Dan Snyder Among NFL's Worst Owners

KB24 · Status: Offline

Dan Snyder Among NFL's Worst Owners

Henry · Status: Offline

I'm not exactly prepared to defend Snyder at this point, but I wouldn't put him below York and Brown. There's bad and then there's baaaaaaad.

Neophyte · Status: Offline

I can't defend him either but I do find the revisionist history a bit stunning. The Arrington and Coles signings do not belong on that list. They were both lauded as good moves when they happened and they did pay off for a while.

Hog Fever · Status: Offline

I can say with total honesty that Peter Angelos almost single handedly ran me away from baseball. I was a huge Oriole’s fan growing up. The Skins were always number one, but the Caps and the O’s were close behind with the Bullets a distant fourth. My zest for the game went away somewhat as I got older but my love for the O’s had never died out, till Pete took over.

Since Angelos bought the team he’s done nothing right, NOTHING. Worse of all he doesn’t even pretend to care. I don’t have the time or the patience to list all of my grievances against Angelos. Suffice to say the list is long and a lot of you can sympathize. The heartburn the O’s were causing me just wasn’t worth it. I knew that until the team changed hands, nothing was going to get better, and it hasn’t. GIVE ME BACK MY TEAM you creep!

Dan isn’t in Pete’s class for me….yet. He might be there if it weren’t for the Gibbs return. That move bought him a reprieve, at least for a while. If you just look at the results it paints a bad picture for him though. The difference to me is I know Dan is trying his best to help the team win (and feed his ego some as well). It might be misguided, but I’m convinced he cares. Sure he wants to make money and grow the brand too, because that’s what he does, but if he could trade money for wins he’d do it. He’s proven it time and time again. Problem is it takes more than just cash. He hasn’t gotten that part of it yet.

Sadly I have to be honest with myself here; My patience isn’t going to last forever. I’m not some kind of fair weather fan either. I don’t demand a Super Bowl every other year or anything so grand. I just want to see my team look like it is making progress towards being good year in and out, not just as some fluke. I’m not going to suddenly start liking another team or anything, I’ll just stop caring as much as I used to about this one, just like it happened with the O’s. Over time missing a game isn’t going to matter as much to me. Then I’ll have to find a new hobby and stop bothering people online with long rambling posts. Man, I hope that never happens, but we are definitely on that road.

I find myself expecting the worst when it comes to this team, and I'm NOT that guy in anything else in my life. Don't let me down Dan.

-- Edited by Hog Fever on Thursday 14th of May 2009 03:17:47 PM

Jimster · Status: Offline

I have been saying for a while now, that as we find that right coach and he sticks around for a while, the perception of the owner will change. That has been the missing piece since he took over (and before he arrived)- We haven't been able to find a good coach, and its not just this team that had that problem seeing how there have been 19 head coaching changes in the NFL in the last 2 seasons. If Zorn grows into a good coach and is still here 5 years from now and we're having some consistent success, I think many will feel differently.

Yusuf06 · Status: Offline

Hog Fever wrote:

I can say with total honesty that Peter Angelos almost single handedly ran me away from baseball. I was a huge Oriole’s fan growing up. The Skins were always number one, but the Caps and the O’s were close behind with the Bullets a distant fourth. My zest for the game went away somewhat as I got older but my love for the O’s had never died out, till Pete took over.

Since Angelos bought the team he’s done nothing right, NOTHING. Worse of all he doesn’t even pretend to care. I don’t have the time or the patience to list all of my grievances against Angelos. Suffice to say the list is long and a lot of you can sympathize. The heartburn the O’s were causing me just wasn’t worth it. I knew that until the team changed hands, nothing was going to get better, and it hasn’t. GIVE ME BACK MY TEAM you creep!

Dan isn’t in Pete’s class for me….yet. He might be there if it weren’t for the Gibbs return. That move bought him a reprieve, at least for a while. If you just look at the results it paints a bad picture for him though. The difference to me is I know Dan is trying his best to help the team win (and feed his ego some as well). It might be misguided, but I’m convinced he cares. Sure he wants to make money and grow the brand too, because that’s what he does, but if he could trade money for wins he’d do it. He’s proven it time and time again. Problem is it takes more than just cash. He hasn’t gotten that part of it yet.

