Tag: Dan Snyder

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…

 

Mark Schlereth on the Commanders: ‘The stench is gone’

The former offensive lineman says the NFL is a better place when Washington is relevant.

“The stench is gone.”

That’s what former Washington offensive lineman and current NFL analyst Mark Schlereth said about the Commanders with former owner Daniel Snyder long gone.

“I feel like the stench, the overall stench of Daniel Snyder, who just came into a crown jewel of the National Football League and took a s–t on it, I really believe that stench is gone,” Schlereth said Thursday on his Stinkin Truth Podcast.

https://youtube.com/shorts/n3Fo3pzZ7Hg?si=NyaSVdAKfdxxfC2s

Schlereth, who was drafted in the 10th round by Washington in the 1989 NFL draft, played six of his 12 seasons for the Redskins, including winning a Super Bowl. He would play six more seasons in Denver, where he won two more Super Bowls. Schlereth has worked in the media since his retirement and currently calls games on FOX Sports.

The former member of The Hogs is a fan of new head coach Dan Quinn.

“You know, when Dan Quinn is the guy carrying two bottles of Febreze, you know, and they’re just psshhhhhh just all over………..just spraying Febreze all over that. Josh Harris, the new owner, and Magic Johnson’s hanging around, it feels like it’s moving in the right direction. So, I hope so because I still have an affinity. That’s where I cut my teeth in the NFL, and, you know, I’ve said this about the Raiders, which hurts, but the league’s a better place when Washington’s relevant, and they haven’t been relevant since Dan Snyder bought them.”

Schlereth is never one to hold back. For years, he’s shared his disgust with the franchise’s direction, hoping it would get back on track. You can add him to the list of alumni back on board since Harris bought the team last summer.

Commanders no longer one of the NFL’s least desirable destinations

Times have indeed changed.

At one point in former owner Daniel Snyder’s tenure, he could get almost any free agent he wanted to sign with Washington. Snyder often had to overpay, but if a desirable free agent visited Ashburn, he usually signed.

That changed when Bruce Allen came aboard at the end of 2009. Over the next 14 years of Snyder’s tenure, he was often cheap, and Washington was left to sign value free agents with very few options.

Once Snyder quit overpaying, it was difficult to land quality free agents with options. Add in the constant losing, bad facilities, the NFL’s worst stadium, and other things, and you can see why Washington struggled.

Snyder is gone and things have already improved. In the first full offseason under new owner Josh Harris, the Commanders hired a new general manager (Adam Peters) and head coach (Dan Quinn). Washington was active in free agency but did not break the bank on any one player.

Fans are excited again, and one reason is Peters. The Commanders would never have landed someone with his qualifications and options if Snyder had remained. And Peters has filled his front office with some of the brightest minds around the NFL. Again, this wouldn’t have happened under Snyder.

The same is true for Quinn’s coaching staff. Quinn hired an outstanding coaching staff because coaches wanted to work with him.

Times have changed.

More proof times have changed for the Commanders: They are no longer atop lists naming them the least desirable trade destination.

Bleacher Report recently named the five least desirable NFL trade destinations ahead of training camp, and surprise, Washington is not included:

Here’s the list:

  1. New York Giants
  2. Carolina Panthers
  3. Denver Broncos
  4. New England Patriots
  5. New York Jets

An NFC East is one of the least desirable destinations — and it’s not Washington.

Of course, the Commanders need to win, but there is an optimism surrounding the organization that hasn’t existed in many years.

While not making a list of “least desirable situations” would not be news for most teams, it’s progress for Washington.

 

Report: Josh Harris outbid Jeff Bezos for the Commanders

A new report indicates Bezos wanted the Commanders, but Josh Harris outbid him.

When the news broke in November 2022 that former Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder hired Bank of America to explore a sale of the team he owned since 1999, many believed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would be the next owner.

However, some believed Snyder would never sell to Bezos, one of the wealthiest people in the world, because he owned The Washington Post. Snyder’s history with The Post was complicated as it broke several stories on his alleged misconduct that eventually led him to put the team up for sale.

Snyder sold the team to an ownership group led by Josh Harris, a Washington, D.C., area native who also owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s New Jersey Devils. The $6.05 billion sale was complicated by the number of minority investors in Harris’ group. It was the highest price ever paid for a U.S. pro sports franchise.

It was later revealed that Snyder didn’t prevent Bezos from bidding on the team. Most assumed Bezos just didn’t get involved in the bidding.

A new report from Martha Muir and Anna Nicolaou of the Financial Times indicates that not only did Bezos get involved, but he was actually outbid by Harris and his group.

Of all Bezos’s thwarted Washington initiatives, however, the one that may hit closest to home is his failed pursuit of the Commanders. A life-long NFL fan, Bezos had repeatedly signalled his wish to enter the elite club of football team owners.

Bezos went so far as to put an ownership group together with music mogul Jay-Z to acquire the Commanders, but was outbid by fellow billionaire Josh Harris, co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo.

At the time, some US media outlets reported that the team’s then owner, Dan Snyder, blocked Bezos’s bid because of his ownership of the Post — which almost single-handedly forced Snyder to sell, after it revealed the team allegedly tolerated pervasive sexual harassment and employee abuse.

