Tag: Dan Snyder

Former Commanders president Jason Wright has a new job

Former Commanders president Jason Wright has a new job.

Former Washington Commanders team president Jason Wright wasn’t out of work long.

Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post revealed Thursday on X that Wright is now the managing partner and head of investments for Project Level, “a new venture from Ariel Investments that seeks to invest in women’s sports.”

More about Project Level via Ariel’s website:

Project Level seeks to harness the exploding talent, fandom, viewership and media interest in women’s sports by working to accelerate growth through diversified investments and significant ownership stakes.  Our highly curated portfolio will range from professional and emerging sports teams and leagues, to junior and college sports opportunities, along with related businesses that contribute to and directly benefit from the global expansion of women’s sports.  Over time, we expect to generate compelling financial returns by capitalizing on the underappreciated growth and value embedded in women’s sports today.  Our endgame is to elevate women’s sports by fostering strong and sustainable businesses that compete at the highest level.

Former owner Dan Snyder hired Wright as Washington’s team president in August 2020. He was the first Black team president in NFL history and was immediately thrust into a difficult situation. Wright had his hands full after dealing with multiple name changes and numerous accusations against Snyder.

New owner Josh Harris and his partners took over the franchise in July 2023 and retained Wright. Wright announced he would step down in July 2024 and would remain in a senior advisor role until further notice. Wright was in the press box for Washington’s thrilling Sunday night win over the Falcons in Week 17 and said on X that he would return his laptop to the team on January 15.

He also posted videos on X showing him cheering on the Commanders even after his tenure ended.

Washington announced the hiring of Mark Clouse as the new team president in December. Clouse will start with the Commanders next week.

Joe Gibbs actually rescued the Commanders again

Joe Gibbs again proves why he’s the most important and beloved figure in Washington history.

As if Joe Gibbs hadn’t done enough for Washington’s NFL franchise, Gibbs again stepped up and came to the rescue.

In July 2023, former owner Daniel Snyder couldn’t go out in style and be gracious. He couldn’t bring himself to it. According to an ESPN report by Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr, Snyder actually put up a fight at the end.

The sale was announced as final to the Josh Harris ownership group of approximately 20 owners. When the NFL announced they were fining Snyder $60 million, the price dropped just below the $6 billion insisted upon by Snyder.

Consequently, Snyder “threatened to kill the deal by refusing to share his bank information, preventing Harris from wiring him the money. At 1 a.m. on July 21, Snyder and his wife were fielding phone calls from various executives and confidants, urging him to do what he’d pledged and let go of the team.”

Snyder, in addition, refused to hand over the stadium keys, knowing there would be a rally for the Harris group purchasing the team.

When Snyder took over in 1999, GM Charley Casserly suddenly resigned. Norv Turner was fired before the 2000 season concluded. Marty Schottenheimer lasted only the 2001 season. A frustrated Steve Spurrier, knowing he had a couple more years to collect on his contract, resigned anyway, later saying Snyder had never come through with a general manager as he had promised.

To the rescue came Joe Jackson Gibbs. Gibbs said his wife Pat had even told him that going back to the Redskins, he was going to ruin his good name. But Gibbs returned anyway and led the team to two playoff seasons, including a playoff win in the 2005 season, the last until this 2024  season.

So, too, in July 2023, it was again Joe Gibbs willing to get involved and talk to Daniel Snyder, hoping to get Snyder to see the big picture. In typical Gibbs fashion, he is said to have asked Snyder to think about what would be loving the team and the fan base.

Has there ever been an NFL head coach who spoke so well of his team’s fan base than Coach Joe? His entire time in both terms (1981-92 and 2004-07), Joe Gibbs praised the fan base, saying they were the best in the NFL.

How seriously was Snyder digging in? How long was he willing to hold out in July 2023?

Months later, Tad Brown, CEO of HBSE, told confidants, “We don’t get the Commanders if not for Joe Gibbs.”

Not only did Coach Joe bring the DMV 5 NFC Championship games, 4 NFC Championships, four Super Bowls, and three Super Bowl Championships, but he directly helped bring the Commanders to the Josh Harris ownership group.

