Michael peels back the curtain at Redskins Park in interview with Wise

D.C. Sports Bog - George Michael on Why Fans Hate Snyderrato (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/10/george_michael_on_why_fans_hat.html)

Some really interesting insights into Snyder, Cerrato, Grilliams, etc. Can't wait until they post the podcast. Among the highlights:

"You all want to dump it on Dan Snyder," Michael said. "I understand that. I understand that. I don't think Dan does. I don't think he understands why people hate him so. The truth is--and I've got to give you full disclosure, everybody knows that I am friends with Dan Snyder, not in the sense that I'm in the tank for him, but he is a friend, I admit that. But Dan doesn't even understand what he does wrong. He doesn't even understand the things he does wrong. If the fans knew how bad he wants to win, they would go my God, he wants to win as much as I do."

"Let me tell you the truth: Dan does make I think most of those big-type decisions," Michael said. "He says 'Let's get this guy, let's get that guy.' And the guy that takes the heat for it--and it's why I think he's never gotten fired--is Vinny Cerrato. Now, Cerrato's painted as a bozo, but the truth is, what did Vinny Cerrato do for the team? Look at Chris Horton. That's the kind of guy he gets." (maybe not the best timing since Horton got benched today!)

"I will tell you this, and folks, please write this down--Dan Snyder does not want to fire Jim Zorn," Michael said. "Believe me, on my kid's life, he doesn't want to fire Zorn. Let me tell you, he does not want to fire Jim Zorn....

Great stuff.

I'm going to post some more here because I want to make some comments based on my own personal experiences

"You all want to dump it on Dan Snyder," Michael said. "I understand that. I understand that. I don't think Dan does. I don't think he understands why people hate him so. The truth is--and I've got to give you full disclosure, everybody knows that I am friends with Dan Snyder, not in the sense that I'm in the tank for him, but he is a friend, I admit that. But Dan doesn't even understand what he does wrong. He doesn't even understand the things he does wrong. If the fans knew how bad he wants to win, they would go my God, he wants to win as much as I do."

I'm not sure how much Snyder cares

So, why, then, have things gone so badly from a PR standpoint?

"It's Dan's fault...and that's a shame," said Michael, who then described the "absolute chaos" in Ashburn when Snyder took over the team.

"I mean, Norv hated Charley so bad," he went on. "So now Dan Snyder inherits it. People from day 1 hated Dan Snyder because he was 35 years old, bought the team for $850 million, and his neighbors told the Washington Post, he's a jerk. And that is when it started.

"And then down in Atlanta when he got the team, he didn't know how to handle the media, he didn't have someone with him who could help him handle the media and talk. And I remember vividly he whisking himself out of the Westin hotel and Wally Bruckner...along with 25 other people trying to keep up with him,.Wally ran into a door and knocked those $200,000 doors off their hinges in the Westin hotel....People did not like Dan from the get go, and the truth is, I don't think people know him. And then he'll do things like LaVar said, he would go into the locker room and glare. What Dan wants is accountability. He wants accountability.

"He never went into the locker room and glared when Joe Gibbs was the coach. That did not happen with Joe Gibbs. Because Gibbs went before the public after that loss to the Buffalo Bills and said, 'I lost this game.' Now coach, that's a load of horse manure. He did not lose the game. It sticks with me every day of my life, but that's the kind of man Joe Gibbs was. Another coach was yelling in his ear, 'Call another timeout, call another timeout.' He called the second timeout....To take the heat, to take the heat off of the guys who screwed up on the field, to take the heat off the safety...Gibbs goes before the public and says, 'I Lost This Game.' "

I can personally vouch for that Norv Casserly hatred. Saw it first hand. I miss Gibbs. I think I said that about some other coach calling for timeout but that was quickly dismissed here

"Let me tell you the truth: Dan does make I think most of those big-type decisions," Michael said. "He says 'Let's get this guy, let's get that guy.' And the guy that takes the heat for it--and it's why I think he's never gotten fired--is Vinny Cerrato. Now, Cerrato's painted as a bozo, but the truth is, what did Vinny Cerrato do for the team? Look at Chris Horton. That's the kind of guy he gets."

So Wise asked Michael if he thinks Cerrato is a capable talent evaluator.

"Oh, there's no ifs buts or ands," Michael said. "I mean, I know that for a fact, I know that from other people around the league. Here's the problem Mike--and God, I can't believe I'm telling all this truth--Vinny Cerrato is a ZERO when it comes to public relations and building relationships with people in the world. I'm sorry. My Good God. He doesn't ask why don't people like me, but you've got to go out and you've got to do things....I feel bad that Cerrato has not gone out and tried to build these relationships."

Wilbon has said in the past that if more decisions had been up to Cerrato (Duckett trade for one) we would be in better shape. I'm not sure I agree entirely. I have said here before that Cerrato has zero relations around the league.

http://www.thewarpath.net/517389-post47.html

Plus, we got Horton because of scouting, more importantly we got him because former Redskins coach DeWayne Walker recommended the scout go check him out.

My knowledge is that Snyder very rarely (when you consider free agents, trades, draft picks) is the initiator in determining to whether to go after certain players. He absolutely gives the final go-ahead.

