‘The People Is What Makes The Building Special’

Zach Ertz is still going strong as he enters his age-35 season with the Washington Commanders.

The three-time Pro Bowl tight end and Super Bowl champion has found new life in his new home in Washington, re-establishing himself after a strong 2024 season. Ertz posted 66 receptions for 654 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, his best season since posting 88 receptions for 916 receiving yards as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2019.

It also helps that Ertz is playing with the top second-year quarterback in Jayden Daniels. The strong play of both Ertz and the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year led to a surprising NFC Championship Game appearance by the Commanders, their deepest playoff run since 1991 when they won last won the Super Bowl.

Ertz re-signed with the Commanders in the offseason, calling the decision a “no-brainer.”

“It was a no brainer,” says Ertz in a one-on-one interview. “Honestly, the season that we had, the enjoyment of the process that I was able to experience last year in D.C. with Coach Quinn, (general manager) Adam Peters was a no-brainer. At this point in my career, I’m not just playing to play the game. I’m playing the game to be a part of an organization that is competing at a high level, is loving the process and doing everything they can to put their players in positions to be successful. The reality of the situation is that’s not every team in the NFL.”

Ertz is about to enter his 13th season in the NFL as the second-oldest tight end in the league (behind Travis Kelce). He knows better than anyone that not every team in the league has a good organization structure like the Commanders currently have in place.

He’s also well aware that while the Commanders were one of the top teams in the NFL, that doesn’t automatically equal success this season. There will now be a target on Washington’s back now that they’re proven contenders.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be down here with an opportunity to continue to improve, not only as a player, but as a team,” says Ertz. “For me, I think that’s what’s exciting. Whatever happened happened last year, because it’s not going to have any impact on this year.”

The veteran tight end speaks with clear passion of playing in D.C., which is saying something considering Ertz has been in the league for a long time. Ertz has made six postseason runs during his career.

He makes sure to give credit to Peters for building the Commanders into a contender and with the right players. Ertz says it makes everything “enjoyable” because the players make the building “special.”

“The people is what makes the building special,” says Ertz. “It’s not any slogan. It’s not any saying that you put on a wall. It’s the people that you bring in, makes the day to day enjoyable or not. Adam Peters, the GM, brought in people that truly cared about football, a ton, they love the game, they love the process of improving, the love of the process of winning.

“It was being surrounded with men like that, that made my job that much more enjoyable, because that is me to the tee,” Ertz continues. “Being back there, it really was immediate from the moment I got to D.C.. I truly love being a Commander. A lot of it had to do with the people of Coach Quinn, the building, the environment that they created first class.”

Ertz once again hammers home that the Commanders will have to continue working to replicate the success that they had last year. The veteran tight end won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles after the 2017 season. The Eagles would go on to lose in the divisional round the following season before losing in the wild card round during the 2019 season.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people about this past few months, nothing that what we did last year was going to impact this year,” says Ertz. “Just because we had a successful season last year doesn’t mean we’re going to have a successful season this year. That’s the beauty about the NFL. When the season starts and when we report for training camp in a few weeks from now, or a week and a half from now, no one cares about what happened last year.”

The Commanders won a number of close games last season, winning four consecutive games last season at the end of the 2024 campaign by six points or less. Of their 12 regular season victories, nine came by one possession.

“Everyone’s got optimism,” says Ertz. “Everyone’s got high goals, high hopes, and it’s about who’s going to improve the most during the year, who’s going to improve the most during training camp,” says Ertz. “You can go out there and be your best on game day. There were four, five, six games where we won games on the last play. Ball bounces two or three times a different way, and we’re looking at a completely different season.”

Ertz says the Commanders have to be even better this upcoming season as they look to finish the job this time around by winning the Super Bowl.

“We can’t just rest on our laurels, saying we won the NFC Championship Game as a first-year operation. The reality is we have to improve. Other teams have improved. It’s a lot. It’s going to be 10 times harder this year than last year. That’s what makes the NFL great.”

Zach Ertz Gives Advice To Young Soccer Players As Part Of ‘Abbott Dream Team’ Campaign

Before Ertz starts training camp later this month, he took the time to hang out and give advice to Washington D.C.- area soccer players aged 18-to-19 years old before they head to Madrid. The two teenage soccer players selected from the tryouts will learn under Real Madrid’s coaches as part of the “Abbott Dream Team” campaign.

The campaign sees 11 total soccer players aged 18-to-19 years old from America selected to train overseas under Real Madrid’s coaches. The other cities where players will be selected from are Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.

“Abbott is one of the leaders in health in the world,” says Ertz. “Just to be able to partner with them, truly was a no brainer. They’re doing amazing work in terms of prioritizing health and nutrition for their athletes today with this partnership with Real Madrid and the program is they had a bunch of young men kids out here today with the chance to earn a trip to Real Madrid to practice out there for a week and really teach them for further education on nutrition and health and taking care of their body so they can continue to take the next step as athletes.”

Ertz is obviously one of the most experienced players in the league, so he knows about longevity better than anyone. He also has some soccer knowledge considering his wife, Julie Johnson, played for a decade for the U.S. women’s national team.

His advice to the young soccer players wasn’t so much about longevity, it was about playing free and not overthinking in the current moment.

“They’ve been preparing it for their whole life,” says Ertz of the young soccer players. “I really just want to let them know, you don’t get up there in a big moment and over stress or overthink – you go out there and play free knowing you’ve done all the work. That really was the message that I tried to impart on them all.”