Sadly I have to be honest with myself here; My patience isn’t going to last forever. I’m not some kind of fair weather fan either. I don’t demand a Super Bowl every other year or anything so grand. I just want to see my team look like it is making progress towards being good year in and out, not just as some fluke. I’m not going to suddenly start liking another team or anything, I’ll just stop caring as much as I used to about this one, just like it happened with the O’s. Over time missing a game isn’t going to matter as much to me. Then I’ll have to find a new hobby and stop bothering people online with long rambling posts. Man, I hope that never happens, but we are definitely on that road.

I find myself expecting the worst when it comes to this team, and I'm NOT that guy in anything else in my life. Don't let me down Dan.

-- Edited by Hog Fever on Thursday 14th of May 2009 03:17:47 PM

You know HF, I would so like to be able to say "Hang in there, I think things are going to turn around this year, or next year, or the year after that." But sadly, I'm pretty much right about where you are. In fact, I think I got there right about the time Gibbs 2.0 ended and our somewhat bumbling search for a new coach began. IIRC that was when my "Meh" sig went up on ES.

As you said, it's not that I don't care at all anymore or that I'll switch teams. I just don't care as much. It's sort of like chasing after a hot woman for a long time that leads you on and teases you a bit, but always says no. Eventually one tires of the whole exercise and either moves on, finds something else to be preoccupied with or just accepts the slow descent into insanity that's sure to follow.

I agree that Snyder wants desperately to win, perhaps at least as much as he wants to make money. Unfortunately, I think he doesn't want to win badly enough to do it any other way than his way. I think our only hope is that he eventually either tires of being Sisyphus, forever pushing the same rock up the same hill only to have it roll back down again (not unlike the way many of us have tired as fans) or that he tires of being thought of as an incompetent owner. He's a very young guy so that really is our only hope.

In looking at this list, I don't know that Snyder should be among the bottom five. However, that's only because I think there are a couple of others that have been slightly more inept. Ralph Wilson in Buffalo and Bidwill in AZ immediately come to mind. However to be fair, Wilson has fumes from the past to run on and Bidwill seems to have finally turned it around in AZ so there's certainly a valid argument for Snyder to be there instead of those guys.

-- Edited by Yusuf06 on Friday 15th of May 2009 12:13:50 AM

KB24 · Status: Offline

Yusuf06 wrote:

Hog Fever wrote:

I can say with total honesty that Peter Angelos almost single handedly ran me away from baseball. I was a huge Oriole’s fan growing up. The Skins were always number one, but the Caps and the O’s were close behind with the Bullets a distant fourth. My zest for the game went away somewhat as I got older but my love for the O’s had never died out, till Pete took over.

Since Angelos bought the team he’s done nothing right, NOTHING. Worse of all he doesn’t even pretend to care. I don’t have the time or the patience to list all of my grievances against Angelos. Suffice to say the list is long and a lot of you can sympathize. The heartburn the O’s were causing me just wasn’t worth it. I knew that until the team changed hands, nothing was going to get better, and it hasn’t. GIVE ME BACK MY TEAM you creep!

Dan isn’t in Pete’s class for me….yet. He might be there if it weren’t for the Gibbs return. That move bought him a reprieve, at least for a while. If you just look at the results it paints a bad picture for him though. The difference to me is I know Dan is trying his best to help the team win (and feed his ego some as well). It might be misguided, but I’m convinced he cares. Sure he wants to make money and grow the brand too, because that’s what he does, but if he could trade money for wins he’d do it. He’s proven it time and time again. Problem is it takes more than just cash. He hasn’t gotten that part of it yet.

Sadly I have to be honest with myself here; My patience isn’t going to last forever. I’m not some kind of fair weather fan either. I don’t demand a Super Bowl every other year or anything so grand. I just want to see my team look like it is making progress towards being good year in and out, not just as some fluke. I’m not going to suddenly start liking another team or anything, I’ll just stop caring as much as I used to about this one, just like it happened with the O’s. Over time missing a game isn’t going to matter as much to me. Then I’ll have to find a new hobby and stop bothering people online with long rambling posts. Man, I hope that never happens, but we are definitely on that road.

I find myself expecting the worst when it comes to this team, and I'm NOT that guy in anything else in my life. Don't let me down Dan.

-- Edited by Hog Fever on Thursday 14th of May 2009 03:17:47 PM

You know HF, I would so like to be able to say "Hang in there, I think things are going to turn around this year, or next year, or the year after that." But sadly, I'm pretty much right about where you are. In fact, I think I got there right about the time Gibbs 2.0 ended and our somewhat bumbling search for a new coach began. IIRC that was when my "Meh" sig went up on ES.