Here’s the key part from the report:

People briefed on the process, however, insist Bezos was simply outbid by Harris, who acquired the team for $6bn. “I don’t think Snyder would have not sold to them if Jeff came in with a bid of $7 billion,” said a person involved in the process.

Bezos is worth over $200 billion, so his simply being outbid is strange. Perhaps he wasn’t going to allow Snyder to raise the price and force him to bid against himself for a damaged brand in which Bezos would need to spend millions more due to Snyder’s previous mismanagement.

The Harris Ownership Group has already paid $75 million toward improvements to the former FedEx Field and Washington’s team headquarters in Ashburn, Va., that Snyder ignored for years.

If Bezos wants in the NFL, there’s a good chance the Seattle Seahawks will be available in the next several years and that could be a more attractive opportunity for Bezos.

Harris and his group have proven to be the right owners for the Washington franchise at the right time.

Claims that Commanders owner Josh Harris is ‘super-duper cheap’ appear inaccurate

What have learned about Josh Harris so far? He’s not cheap and he’s putting money back into the team to build a long-term winner.

Fifteen months ago, Josh Harris was positioning himself to become the next majority owner of the Washington Commanders.

At that time, Jason Bishop of “The Sports Junkies” on 106.7 The Fan claimed he had a source who did not think so highly of how Harris was running the Philadelphia 76ers. Bishop continued, “I’ve got a well-placed source — and I won’t say who — that said, ‘Josh Harris, if he is the one who gets the team, is super-duper cheap.’”

Also, on March 22, 2023, we wrote about how Kevin Sheehan had a guest, Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico, state on his program that “Josh Harris is a notorious value investor. He has been a runner-up in some of the biggest sports team sales in history because he is not someone who raises his price to get an asset.”

Now that 15 months have passed, what have we learned?

Novy-Williams was not saying Harris is cheap. He was saying that Harris would not lose money by ignoring the purchasing price he set in his mind. By the way, what is wrong with that? Why should someone spend more money to only purchase a franchise, when they are going to need to use much money for wise investments involving the business operations?

As to Harris being “cheap” and not spending money in ways to help the 76ers, how has Harris invested in and managed the Commanders in his first year as owner?

When Harris took the reins, the Ashburn facility was absurdly behind most other NFL franchises’ facilities. When the NFLPA grades for the Commanders’ facilities, locker room, training room and stadium came back as abysmal, Harris boldly responded, “I am not an F-minus guy.”

The Commanders announced plans to spend upward of $75 million to upgrade their playing stadium and Ashburn team facilities.

Even the unused turf practice field in Ashburn, which had sat idle for years, was removed in recent weeks.

Perhaps Bishop’s source regarding how Harris is managing and investing in the 76ers was mistaken?

Harris is clearly investing much more into the franchise than did the previous owner, Daniel Snyder. Harris is addressing the many issues he inherited. He is shelling out huge amounts of money to improve the resources for the Commanders.

Josh Harris is not cheap.

Negotiations for Commanders’ potential return to D.C. remain stuck

There has been progress in the talks between the Wetzel family and the Commanders.

Earlier this year, there was excitement about the Washington Commanders and a potential return to the nation’s capital. The House of Representatives passed a bill granting the District a 99-year lease for the land where RFK Stadium sits.

The bill followed the recent goodwill between the organization and the city, which began when new owner Josh Harris purchased the team from Daniel Snyder last summer. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser went on record multiple times stating that the Commanders’ next stadium should be in D.C.

Harris and the team have options. Maryland — where the team currently plays its home games — wants to keep the team. In Virginia, where the team’s headquarters is located, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the state is a “great place” for a new Commanders stadium.

While the Commanders haven’t tipped their hand on where they want to build a new stadium, the District would appear to be the preferred choice. Harris and minority owners Mitch Rales and Mark Ein all grew up in the Washington area, going to games at RFK Stadium as kids.

So, if the House approved this with rare bipartisan support, why isn’t this moving along?

As of now, it remains stuck in the Senate. Montana Sen. Steve Daines, the ranking member of the National Parks Subcommittee, has said he will continue to hold up the bill unless the Commanders find a way to honor the legacy of Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, who created the logo for the team’s former name that was retired in 2020.

According to A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports, Daines, the Commanders and the Wetzel family are continuing to work out a deal. Daines represents Montana, where the Wetzel family is from, and the Blackfeet tribe he was a member of is also based in Montana.

“We have been very pleased with the conversations we’ve had with the Commanders,” Ryan Wetzel, grandson of the late Wetzel, told Perez and Front Office Sports. “The three of us — meaning the Commanders, Daines’s office, and the Wetzel family — have made headway, and some steps being made that will please the D.C. community and the fan base.”

In his latest report on the story, Perez noted that one Senate aide said the bill is “unlikely to see any more action until after Thanksgiving.”

That’s good and bad. The Commanders have no known timeframe to make a deal, though the lease at Commanders Field is set to expire in 2027. The quicker this is resolved, the sooner Harris and his group can begin making plans for the team’s new home. The extra time also gives all three sides more chances to strike a deal in which everyone feels like they win.

That’s rare — almost as rare as any bill finding bipartisan support at all levels of the government.

Wetzel’s grandson made it clear that it’s not about the name; it’s about the logo his grandfather created, which was a “profile of pride for Native American communities.”