Before the Sunday Night Football game against the New York Giants, Woody "DJ oh Goody" Sellers and his nephew Wayne "Big 57" Sellers took the stage at FedExField's Legends Plaza to perform their hit "Commanders song."
"For me, it was an out of body experience," Wayne said. "It felt as if I was watching myself perform with the crowd if that makes sense. It just didn't feel real to have one of my biggest dreams come true."
The Sellers' performance was met with plenty of energy. The two were cheered when they came on stage. The crowd sang along to the lyrics. When the song cued "Left hand up, who are we? The Commanders!", listeners had their fists in the air moving to the beat. Before and after the show, attendees flocked to take pictures with the duo. The scene at Legends Plaza made clear how much of a chord this song has struck with Washington fans.
The attention generated by the "Commanders song" has been a whirlwind for the Sellerses, who are lifelong Washington fans. It had humble beginnings with stops that included Woody brainstorming lyrics in his FedEx delivery truck and a beat purchased on BeatStars.com. The music video, which starred a lot of their friends and family, went viral in the fall as clips were shared by big football social media accounts with millions of followers.
Since then, the song has grown into a sort of unofficial anthem among fans. A raised left hand has become a go-to gesture for those displayed on the big screen and even players at times. Just recently during the bye week, Taylor Heinicke joked that "Commanders song" was the most played song on his phone. From the start, the unlikely journey has been propelled by the Sellerses belief in what they have created and what this song could be.
"For me, this process was a whole lot of speaking things into existence," Woody Sellers said. "When we prepared to do the video, we said that the organization may like this song. We told people to come to our shoot because we are about to make history. The same thing with the dream of performing at FedExField. We spoke it into existence."
In some ways, the Sunday night performance captured so much of what the song is all about. Legends Plaza, for example, was a fitting spot for the concert as the tune makes references to Doug Williams, the Hogs, John Riggins and Joe Gibbs as well as Washington's three Super Bowl wins.
The pregame show also highlighted community support and the coming together of a diverse fanbase around a shared love. Fans across many different generations could huddle around the stage. Hoping to give back to those in the DMV area who have been there for them, the Sellerses rallied kids from the first Baptist Church of Highland Park and Wayne's middle school Benjamin D. Foulis to dance while they sang. The kids wore "Left Hand Up" shirts made by District Heights-based business, Our Republic 7. So many of the ideas and elements that helped the creation of this hit were harmonizing on that Sunday night.
As the lights flashed from recording phones and their own voices were drowned out by the crowd singing their song, DJ OH Goody and Big57 let the magnitude of the moment wash over them. They believed in a dream and, with the help of their Burgundy & Gold family, made it into a reality.
"What I'll remember about Sunday night is the love the atmosphere had," Wayne Sellers said. "The Commanders have the best fanbase in all of football, and it definitely showed that night."