Is perhaps the greatest Redskin and Commander of all actually Joe Jackson Gibbs?

One of the Commanders’ owners spends time with fans ahead of NFC championship

Washington fans were fired up on Saturday night and one of the Commanders’ owners dropped by for a visit.

On the same day we learned of former owner Dan Snyder’s misery regarding the Washington Commanders’ recent success, one of the new owners spent part of his evening with fans ahead of Sunday’s NFC championship game.

Washington fans held a meet-up and rally Saturday evening at the Hard Rock Cafe in Philadelphia. The place was packed with Commanders’ fans, and JP Finlay of 106.7 The Fan and NBC 4 Washington hosted an episode of his “All Ears” podcast.

Finlay had plenty of guests, including one of owner Josh Harris’ partners, Mitchell Rales. Rales, who, like Harris, grew up in the Washington, D.C. area as a fan of the Redskins and went to games as a kid. He’s a big-time fan. And before he attended an owner’s dinner on Saturday night, Rales visited the Hard Rock Cafe, where he spoke with Finlay, mingled with fans, and took pictures.

What’s the irony that on the same day we heard about Snyder’s new life, we see one of the Commanders’ owners out spending time with fans, something Snyder would’ve never done.

Washington’s broadcast team, legendary linebacker London Fletcher and Bram Weinstein, along with Regina Jackson, the mother of star rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, joined Rales.

For years, the Commanders were known as a sleeping giant. If only Snyder sold the team and they started winning consistently, the fans would return. It’s happened — and much sooner than expected.

On Sunday, if the Commanders can upset the Eagles, they’ll head to their first Super Bowl in 33 years.

Dan Snyder ‘hates’ watching Commanders’ success from afar

Former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder reportedly ‘hates’ seeing the Commanders succeed without him.

Almost every NFL franchise fanbase has taken issue with its owner at some point or another, but only a few times has an owner been forced to sell or forced out of the NFL. For former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, it was actually both.

Snyder was already a successful businessman when he purchased the Washington Redskins and their stadium in 1999. Under his ownership, the team had a whopping five winning seasons in 23 seasons of ownership. His overall record was 164-220-2 and 2-6 in the postseason. The toxic workplace culture he created is suspected to have a direct impact on how the team performed under his ownership.

His toxic practices weren’t just felt in the building and on the field, though, fans were impacted as well. From increasing prices to fees for tailgating in certain parts of the parking lot to the banning of signs, Snyder’s fingerprints were everywhere.

In 2024, though, everything is different. The Commanders are having their best season since 1991 and Snyder hasn’t been part of any of it. Currently residing in London, England, and working to get rid of all of his US-based assets, many wonder what it’s like for him to watch from afar.

At a recent dinner with some associates, Snyder was subdued and said that he was enjoying a quiet existence. When one associate returned to the United States, a colleague asked him how Snyder felt about the Commanders’ success in 2024. “He f—ing hates it,” Snyder’s dinner companion told the colleague via Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN.

From his perspective, Snyder was a fan who bought the team he loved and was unable to see much success. Largely his own fault, Snyder was the piece that needed to go for the Commanders to move forward. And look at where they are now, getting ready to face the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship this Sunday.

Snyder can hate not being part of the success all he wants, but you can bet that no one in Washington cares.

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Dan Snyder is reportedly miserable over the Washington Commanders playoff success

The Washington Commanders’ former owner isn’t taking their recent success too well

The Washington Commanders are one win away from reaching the Super Bowl for the first time since 1991 thanks to rookie superstar quarterback Jayden Daniels and a new ownership group led by Josh Harris.

If you’re wondering how that might make a miserable curmudgeon like the team’s former owner feel, fear not. ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham released a deeply reported profile of Dan Snyder’s life in NFL exile and found just what it’s like for the team’s deposed chairman to watch his former team’s sudden success from afar.

“He [expletive] hates it,” a companion of Snyder’s revealed to ESPN.

