More dislike of Snyder: John Kent Cooke

Norv was fired in year 7 with the team and probably should have been canned much earlier. He's only proved since then to be a mediocre head coach in this league. There's a difference between having patience, and not knowing when to cut ties with a bad thing.

Agreed. As for John Kent Cooke, the stories I've heard from players back in those days was that he was a complete figurehead.

His dad didn't trust him to make any big decisions and kept him out of the loop for the most part. I don't believe we would have been any better off necessarily with John Kent Cooke and if his ownership meant we would have Norv and it would be anything like 1998 then we're definitely better off without him, without both of them.

Kind of funny how Cooke is picking now to speak up.

True, but I think that line is very thin. I do believe it took Norv Turner too long to finally get the Redskins into playing better football and winning games. However, point being is, they finally started winning more. They finally started winning division championships and getting into the playoffs. I felt Snyder was a little hasty in firing Turner midseason. Especially when the Redskins were at a 7-6 record. By all accounts, Turner should have been fired before the '98 or '99 seasons. But, because he wasn't, and because they (front office) stuck with him, he eventually got the Redskins in the playoffs.

I guess my line of thinking is, if you're going to fire a guy, don't do it after he finally "catches on". Stick with him at that point. I suppose I was giving Turner a free pass for the ugly years we endured under him before that '99 season. From that point on (the '99 playoff season) is when Turner should have been scrutinized the most in my opinion. In another words, "Ok, you have finally started doing what we hired you to do. So, we're starting on a clean slate now. We are going to see if you can at least repeat that and eventually improve from that. If so, then you're working out. If the team regresses, you're gone!"

We can say the team regressed that following year, but since Turner was fired before the season was over (at a 7-6 record,) then we can't really say for sure that Turner would not have gotten the Redskins into the playoffs again. Or, at least a 10-6 record if nothing else.

Fair points

But let's also remember Turner wasn't just 7-6. He had just lost 4 of his last 5 games (including back to back division losses). The team was heading on a downward spiral. Should Snyder have waited until the end of the season? Yes, and he's admitted as much. But Norv did have to go.

Norv did deserve to get fired. Maybe not in the middle of the season. He's a heck of a offensive coordinator and a nice guy but not a head coach. He got into the playoffs once right? Now, had DS not signed every free agent on the market the year after our NFC East Crown, who knows?

Hey, speaking of the Norv days, these are great stories by Tre Johnson. Check it out. The Spurrier story is great....sleet?

D.C. Sports Bog - Tre' Johnson on Snyder Tactics: "It's Pure Comedy" (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/10/tre_johnson_on_snyder_tactics.html)

Hey, Dan Snyder will get it right, we'll have our day. VC is going to be gone soon. Keep the faith.

One of the few football related people I have little respect for is John Cooke. At the time of the sale, he came off as disinterested in the Skins, and as the opening line of the article says wanted to be sailing or doing anything but running a team his father had made into a proud and story-filled franchise. I could care less about his moanings, or some media spin from the post to hammer snyder from yet another angle. I hope john enjoys his boat trips but he has no credible reason for being attached to the Skins in any way shape or form.

My thoughts exactly. Why come out now? F him and Snyder

John Kent Cooke is on 106.7 the Fan right now (Mike Wise show)

My God he sounds almost exactly like his father!

Agreed. As for John Kent Cooke, the stories I've heard from players back in those days was that he was a complete figurehead.

His dad didn't trust him to make any big decisions and kept him out of the loop for the most part. I don't believe we would have been any better off necessarily with John Kent Cooke and if his ownership meant we would have Norv and it would be anything like 1998 then we're definitely better off without him, without both of them.

Kind of funny how Cooke is picking now to speak up.

He knows at least one thing about football; 'piling on!'

I remember many saying that the other owners wanted John to get the team, mainly because they thought he'd be a pushover of sorts.

It's not that I wish he'd gotten the team, it's just that the article reinforced my perception of Snyder & the last 10 years. Of course, John KC has an axe to grind, but these days who's going to blame him for calling out Snyder's track record?

Jack Kent Cooke was a smart man. If he had wanted his son to have the team when he died, he would have made that possible. But, he knew his son too well to let that happen.

This is a very interesting article but IMO, Sonny's quote says it all.

I don't know if our team would be playing any better on Sundays, but the franchise would probably look a little different. For one thing, I doubt we would be so reviled by the press. While Al Davis might be the butt of a lot of jokes in the press, most journalists who have met Snyder absolutely detest the man. Davis is mocked for being senile and a bad manager, Snyder is mocked for being an arrogant jerk. That's not based on the team's performance, it's based on personal interactions with the man and tales of how he treated guys like Mike Nolan, Laveranues Coles, and others. Or how Snyder derided Art Modell as someone he wouldn't want to emulate because he's won just one SB ring.

Also, Snyder has "commercialized" (for lack of a better word) the team. This is the guy who tried to charge admission to training camp. Now, Snyder is running a business and he's made the team much more profitable, but I feel like the team is trying to squeeze every little penny out of the fans. He seems to deal with the fans on an arms-length basis.

Maybe Snyder is a good guy and maybe the team's struggles aren't his fault, but most everything I've read about the guy seems to indicate that he's a world class prick. I'm amazed that a guy who has done such a poor job of interacting with the press is a marketing guru.

In comparison to Danny, John Kent Cooke was a model of effective ownership.

On the other hand, this would be true of Beulah the Witch.
Well when John was owner his record was 14/17 sticking with a coach with a 49/59 record. DS record is 78/88 which while not great is better then John's record of 14/17. Its real easy when a team fails to come out and point out the problems so it sounds like sour grapes to me. I also don't see how people can say that DS is more interested in making money then having a great football team with all the money he has spent on this team. I think the correct way to look at the past 10 yrs is that Snyder has done a better job at marketing then building a winning team. DS has been willing to spend what ever it takes to try and build a team he has just not gone about it in the correct ways. Thats a big difference then just not carring about the product on the field.