Dan Snyder Has A Problem
October 8, 2019
by Noone from Tampa
Redskins fandom has traditionally been a multi-generational connection. Grandparents to parents to children, from the time the team moved from Boston to Washington. In my own family, I heard the stories of when the Redskins moved to DC in 1937 and won the NFL championship. Family members telling stories of going to games at old Griffith Stadium (near where Howard University is located today). I heard tales of Sammy Baugh and Cliff Battles winning games thru the 30’s and 40’s and accounts of being at the stadium that fateful December 7th that changed the course of world history.
The team was responsible for some NFL firsts at games, such as the marching band, the fight song and a radio network to broadcast games. Fans got used to having a winning team – and then disaster struck. George Preston Marshall decided, in order to protect his Southern fanbase, to have a white only team, while the rest of the NFL integrated their teams with black players. That decision led to the horrible years of the 50’s and early 60’s with the team nearly always at the bottom of the standings. Despite the losing the fanbase stayed strong. The team got a brand-new stadium, D. C. stadium (later renamed RFK Stadium), and sold out a number of games.
Edgar Bennet Williams and Jack Kent Cooke reversed the trend with better players and better coaches. The fantastic Joe Gibbs era became legend. Long live the Hogs! The fans got used to winning and the Redskins were the number sports topic around town even when football was over. Then Mr. Cooke died and Dan Snyder became the new owner, and the losing started again, as bad as the 50’s when the team was at its lowest point.
Dan Snyder has a problem.
It’s just not the fact that he has shown that he doesn’t understand how to run a winning NFL franchise or that he seems to lack the ability to create a plan that moves the franchise from losing to winning. Most of us fans could not fathom the 4 to 6 win season that many pundits predicted for 2019. Well, it’s not so farfetched now it is?
Dan Snyder has a problem.
Not only has Dan Snyder created a losing franchise, he’s broken the multi-generational fan connection. The younger fans who could be counted on to continue fill the stands and buy the merchandise are deserting the team in droves. In my family, the 40 and under crowd has no desire to go to games and some do not even watch the games. Even worse news is that some follow other teams or no teams at all, just players.
Dan Snyder has a problem.
He has no credibility with the fans anymore. Either he doesn’t understand that or he does not care. The team needs a new stadium soon and most politicians are not looking to help the team out at this point. The Cowboys’ new stadium complex is a money maker, whereas by comparison, Fed Ex Field is not. The training camp deal with Richmond is a PR nightmare.
Dan Snyder has a problem.
People with proven NFL track records don’t seem to last long at this franchise. Every positive move seems to be followed by one or more negative ones which often make national headlines in the media. Firing Jay Gruden and hopefully Bruce Allen someday will bring on, what? Will that stop the leaks and infighting as people jockey for position to curry favor with the owner?
Yes, sir Dan Snyder has a problem.
Unfortunately, the problem is him.