Per the report:

There’s still anger, and he remains “in denial” about what led to his ouster, said a person close to his inner circle. But there’s also something else: “Sadness — for himself,” that person said. “It’s killing him. … It’s devastating for him.”

That sound you hear is hundreds of thousands of Commanders fans experiencing long-awaited schadenfreude. If you’ve forgotten why, allow my colleague and D.C.-native Mike Sykes provide a helpful reminder:

This city has had to watch this man be truly reprehensible at every step of the way during his stewardship.

Remember, he refused to change his team’s racist name until sponsorship dollars were on the line. He sued season-ticket holders who couldn’t afford to pay after losing their jobs while letting his stadium fall apart.

Worst of all, he fostered one of the most toxic workplace environments in professional sports. One so bad that it required a federal investigation and an investigation by the NFL.

Snyder eventually gave up control of the team for just north of $6 billion dollars, but was fined an NFL-record $60 million on his way out the door as a condition of the sale. The Van Natta and Wickersham report includes new details on all the ways Snyder tried to tank the deal at the eleventh hour before ultimately relenting.

Since then, the disgraced 60-year-old has taken up residence in England, isolated from his former life as a power broker in America’s most popular sport. Even Jerry Jones, Snyder’s closest ally in the NFL, told ESPN he has not spoken with Snyder since the Commanders sale.

Snyder’s life in pro sports may not be completely over. There are rumors he may try to buy his way into an English Premiere League soccer team, though Van Natta and Wickersham found plenty of skeptics about such a move:

But other sources close to Snyder and in the Premier League believe he would never buy into a soccer club or any other professional sports team, for that matter. The reason isn’t because of finances, or prestige, or even baggage.

“He isn’t a fan of other sports,” one source said. “He’s a fan of the [Commanders]. That was the biggest thing.”

Now with Washington in the NFC Championship game, Van Natta and Wickersham found Snyder’s former employees celebrating the success for multiple reasons.

“Karma is real,” Melanie Coburn, a marketing director who testified about the team to Congress told ESPN. “For years, we endured the dysfunction and toxicity at the organization under Dan Snyder and blamed all the losses on the dark cloud he brought over the team. Turns out, we were right.”

Former Washington LB Lavar Arrington happy to reunite with organization

Lavar Arrington reunites with the Washington franchise.

Lavar Arrington is back. No, the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft is not back on the field, but he is back home with the organization where he played six of his seven seasons.

The Washington Commanders announced last week that Arrington would be the Week 11 “Legend of the Game.” It was a moment that Arrington himself almost wondered if it would ever happen.

Speaking to JP Finlay of NBC 4 and 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C., Arrington spoke of returning home.

“I’m never at a loss for words, but this has been really awesome,” Arrington said. “Been too long. Been a lot of time and a lot of emotion, but there’s come a point and time where there’s so many things that are bigger than some of things that happened in the past. Having the opportunity to come back, the reception, just the communication leading up to coming back. Them making it real, the way that they did.”

Arrington then discusses if he

“I don’t want to say I thought about always coming back because you get to a point where you’re away for so long that it just kind of becomes almost like a dormant, dead memory to you.”

The former No. 2 overall pick then discussed how he and the team connected. Arrington appreciated how the team reached out to him and communicated with him.

Then, Arrington, once the franchise’s most popular player, discussed the fans.

“I’m excited to see the fans,” Arrington said. “It’s never been about there being any beef with the fans. One singular entity that kinda bonded us all together in this turbulent ride. It doesn’t feel like that anymore.”

Arrington then said something that should excite all fans.

“In three hours, I can feel an energy here that I’ve never felt,” Arrington said. “So, if not for anything else, just to be able to feel what I’m feeling now as a longtime retired former player of this team, I’m glad that these current players get an opportunity to feel the energy that I’m feeling right now.”

It’s good to see Washington making things right with many former players estranged from the team. Whether it’s Darrell Green, John Riggins, Champ Bailey, or Lavar Arrington, everyone has had the same message about the current ownership group. It’s a different time in Washington.

