Be afraid. Be very afraid. If you are a Redskins fan, you are now officially not allowed to be a fan of owner/dictator/poor decision maker snyder, dan. Please note that when I really dislike a sports figure associated with a team that I support, I always use the 'Last Name, First Name' description. Example: Gardner, Rod. Ugh.
When 'Private Jet' first took over the team, he made a big splash by signing aging free agents, firing coaches, hiring different coaches, firing them, then while searching for a new coach, secretly courting other coaches, purging teams of restricted free agents, trading draft picks like they were diseased hot potatoes, over-paying for suspect players, handing out bonuses like they were crackerjack prizes, promoting people that agreed with him, and generally ruining one of the greatest franchises is sports. Love them, hate them, not care about them, whatever you choose to do, you have no choice but to acknowledge the Redskins' place as one of the flagship franchises in the sporting world with a rabid and enormous fan base and a season ticket waiting list longer than a DMV line at 9AM on a Saturday when you didn't know that you can renew your license online.
For the last 4 years, Joe Gibbs took charge. Gibbs was not always successful. In fact, with the exception of 2 season ending win streaks, Gibbs' tenure was really mediocre; even below average. 2 playoff appearances in 4 years is eons better than what this team went through in the 13 years after his first departure. During this period, snyder, dan took a back seat. He asked: 'Joe, what do you need?'. Joe told him, and he went and got it. He was the kind of owner that any team would be lucky to have. How can you fault a guy like that? He was willing to spend and get what the guys leading the team wanted. It was as though snyder, dan had grown into his role.
Fool me once...good fooling. Fool me twice, I want to remove you from office and lock you in a room and have fans take turns airing their grievances against you for 3 weeks, or the same amount of time this coaching soap opera has gone on. Skins fans dread to read the sports section every day. Every piece of news is more shocking than the last. The 3 ringed circus of this coaching search has alienated the fan base, the players, and even the coaches that may or may not remain employed by the team in the coming year. Snyder, Dan has undertaken a secretive, cloak and dagger, and heartless approach to his search for the next coach of the Redskins.
The players and fans (overwhelmingly) wanted Gregg Williams to succeed Joe Gibbs. Joe Gibbs wanted this as did the majority of the other coaches. Nothing in Gregg Williams' coaching track record indicates that he is somehow a savior or super coach of some sort. The simple fact remains that he was, by all accounts, as instrumental as anyone within the organization in shepherding the team through the tragedy of Sean Taylor's death. He was there. The players rallied around his leadership and played inspired ball despite the loss of several players (not excluding the team's best player in Taylor). 3 weeks later, Williams, after 4 different all-day interviews, secretive dealings with high profile coaches (reports point to Pete Carroll today), and endless rumor, is now dismissed. He went from an instrumental figure, fan and player favorite, and favorite of Joe Gibbs to a 'disgraced' former employee. Whether he was the answer or not, his treatment was callous and pathetic.
So where are we now? snyder, dan is flying his private jet all over the country and is being spotted like he's Brad-Jelina. Every move is worse than the one before. The candidates pooping up now (Steve Mariucci, Jim Fassell, and Ron Meeks) are doomed before they start. Any chance they might have had to succeed have been stripped away. snyder, dan has proved that he is back with some sort of vengeance. In his mind, he tried it 'their way' where he stayed out of the way...well now it's time for Johnny Executive to step in and run every aspect again. Football men be damned! snyder, dan is handling this coaching search like he's trying to staff a Nokia store in Tyson's Corner.
So we say again, be afraid. If you are a fan of any other team, or more specifically a team that has to play the Redskins, congrats.
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