Daniel Snyder dreamed of owning the Redskins. Two decades in, success remains elusive.

Washington Post ^ | September 3, 2019 | Adam Kilgore

[C19fan]

As a boy attending Washington Redskins games with his family at RFK Stadium, a short distance from his home in Maryland’s Montgomery County, Dan Snyder would gaze across the field and peer into the owner’s box. Other kids daydreamed about playing on an NFL field. Snyder envisioned himself lording over one.

“I’d just watch,” Snyder once said, “and imagine what was happening in there.”

Since 1999, when he was 34 years old, Daniel M. Snyder has watched the Washington Redskins from the seat of power he once fantasized about. The desired trappings of NFL ownership have remained elusive, barely any closer to him than when he sat in the stands.

The upcoming NFL season marks the start of Snyder’s third decade as Washington’s owner, an occasion to take stock of his impact on the franchise and examine the state of his stewardship. The Redskins have morphed under Snyder from one of the NFL’s crown jewels to a success-starved organization in persistent unrest, a franchise lacking in on-field accomplishment and seeking its first playoff win since January 2006, rife with off-field issues and facing the monumental task of building a new stadium — Snyder’s best opportunity to reenergize Washington’s fan base and revitalize his franchise.

[C19fan]

Snyder took a franchise that was the hardest ticket in DC and made it into a laughing stock. The waiting list for season tickets that was in the tens of thousands disappeared, the stadium is half empty on Sundays despite Snyder shrinking the seating capacity, and fans of the opposing team more often than naught take over the place.

[ckilmer]

Snyder was a follower of NY Yankee owner george steinberg. It took steinberg two decades to figure out that the game was not about him.

snyder may never learn.

[ml/nj]

It took steinberg two decades to figure out that the game was not about him.

So much so that you don't even know his name.

My own opinion, having done work for the Yankees under Steinbrenner, is that he didn't change, his Press did. People were always on edge when he was in the house.

ML/NJ

[Red Badger]

He’s tried everything.

Maybe he should change the name to the Native Americans and get it over with...................

[Buckeye McFrog]

Three stadiums in 20 years? Trying to break the Atlanta Braves’ record?

[Rummyfan]

There are a lot of problems, not just the product on the field. FedEx Field is difficult to get into and get out of, and has way too much capacity. It was built for the nineties Redskins who were winning championship. Allen.... how does he still have a job? No
Playoff wins since 2006.... a brief high with RG III in his one season before he got hurt. Chased Kirk Cousins out of town. And now the Case Keenum era begins. It’s going to be another long season in DC.

[Tell It Right]

The best football is on Saturdays anyway. Pro players in both football and basketball are too self-aggrandizing for my tastes. You might as well log into unsocial media and look at nothing but selfies. :)

[dfwgator]

The best football is on Saturdays anyway.

Yep, that's when the English Premier League games are on.

[sphinx]

One of the reasons the Redskins were a tough ticket and boasted a years-long waiting list was that they played in RFK, the smallest stadium in the league. Jack Kent Cooke was desperate to see a new stadium built before he died. He made the mistake of giving up on DC -- where the problem was, iirc, the EPA, not the city (for a change) -- and moving out to bucolic Prince George's County. While this is fine for people who grok Landover, Largo and Glenarden, about 98 percent of the fan base felt like they were being exiled to the far side of the moon. This might be ok when the team is winning, but it's poison when the team is mediocre.

I gather that the team would like to come back to DC, but I frankly don't know where they could build unless they're willing to dispense with big parking lots. I live within easy walking distance of RFK and, from a Capitol Hill perspective, it would be naïve to think the Redskins could simply build bigger and keep everything the same. The Anacostia corridor is coming back to life. It is going to be a premier residential and entertainment area all the way from Buzzard Point to Bladensburg. About half of the former RFK North parking lots have already been rebuilt into a youth sports complex and playground for little kids. What to do with the rest of the parking lots, RFK stadium itself and the Armory and DC General (now closed) sites is a big question. But devoting most of the acreage to vast swathes of asphalt parking lots -- this right along the river -- would be too stupid for even DC to consider. Just downstream, the Nats and DC United stadiums are doing just fine with minimal parking. They rely primarily on metro access. The question is whether lard-butt NFL fans could accept such a solution. You can't tailgate on metrorail.

Then there's the name issue. DC's political class doesn't like "Redskins" and Snyder doesn't want to switch to "Ashamed to be American Snowflakes." I applaud Snyder for sticking to his guns on this. He shouldn't allow himself to be bullied. Unfortunately the current Virginia pols may be just as dictatorial about the name. My guess is that the team will stay in Landover for the foreseeable future.

[Tell It Right]

Me: The best football is on Saturdays anyway.

You: Yep, that's when the English Premier League games are on.

Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Association football simply ain't close enough to the original mob football like American football is. :)

[CJ Wolf]

It will move to ashburn once the new metro opens.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I gather that the team would like to come back to DC, but I frankly don't know where they could build unless they're willing to dispense with big parking lots.

The new Las Vegas NFL stadium is being designed with NO parking lots. Shuttle busses from remote lots only. They want you drinking in bars owned by the team, not at tailgate parties.

[mbarker12474]

Screw the race pandering NFL.

[Dr.Deth]

Hasn’t the entire area been absorbed by the Borg? (Cloud storage)

[dfwgator]

But they have better riots.

[Tell It Right]

Look at the largest stadiums by capacity in the world. The largest is a soccer stadium in NK with 114K seats. After that numbers 2 through 9, 12, 14-15, 17-18, and 21 are all college football stadiums. Most of them full --- on the same day. So 2/3rds of the largest 21 stadiums in the world are for American college football, with 1/3 for soccer and cricket.

The largest English association football stadium comes it at...number 16. Why? Because the demand for association football just isn't there like it is for the Iron Bowl, or the 3rd Saturday in October, or Bama/LSU, or Michigan/Ohio State, or Auburn/Georgia, or the Largest Cocktail Party, or the Red River Rivalry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stadiums_by_capacity

[Repealthe17thAmendment]

Players and coaches are obviously important, but the General Managers are often overlooked. I'm not familiar with Allen, but as soon as I started reading this story, I wondered who the GM was.

Later on in the article, it became pretty clear that Allen is a problem, and I'm not all that convinced that Jay Gruden is the right guy. Without a good GM, the coach and players are not going to compete against another team with better coaching and better players.

Look at the teams who draft in the early in the rounds every year; and those who are always picking at the end. You would think that the bad teams would get the better players out of college, yet year after year, you see the same teams win and the same teams lose. Every now and then there's a little movement, but for the most part, it's pretty consistent.

That's what good management does for a franchise.

Note that the Cleveland Browns resurgence might be credited to Baker Mayfield, but the guy that picked him was former Kansas City Chief GM, John Dorsey. He's a winner, as long as their owner, Jimmy Haslam doesn't meddle.

[PGR88]

The new Las Vegas NFL stadium is being designed with NO parking lots. Shuttle busses from remote lots only. They want you drinking in bars owned by the team, not at tailgate parties.

Places like Buffalo and Green Bay are on the outs. NFL wants big TV markets, nice indoor stadiums, and every dollar spent to pass through their hands. Buffalo has a very large tailgate contingent. Outside parking lots, bands, BBQs, taking place on private property surrounding the stadium. Like a college game. I'm not sure how many other stadiums still have that.

[dfwgator]

Jerry Land is the worst, it costs an arm and a leg to park, there’s no public transportation to the “Stay-Jum”.

[Secret Agent Man]

I thought they had to change the name to the Washington Snowflakes.