The name may have changed, but so has the play on the field. It’s good to see Arrington back in a place where he was beloved for a while until issues with former owner Daniel Snyder led to his departure. Arrington played for Washington from 2000-05 and then spent one season with the New York Giants before a motorcycle accident led to his retirement.

Former Washington coach Jay Gruden rooting for the Commanders

The former coach has fond words for Dan Quinn, his former players and will be rooting for Washington now that a certain person is gone.

Former Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden says now that Dan Snyder is gone, he hopes the best for the Washington Commanders.

Gruden was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast Friday. Regarding the Commanders, Gruden was his typical self. Here are a few select quotes from Gruden.

https://twitter.com/Coach_JayGruden/status/1806390779134595335

“How does Jayden handle the pressure, and the things he has to do at quarterback to be successful? Obviously, he has the talent. We haven’t seen him going against a team’s No. 1 defense in the NFL. He is going to play against a Tampa Bay defense this week that will not hold anything back. They are going to get after his ass.”

“Can Bobby Wagner hold up at linebacker? He is getting a little older. Can the corners hold up? Is Forbes starting this year? Is he going to play better?”

“They (Commanders) have a lot of talent, a lot of young players playing critical positions. So we will see. I just think it is going to be a struggle this year for them. They will get better and better. Dan Quinn will get these guys going.”

“His (Kliff Kingsbury) biggest issue is protecting the quarterback with the protection scheme he has. He can get guys open down the field, but can he protect Jayden Daniels? We don’t want to see him passing all the time against Tampa Bay, or it will be a blood bath. Tampa Bay will blitz the hell out of him.”

“I think the ability of them to use Jayden with his legs, with zone reads and play action, getting him outside the pocket will be critical early on to get him  outside to see some throws and then use his legs on the perimeter.”

“If they have to bring safeties down into the box creating seven-man fronts, eight-man fronts, that puts a lot of pressure on your corners. If he is going to protect his corners, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne and Clelin Ferrell have to do a good job in light boxes stopping the run. I think they can. Bobby Wagner is good against the run, so is Frankie Luvu.”

“I am rooting for Washington, man. I am off the root against the Dan Snyder bandwagon. I am rooting for Washington to do well. I am rooting for Terry McLaurin, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne. I still have feelings for these guys and the fans. They were good to me for the most part. I am rooting for Washington to have a good year. I like Dan Quinn; he is a good guy…”

There is more; here is the link to all the audio of the discussion.

The plan to buy the Commanders began 5 minutes after Dan Snyder announced his intentions

Commanders minority owner Mark Ein reveals when the plan to buy the franchise began.

Did you know that only five minutes after the announcement that Dan Snyder was going to sell, the mission to purchase the Commanders was begun?

Yes, the Josh Harris Ownership Group (HOG) couldn’t close the acquisition of the Washington Commanders until July 2023. Yet, so much hard work and perspiration went into finally purchasing the team away from Snyder.

Mark Ein, who was born in Chevy Chase, MD, and is a lifelong fan of the Redskins (now Commanders), was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast Saturday.

Ein told Sheehan that he and Harris, who were childhood friends, were actually together this week, marveling that it had already been a year since the NFL finally approved the purchase on July 20, 2023.

“Most deals of this size or complexity are not easy,” began Ein. This one had some unique components, as everyone can imagine. But you have to bring a lot of people together to pay the highest price ever for a sports franchise.”

When Sheehan asked Ein if he ever thought they would be unable to finalize the purchase, Ein didn’t hesitate to say, “Oh, sure. I mean, this started five minutes after the news hit the wire.”

“Which news, Mark?” inquired Sheehan.

“The news that Dan was really going to sell…literally within five minutes of the announcement, I texted Josh and said we have got to do this. It started then (November) and closed in July, so that is how long it took.”

Ein said that throughout the process, there were “lots of moments where it looked like it was not going to happen.”

“Our view was this franchise matters almost as much as anything in the community that we grew up in and love. With people who are deeply connected and committed to the community, there was an opportunity, and really a need for that set of people to come in and take it over and build it to the franchise we loved as kids.”

Ein is absolutely correct.

