fecteau played as the Seahawks, his favorite team. Fecteau was an honorary guest at the Redskins-Seahawks “Monday Night Football” game at FedEx Field in 2014.

“It was kind of weird being all in Seahawks gear and the first person I run into in the tunnel is RGIII,” he said. “We’re both looking at each other like, ‘Okay, what do we do now?'”

Jean-Francois played as the Panthers because Luke Kuechly is one of the highest-rated linebackers in Madden and Cam Newton boasts a strong arm and pinpoint accuracy. Portis picked his team — the Steelers — at random and Kerrigan played as the Redskins because, well, he plays for the Redskins.

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“I was thinking about using another team, maybe trying to use someone like the Bills with Tyrod Taylor, a real mobile quarterback that gives you that run-pass option, but I had to go with the Skins,” Kerrigan said.

U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Thomas White won the tournament’s grand prize, an Xbox One.