Michael presumably has a bead on Jim Zorn's future, and he agreed when Wise said the Skins need to win two out of the next three and be respectable in all of them. Michael then managed to compare Zorn to Lindsay Czarniak (as an undiscovered talent), and to insist that Snyder wants to stick with him.

"I will tell you this, and folks, please write this down--Dan Snyder does not want to fire Jim Zorn," Michael said. "Believe me, on my kid's life, he doesn't want to fire Zorn. Let me tell you, he does not want to fire Jim Zorn....

"You have to take gambles, and that's what they did with Zorn," he continued. "Dan Snyder put his name, his stamp, his reputation on Jim Zorn. If Jim doesn't deliver what Dan Snyder thinks is a good deal, then there's no telling when it could end. But I must tell you this, after you lose to the Detroit Lions--and I do personally love this guy Jim Zorn, he's a great guy--you cannot go before the public and say we're making improvements. Dear God, if you're making improvement and losing to the 0-19 Lions, my ass is grass and you're the lawnmower. We're in trouble, baby."

Yeah Snyder has said before he doesn't want to fire Zorn, but he might just have to. That lawnmower line was funny

More highlights, and again, please listen to it all here. It was awesome.

On the Marty experiment: "Here's the deal guys, he should never have hired Marty Schottenheimer....I said to [Snyder's relatives], I said folks, within six months you will regret the decision to have hired Marty Schottenheimer. The first day of training camp, Fred Drasner, who owned the team, turned to me and said, 'We oughta fire this son of a bitch today.' You don't know what Marty Schottenheimer is, you don't know what he is until you live with him, until you work with him."

Drasner was the worst. He wanted to trade and fire everyone instantly. Thank goodness he's no longer affiliated with the team

Pay close attention to this one: He doesn't want to fire Jim Zorn ...

Wow. Get em George Michael. I don't know if I can handle any more of this negative stuff. My god. Not that much of it isn't deserved, but I can't get a sports radio station on the way home who's not talking about how AH doesn't play enough plays or that our FO sucks.

Please Skins, win this game so we don't have to hear anymore negativity. JC.

I'm sure alot of what GM sais is true. I don't buy some of it. Vinny has had some good blunders too in the personel area.

Pay close attention to this one: He doesn't want to fire Jim Zorn ...

Yes, but he may have to. I think Jim Zorn is great, but he needs to figure out what plays will work and what plays won't. Roll Campbell out on 4 and 1 at the goal line and give him to option to throw it or run it.

This team needs to quit looking at their bonus money and play like they did in College when they didn't get paid. Doughty was playing his butt off last week from what I saw and he doesn't get paid much at all. We need more guys who are hungry like him.

6 draft picks and all we get is horton, Great draft vinny...

Hmm, interesting. Here all along I've been shouting Marty's name from the top of a tree.

I'll say this. When Marty was canned in KC players all had nothing but nice things to say about him and even went so far as to say he should not have been let go.

Marty works for the Skins and becomes a complete ass forcing several players to go complain about his hard nose approach to football.

Then he gets hired by San Diego and the team has several winning seasons. One being a 14-2 season. When fired no one said anything bad about him except the owner. and the thing mentioned was Marty was told his son Kurt was not going to be named the DC after HR Puff and Stuff went to Dallas. Marty purchased plane tickets for his son Kurt to fly to San Diego and the owner got pissed that Marty was not listening to him and fired him.

I think it's even funnier that if he was a complete ass we would be hearing something from his two kids about how it was growing up in the Shottenheimer house hold. Yet nothing.

I think Marty is good at evaluating talent and if he is looking for a job in the front office then he might not be a bad GM especially to a team who's owner is willing to step back and designate authority.

Hmm, interesting. Here all along I've been shouting Marty's name from the top of a tree.

I'll say this. When Marty was canned in KC players all had nothing but nice things to say about him and even went so far as to say he should not have been let go.

Marty works for the Skins and becomes a complete ass forcing several players to go complain about his hard nose approach to football.

Then he gets hired by San Diego and the team has several winning seasons. One being a 14-2 season. When fired no one said anything bad about him except the owner. and the thing mentioned was Marty was told his son Kurt was not going to be named the DC after HR Puff and Stuff went to Dallas. Marty purchased plane tickets for his son Kurt to fly to San Diego and the owner got pissed that Marty was not listening to him and fired him.

I think it's even funnier that if he was a complete ass we would be hearing something from his two kids about how it was growing up in the Shottenheimer house hold. Yet nothing.

I think Marty is good at evaluating talent and if he is looking for a job in the front office then he might not be a bad GM especially to a team who's owner is willing to step back and designate authority.


From the way Michael describes it, Marty was fired and Williams was never hired because they are not likable people.

Wow.

I think the interview of Snyder's friend shed some light on what many of us speculated.

He is the GM and does make the decisions on who come sand who goes. He is clueless there is a problem, even if he recognizes our franchise is not winning. I guess I cannot really understand that. If you are not winning, why would you not ask yourself what you could do different.

Once again, the defense of Snyder begins with "but he really wants to win!!"

Is there a less relevant point?