The franchise needed to be rescued.

They were rescued from not only being a losing NFL team on the field but also from those running the business side of the franchise who didn’t know what they were doing.

Thank you, Mark Ein, for taking the initiative, and thank you to the Harris Ownership Group for seizing the opportunity to bring this franchise back from the depths.

 

Jason Wright out as Commanders’ team president

The 2024 season will be Wright’s last with the Commanders and he will serve as an adviser until the team lands a replacement.

The Washington Commanders and team president Jason Wright are parting ways, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. Wright will move out of his role as team president and assume the role of senior adviser as the team begins an immediate search for a new team president. He will depart the organization by the end of the upcoming 2024 season.

Wright was hired in August 2020 as the organization had just changed its name from the “Redskins” to the “Football Team” after pressure from sponsors. He replaced Bruce Allen in the role, and he was in charge of leading the franchise’s business operations, financing, and marketing.

Washington first came under investigation for its workplace culture under former owner Dan Snyder in 2020. It wouldn’t be the first investigation into Snyder, who sold the team in July 2023 to a group led by Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris.

Two of Wright’s primary goals were to help the team find a new stadium and rebrand the organization. The team still doesn’t have a location for the new stadium, which had more to do with Snyder, not Wright, but the team’s rebranding in 2022 was met with anger from most of the remaining fan base.

There would be other issues, too, from the misspelling of the team’s legends’ names on graphics to the Sean Taylor memorial outside of FedEx Field. These types of gaffes didn’t go unnoticed, and Wright took much of the blame in the eyes of fans. Many of the hires Wright made have since left the organization.

Jhabvala notes that Wright informed the team last week of his pending exit.

Wright released the following statement:

This feels like the right moment for me to explore my next leadership opportunity. I’m extremely grateful to my Commanders colleagues, our fans and this community for all that we have accomplished these past four years, and am looking forward to the start of a very successful season for the Burgundy and Gold.

Josh Harris also released a statement thanking Wright:

Jason has made a remarkable impact on the Commanders organization since he joined four years ago. He stepped in at a time of immense challenge and has led this organization through an incredible transformation that set that stage for everything that is to come. I am extremely grateful to Jason for his partnership to me and the rest of the ownership group over the past year. His guidance has been invaluable and his leadership has helped reshape our culture.

Harris and Tad Brown, the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, will lead the search for the next team president.

 

Commanders minority owner does not like Commanders’ name?

What does one of Washington’s co-owners think of the nickname?

Washington Commanders minority owner Mitchell Rales is not a fan of the name “Commanders?”

Burgundy Blog (from X, formerly Twitter), as a guest on the “Al Galdi Podcast” this past week, conveyed to Galdi that Rales is indeed not excited about the name “Commanders”.

An acquaintance told Burgundy Blog that at a social event a few months ago, Rales asked a few attendees what they thought of the team’s current name.

The answer he got was extremely negative, and he (Rales) corroborated his feelings of not being excited about “Commanders” either. Rales reportedly then expressed something to the effect of we will see if we can do something about that.

No, this is not confirmed. Burgundy Blog continues to hide behind his anonymity. Nor did he name his acquaintance who conveyed the story to him.

The vast majority of the fan base would certainly love to hear one of the more visible owners (Josh Harris, Rales, Mark Ein) speak negatively about the current name.

But that is not going to happen—at least for a while. The Harris Ownership Group (HOG) wisely keeps its priorities in order and realizes it can wait and see if a winning team changes the fan base’s attitude.

There has been no season with a winning record since Kirk Cousins led Washington to an 8-7-1 season in 2016. The HOG understands this fan base most needs a winning team, period.

But also, Jason Wright’s terrible television rebranding announcement was executed horribly. How did Wright and Snyder not realize Julie Donaldson would have been so much more energetic, experienced, and attractive in front of television cameras?

Head coach Dan Quinn recently wearing the T-shirt containing the “W” logo while also adding the feathers from past Redskins logos ignited excitement in the fan base. Hopes were raised of a change from Commanders.

But for now, we wait…