Lighten Up On Snyder

a cell phone trick can make you like a guy, but that's not running a football team

same with zorn's swiss ball drills vs coaching a team

SS, one of the points you've brought up before is the expectations of the fanbase... which in turn may affect organizational direction. As Redskin fans, are we able to support a rebuilding effort that includes a youth movement everywhere and a sacrifice of two or three really awful years (results-wise, not necessarily growth-wise)?

The team seems to have this teetering balance b/t drafting where we still have picks and supplementing a few holes with big FAs every offseason. Silly contracts are handed out to new guys, but productive mainstays (like Sellars) have to fight for a decent extension. The up-and-coming guys I would have loved to see as head coaches here go elsewhere (Payton, Spags, etc). It's one thing when former players trash talk the organization when they leave (Pierce, LA)... it's another when one of the "core" guys like Jansen leave with bad feelings (although it definitely made business sense to let him go, I get the notion his dismissal wasn't as classy as his Redskins career was).

While DS has done everything he's believed he could to help the team win, a culture has been created to where some coordinators aren't as quick to jump at an opportunity to head coach here, some current players don't feel rewarded for their efforts and some just leave with bad tastes in their mouths. Going back to the fanbase thing, I'm not so sure Snyder is willing to sacrifice profits for a few seasons getting this thing sorted out. I hope it's not too late.

That was a different thread. This one started off more as a joke and quickly turned into your typical Snyder hating 101.

First it was just kind of pointing out the close relationship that he has with Jerry Jones and that fact that they go on vacations with each other and share vacation homes between the families. Snyder also makes a point to sit next to Jerry Jones during the owners meetings too.

It's great that cowboys and redskins can get along but really...I possess some MAJOR distaste for Jerry Jones and the whole cowboys organization. Hearing that it's just a business that they're pals just kind of rubs salt in the wound that the cowboys are more competitive than we are.

I thought others would be disgusted by the fact that Snyder pretty much loves him some cowboys...the rivalry doesn't mean much to him at the top.

From the bottom I don't take solace in finding that out.

First it was just kind of pointing out the close relationship that he has with Jerry Jones and that fact that they go on vacations with each other and share vacation homes between the families. Snyder also makes a point to sit next to Jerry Jones during the owners meetings too.

It's great that cowboys and redskins can get along but really...I possess some MAJOR distaste for Jerry Jones and the whole cowboys organization. Hearing that it's just a business that they're pals just kind of rubs salt in the wound that the cowboys are more competitive than we are.

I thought others would be disgusted by the fact that Snyder pretty much loves him some cowboys...the rivalry doesn't mean much to him at the top.

From the bottom I don't take solace in finding that out.

Meh, you can be friends with someone but also be respectful rivals.

The league ownership circle is pretty tight, there's only 32 of them in the world. They have to work together on a lot of issues and naturally there's going to be some relationships there even between rivals. That's not to say Danny doesn't want to own them on gamedays.

It's fun to hate on people you don't know, but for all we know Jerry could be a decent guy. Just saying. And why are the Cowboys more competitive than we are if Snyder and Jones are pals??

Meh, you can be friends with someone but also be respectful rivals.

The league ownership circle is pretty tight, there's only 32 of them in the world. They have to work together on a lot of issues and naturally there's going to be some relationships there even between rivals. That's not to say Danny doesn't want to own them on gamedays.

But if you have a competitive rivalry there's just some things that you don't do with your rival.

Vacationing with them should be one of them. What other thing can you do with someone that is more initimate than vacationing with them???...Driving someone to the airport pales in the comparasion to that.

If are constantly getting worked by your competitive rival and still so happy to see them something is wrong. In that same position I would not be all smiles with my competitive arch rival.

...If I was Jerry Jones I would because he has nothing to uneasy about...I can at least see why he doesn't care that they are such good friends.

...like Jerry Jones says in the article..."The numbers are there"

We'll probably end up with Shanahan or Cowher in full control. And that will make everyone thrilled because it's not Cerrato. But it ignores the fact that Shanahan has been a terrible general manager and Cowher has never even been one.

Cerrato has done a lot in revamping the front office and scouting department the past two off-seasons and has done a decent job in the draft with the picks he has had to work with. The onus is on him entirely for the Taylor trade but it wasn't VC that pushed for the Redskins to send multiple picks for Duckett and Lloyd.

The smartest thing for the Redskins to do in my opinion (short of bringing Marty back!!! :) ) is to promote the well-regarded and respected Morocco Brown to General Manager and keep the scouting staff largely in tact.


This is the last statement I'm going to make on this subject, but just one thing on the Jason Taylor trade.

