Washington Redskins players and cheerleaders “go green” at Robert Andrew The Salon & Spa to support the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
By Sherry Moeller
Redskins Offensive Lineman Edwin Williams, Robert Andrew Director of Business Development Leeanne Decker, Redskins Wide Receiver Devin Thomas and Robert Andrew President Melissa Eppinger.
It’s “Go Green” month at Robert Andrew The Salon and Spa in Gambrills, MD. Robert Andrew regularly invites local celebrities in for services to support the charitable arm of their company, RA Cares, with March’s donations going to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. As the official salon and spa for the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens cheerleaders, several Redskins cheerleaders were in attendance supporting the cause and prepping for tryouts on April 1, while Redskins wide receiver Devin Thomas and offensive lineman Edwin Williams also visited to help raise awareness about Robert Andrew’s go green initiatives.
Devin Thomas and Robert Andrew celebrity master barber Derek Williams.
The football players received several spa services, including pedicures and sports massages. While both have had pedicures before, Thomas mentioned he had never had a pedicure in a salon. “But I feel like a man… it’s relaxing, gets your body right,” he said. The Redskins also get massages fairly regularly to get the kinks out after practices, but Edwin commented about this one, “This sports massage made me feel loose and a lot more flexible. She [the masseuse] concentrated on my shoulders, back, neck and arms.”
Edwin also had a sports facial by celebrity master barber, Derek “Buck” Williams in the spa’s Men’s Zone. Edwin literally went “green” when Derek applied Repechage’s water-based, four-layer seaweed power mask. When the organic mask was peeled away, Edwin said, “It’s my first facial. It’s good stuff. I’m definitely getting one on a regular basis.”
Edwin Williams and Derek Williams.
As a former starter on DeMatha’s 2004 WCAC Championship football team under Coach Bill McGregor and starting center for University of Maryland’s Terps under Coach Ralph Friedgen, Edwin, a Washington, DC native, is gearing up for his second year as an offensive lineman on his favorite football team, the Washington Redskins. When asked if Redskins practices are grueling, Edwin quickly replied, “DeMatha’s were tougher.”
In his first year as a free agent on the Redskins team, Edwin started two games. “It’s competitive, all the positions are competitive,” he said. “Someone’s always coming for your job so you got to stay in shape.”
But Edwin Williams is used to working hard for everything he has, overcoming being born to a cocaine-addicted mother (who is now a role model earning graduate degrees in psychology) and going on to earn a BA in Communication at the University Maryland.
During his fifth season on the college football team, he worked on his masters in sports management. “DeMatha prepared me for the course load [in college] … and the tempo,” he added. Several Redskins cheerleaders were also at Robert Andrew getting their hair styled for the April 1 tryouts, including Captain Abby Dymond, Ashley Stewart, an ambassador of the cheerleaders, and Ashley Norman, trying out for the second time.
Redskins Cheerleader Michelle Brandon, Edwin Williams, Devin Thomas, and Redskins Cheerleader Prospect Ashley Norman.
Typically cheerleaders on the squad grew up dancing, but Norman spent most of her childhood and young adulthood helping her brother who is handicapped. Over the last year she played catch-up by taking the dance classes she couldn’t take when she was younger and is now is ready for April 1.
Dymond, who works for an accounting firm during the day and also was on the squad in 2005 with Robert Andrew’s director of business development Leeanne Decker, is one of four leaders on the team of 40. “It’s a way to fulfill my passion for dance,” Dymond adds, plus she enjoys the charitable aspect of being a Redskins cheerleader, as well, by participating in at least 20 events during the season. By day, Stewart doesn’t waiver too far from the glamor and hard work of being a cheerleader; she’s a pageant coordinator for Miss USA.
Redskins Cheerleader Captain Abby Dymond and Robert Andrew Stylist Katie Kell.
During March, all green products at Robert Andrew are 20 percent off, plus The Salon & Spa is offering organic facials, manicures, pedicures, body wraps and spray tans. They also introduced their newest hair care line, Onesta, which is not only free of chemicals and dyes, but also is 100 percent offset by wind power, packaged in recycled materials and supports sustainable farming.
The Redskins football players and cheerleaders spent the day at Robert Andrew for a good cause: a percentage of the month’s proceeds will be donated to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which fights for bold and creative solutions to the pollution that plagues the bay and its tributaries.
NBC reporter John Schriffen and Hogs Haven’s Kevin Ewoldt were also on hand to report on the day’s activities and to get a few comments from the Redskins about the upcoming season. Watch for Schriffen’s report on NBC and also online at nbcwashington.
