Washington Commanders DE Joshua Pryor and Organization Celebrating HBCU Night Out

The Washington Commanders will be celebrating HBCU Night Out as part of their fan appreciation efforts this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.

Week 13 of the NFL season is a big one for the Washington Commanders (4-8) who host the Miami Dolphins (8-3) in a clash of teams appearing to be heading into opposite directions. 

With the Commanders defense getting it’s first look at a live opponent with coach Ron Rivera at the controls the focus for the organization as a whole won’t just be on the field, but around it as well.

As a part of their ongoing efforts to reconnect with the Washington fan base the franchise is hosting several themed events this Sunday including Pride Night Out, an inaugural Jewish Heritage pregame even, and HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Night Out.

That last one means a little more to one member of the Commanders roster, defensive end Joshua Pryor.

Pryor, an undrafted free agent this offseason, played collegiately at Bowie State University where he racked up 32 sacks and 77 tackles for loss. But that came after he played his high school ball at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Baltimore, MD making him about as homegrown an NFL talent as there is.

And that makes him a unique representative of his team on a night like this one. 

“We all have the same goal, you know, like we coming from an environment that's not necessarily the best, but we all have the same struggle,” Pryor said when we asked him what being from the DMV means to him. “You know we’re all trying to make a better life for ourselves and for our family. And it's like we all know each other, we all grew up together. We all support each other and it's really like a family atmosphere, family environment. Even now to this day, I do have a lot of people that reach out to me and that I can reach to and talk to that I used to go to school with and stuff like that.”

Pryor doesn’t have far to reach if he needs a reminder of home and his football life growing in the DMV just as his personal one did helps him keep a competitive edge as he fights his way onto the NFL field as a member of the Commanders’ practice squad.

“I really only had HBCUs come and reaching out to me,” Pryor recalled when discussing his experience as a high school recruit. “I decided to go to Bowie (and) I feel like going there really taught me the smaller things. Like really just making it, like trying to get out the mud…making something outta nothing. We’re always just looked at as underdogs and stuff like that, so I feel like it just added a chip to my shoulder and gave me a little bit more hunger. Just getting to this stage I feel like it gave me a little advantage, you know, because I had to learn how to be successful without the resources that other schools may have gotten and without all the extra help.”

Pryor embraces that chip and uses it to fuel his NFL journey, one that has taken him onto the field twice in his first season despite being undrafted and not inspite of coming from an HBCU, but because of it.

“To be honest, they made me feel like they cared about me more than just a football player,” Pryor says about Bowie State University specifically. “They wanted to see me successful as a person, as a man in life in general. I told them my goals, and it felt like my goals were their goals, you know? And so that really sealed the deal for me. I felt like I was gonna be taken care of, and I was.”

The Washington Commanders will be fighting for their fifth win of the season this Sunday while the organization celebrates several communities including those connected with HBCUs / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Standing outside of his NFL locker room, 12 regular season weeks into his NFL career, Pryor knows now more than ever he made the right decision and is proud of what is happening in the world of HBCU sports and the increased coverage and support its receiving as of late. 

During his own career he leaned on the knowledge that talent will be discovered and will have an opportunity to shine no matter where it’s coming from. Something that made focusing on a program that invests in the players as much as it asks from them all the more important.

He’s hoping his own success will help shed a light on that opportunity for others who may be looking for a chance to prove themselves and feel they need a mainstream college logo on their helmet to do it.

And that’s what HBCU Night Out is all about for Washington, and for Pryor. Not just the schools, or even the players, but the traditions and proud community including the nine historically Black sororities and fraternities known as the Divine 9 who have several members playing, working for, and covering the team to this day.

Of course, countless more are in the ranks of Commanders fans who have been promised a better organization to support following the sale of the team this Summer.

As a part of the celebration there will be a pregame party hosted in the West End Zone for HBCU students and a pregame party on the Club Level patio for the DC Metro HBCU Alumni Alliance.

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While those attending are enjoying those festivities Pryor and his Washington teammates will be in their final steps of preparation to take on a Dolphins team nobody expects them to beat. 

But Pryor hasn’t let small expectations stop him before, so there’s no reason to believe he and his current team won’t approach Week 13 with that same tenacity.

Pryor wants anyone who may not understand the HBCU environment to know, “they have the things that you need as long as you are willing to put in the work. It's not gonna be easy, but it's definitely doable.”