For me it was not so much the trade itself, rather the reason Cerrato gave to reporters in an interview when asked why he made it. He said [quote] "The morale of the team in the lockeroom went thud and felt he needed to do something to inflate the teams spirits after the loss of Daniels" [unquote]. Now you may beg to disagree and I won't fault you for doing so, but don't you feel that to be a rather odd reason for trading away what could possibly have turned out to be a starting player here for years to come? We're talking about a 37yr. old DE with diminishing returns being the reason for a decision that could so drastically affect the way you draft for the future. Hard to believe a player so far to the downside of his career could have such an impact on your lockeroom.

This is just one example of why the leadership of this team should not be trusted to people blessed with such shallow insight, plus Jason Taylor was never going to be a good fit for the defense.

This is the last statement I'm going to make on this subject, but just one thing on the Jason Taylor trade.

For me it was not so much the trade itself, rather the reason Cerrato gave to reporters in an interview when asked why he made it. He said "The morale of the team in the lockeroom went thud and felt he needed to do something to inflate the teams spirits after the loss of Daniels". Now you may beg to disagree and I won't fault you for doing so, but don't you feel that to be a rather odd reason for trading away what could possibly have turned out to be a starting player here for years to come? We're talking about a 37yr. old DE with diminishing returns being the reason for a decision that could so drastically affect the way you draft for the future. Hard to believe a player so far to the downside of his career could have such an impact on your lockeroom.

This is just one example of why the leadership of this team should not be trusted to people blessed with such shallow insight, plus Jason Taylor was never going to be a good fit for the defense.

Another interesting thing about that quote is, isn't that something your coach should be responsible for? Isn't that why head coaches are in the position they are because they improve facets of the team like morale?

And being that he was in charge of the Zorn hiring he's basically saying "The coach I brought in isn't good enough to inspire confidence in the depleted team I left him"


There are so many points of failure just in that one statement alone...good point out LongTimeFan.

I'm not defending Snyder by any means for some of his choices and decisions. I feel like he wants to win, above all things. He is a good/great businessman but seems to lack a lot of common decency and respect for the everyman.

I took a look from a football standpoint as his record in comparison to those I consider his peers, owners who took control of their teams between 1995-2002. You may be surprised how he stacks up in winning percentage and head coaches (not including interim coaches).

Robert Kraft (1994) 152-82, 65.8% winning percentage (3 Super Bowl wins, 5 Super Bowl appearances, 3 head coaches)
Jeff Lurie (1994) 137-103-1, 57.3% winning percentage (1 Super Bowl appearance, 3 head coaches)
Malcolm Glazer (1995) 113-111-1, 50.6% winning percentage (1 Super Bowl win, 1 Super Bowl appearance, 4 head coaches)
Paul Allen (1997) 101-101, 50% winning percentage (1 Super Bowl appearance, 3 head coaches)
Dan Snyder (1999) 76-84, 47.5% winning percentage (5 head coaches)
John York (2000) 60-84, 41.6% winning percentage (4 head coaches)
Woody Johnson (2000) 71-73, 49.3% winning percentage (4 head coaches)
Arthur Blank (2002) 55-73, 42.9% winning percentage (4 head coaches)
Al Lerner (2002) 42-86, 32.8% winning percentage (4 head coaches)

Snyder doesn't have us where we should be or want us to be, but one of the things that it seems is that he's not as bad as portrayed nationally or locally. It's ironic that we never hear about a quick trigger for York, Johnson, Blank or Lerner but they've changed coaches at a similar or higher rate than Snyder.

Hopefully the next move he makes will be to bring in a President of Football Operations to evaluate and determine the course for our franchises future.

I'm all for bringing back Casserly or giving Morocco Brown a chance even though he's unproven but has been identified as a smart talent evaluator. Maybe Brown could turn out to be like Jerry Reese, who I think is currently the best young GM in the business.

But if you have a competitive rivalry there's just some things that you don't do with your rival.

Vacationing with them should be one of them. What other thing can you do with someone that is more initimate than vacationing with them???...Driving someone to the airport pales in the comparasion to that.

If are constantly getting worked by your competitive rival and still so happy to see them something is wrong. In that same position I would not be all smiles with my competitive arch rival.

...If I was Jerry Jones I would because he has nothing to uneasy about...I can at least see why he doesn't care that they are such good friends.

...like Jerry Jones says in the article..."The numbers are there"


The rivalry is pretty much gone dude. It is pretty hard to maintain rivalry status when it has been one sided for such a long time, plus it hasn't meant that much like when Gibbs and Landry were going at it. You have to remember, it is pretty much a business anymore, and that in itself has hurt both the college and pro game. If the game isn't being played you are subjected to constant commercialism, etc. Once you keep that in mind then the Jones/Snyder thing isn't so hard to fathom. To them money is the bottom line. They rely on you to care about things like the rivalry, etc, to keep the money flowing.