Dustin Hopkins thanks Washington after long run with team originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Dustin Hopkins' six-plus year run with the Washington Football Team ended this past week, as head coach Ron Rivera released the kicker in favor of Chris Blewitt following the club's Week 6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Late Monday, nearly one week after his release, Hopkins took to Instagram to thank the franchise and several of his teammates for his tenure with the Burgundy and Gold.
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"Our time here has been a blessing to my family and I. We've experienced a lot of highs and lows together - I'm grateful for all of those memories and every moment in between," Hopkins wrote.
In his Instagram post, Hopkins dedicated one slide to the four long snappers -- Nick Sundberg, Camaron Cheeseman, Andrew East and Rick Lovato -- he played alongside with during his six and a half seasons in Washington.
"'It all starts with the snap.' Thank y'all for your friendships, hard work, and memories of a lifetime," Hopkins wrote. "Snapping is often an overlooked position - people on the outside have no idea the skill and consistency needed to actually do it at such a high level. Great snapping makes my job so much easier. I could not have done it without you fellas."
Then on the next side of Hopkins' post, he thanked punter Tress Way, who also served as Hopkins' holder on kicks. Way has been in Washington since 2014, and he and Hopkins formed an extremely tight bond during their six and a half seasons together as teammates.
"Tress, I would like to thank you least for all your holding...which has been amazing as long as I've known you," Hopkins said. "I want to extend a bigger thank you for being someone who throughout our friendship has helped to sharpen me as a follower of Christ, man, husband, father, son, friend and most importantly...ping pong player."
That last part is an ode to the ping pong table that used to be in Washington's locker room during the Jay Gruden era. The specialists -- Way, Hopkins and Sundberg -- all took pride in being the best ping-pong players on the team, as games were held frequently after practice every day. The table was removed from the locker room when head coach Ron Rivera took over in 2020.
Hopkins also dedicated a page of his thank you note to the Washington fans, calling them the "true heartbeat of the Washington Football Team."
For his career in Washington, Hopkins made 163 of his 194 field goal attempts (84%). His best season with the club came in 2018, where he made 26 of his 29 attempts (89.7%), including 4-of-5 from 50-plus yards. Hopkins was 12-of-14 on field goals this season before he was released but had also missed two extra points in six games.