As you said, it's not that I don't care at all anymore or that I'll switch teams. I just don't care as much. It's sort of like chasing after a hot woman for a long time that leads you on and teases you a bit, but always says no. Eventually one tires of the whole exercise and either moves on, finds something else to be preoccupied with or just accepts the slow descent into insanity that's sure to follow.

I agree that Snyder wants desperately to win, perhaps at least as much as he wants to make money. Unfortunately, I think he doesn't want to win badly enough to do it any other way than his way. I think our only hope is that he eventually either tires of being Sisyphus, forever pushing the same rock up the same hill only to have it roll back down again (not unlike the way many of us have tired as fans) or that he tires of being thought of as an incompetent owner. He's a very young guy so that really is our only hope.

In looking at this list, I don't know that Snyder should be among the bottom five. However, that's only because I think there are a couple of others that have been slightly more inept. Ralph Wilson in Buffalo and Bidwill in AZ immediately come to mind. However to be fair, Wilson has fumes from the past to run on and Bidwill seems to have finally turned it around in AZ so there's certainly a valid argument for Snyder to be there instead of those guys.

-- Edited by Yusuf06 on Friday 15th of May 2009 12:13:50 AM

Well put, Yusuf. Those are the main points driving my decision to not renew. Ironically, I got an e-mail yesterday for my final notice to renew my season tickets. I don't have the slightest urge to do so. I never thought I'd catch myself saying it, but I'm just not as excited about this team as I used to be because of everything that's happened over the last 10 years.

scottb · Status: Offline

Is he a good owner?....Hell no. Despite his fortune and passion as a redskin fan, he has failed to translate his business success to sporting victories. It is plainly obvious that he is not an upper tier owner of a sporting franchise. However, a 70-74 record and 3 playoff appearances in 9 years reflects mediocrity, not total ineptness.

I've been a Redskin fan for 50 years, and frankly, most all the owners have sucked. It's pretty sad when you have one of the greatest QBs of all time (Baugh) who revolutionized the position, yet only have 2 championships to show for it during an era of very few teams and no cap. Says a lot about those owners.

Fast forward to the 60's and "Sonnyer" times, and the teams continued to be terrible until Allen became coach, but no titles were captured until the golden years with JKC as owner and Gibbs as coach. Cooke's son was a pathetic replacement for his father which brings us to the reign of Snyder.

What's the point of this rambling? I'm a little tired of the slanted portrayal of Snyder. Am I defending him...God no. He hasn't accomplished anything worth defending. I just think he should be judged more impartially. It seems to me that everyone has lost their objectivity because they dislike him so. His arrogance in trying to buy a championship in 2000 established his fantasy reputation and had the media and the non-redskin world rooting for his failure. Sadly, this first impression has never been revised despite some growth on his part. He is fun to hate and it makes good copy for the rest of the league.

Relevant points:

- Most NFL stadiums are not wholly owned by the teams and are subsidized by taxes & bonds. FedEx is 100% Redskin property which partially explains the Snyder gauging.

- In 2000 much was made about the 100 million payroll as the Skins tried to buy a championship. Baltimore, who ended up winning the Superbowl, finished with the 2nd highest payroll - about the same as the Redskins.

Yusuf06 · Status: Offline

Actually Scott, your first relevant point goes in the elder Mr. Cooke's column. Snyder bought the team after the stadium was built. I am quite certain that if Snyder was the owner then he'd have wrung every penny he could out of the local Govt. and chalked it up to "business reality" and "the eternal struggle to remain competitive".

That's not to say that type of behavior is exclusive to Snyder. However I take a dim view of taxpayer subsidies for sports franchises regardless. But I digress.

In any event, if Snyder were spending big money and fielding a quality product, I'd say the "hater" defense held water. As it stands, Snyder just succeeds in making himself look stupid by consistently having one of the highest payrolls and little, if anything to show for it on the field.

And yes, I know you weren't defending him. :)

Aston · Status: Offline

I'm with Jimster on this one - the coaching carousel bothers me the most.

Wasn't his fault Gibbs left, but some of the other coaching decisions he made, particularly with dumping Marty and with hiring Spurrier, never sat well with me. And Zorn, as much as I honestly like the guy, was clearly a consolation prize for him, so I'd say the half-life on his tenure won't be too impressive either.

And while I agree that he belongs nowhere near the top of this list, he hardly deserves a stop near the bottom either.