Danny: Not a Jerk...Just Knee Jerk

Is it just me, or does anyone else get the scary feeling that we have no idea what this Redskins franchise is about? I keep looking for a direction, a label, or an image the Skins can hang their hat on, and all I come up with is KNEE JERK REACTION.

Seems like this went on from the moment Danny Snyder got hold of this team and it continued up until Joe Gibbs came back. And the moment Gibbs left again, once again the KNEE JERK syndrome began all over again.

It all started with the coaching search. Coach after coach was being considered, and we all know that Danny wanted Cowher. But even before hiring a coach, Danny couldn't sit still, because his knee was jerking, so he went out and hired Greg Blache as the Defensive coordinator.

As the Coaching parade continued, still WITHOUT a head coach, Danny decided to interview an offensive coordinator. As a matter of fact, Danny decided to HIRE an offensive coordinator.....so he did. Perhaps the knee was jerking again, who knows. However, the coaching search resumed with rumors flying everywhere, finally, in one great jerk of the knee, Danny decided to make his newly aquired offensive coordinator the new HEAD COACH. It must have been one heck of a knee jerk considering nobody in football saw it coming...INCLUDING Jim Zorn.

And following along those lines, an inury to Daniels last summer facilitated yet ANOTHER knee jerk, this time to trade important draft picks in order to acquire a 33 year old apathetic ball room dancer, who just happened to play football on the side. Of course, sometimes one knee jerk can cancel out another, and perhaps that is what Danny was thinking when he decided to send the ball room dancer packing and back to where he came from, as a result of a disagreement over lifting some weights.

So this latest fiasco of "trade or not to trade" should not be a huge surprise. It shouldn't even be surprising to Todd Collins that only one year after signing a lucrative 3 year deal, Danny's knee is acting up again. I mean, with the knee jerking around like that, SOMEBODY has got to go and Danny needs to get somebody to replace that somebody. Thats what happens when a knee starts jerking.

I wish I could say I see a direction with all of this jerking that his knee is doing, but sadly, I cannot see any direction at all. It's like the knee is spinning round and round out of control. Here is a list of "wouldn't surprise me's:

1) Campbell has a good season, Redskins make the playoffs, but Danny trade's him to another team for a high draft pick.

2) Redskins make the playoffs, Danny gets into the Cowher speepstakes, bids and wins, and Danny thanks Zorn for an amusing 2 years.

3) In an uncapped year, Danny cashes in his bearer bonds and grandmothers gold necklace, and brings in 8 all pro free agents from around the league in yet another attempt to purchase a Superbowl.

4)Danny and Vinnie attempt to bring in Michael Vick as a whatever.

5) Danny and Vinnie stay joined at the hip, and continue to cook up the NFL's version of ponzie schemes, and continue to create more talk than Rush Limbaugh.

6) The knee will continue to jerk violently, and we will all continue to be amazed with these occasional "SHOCK AND AWE" knee jerk concoctions.

Sadly, it's "the way we roll."

And as Snyder's relatively young, and has one of the biggest cash cows in sports in his hands, he's going nowhere fast.

The one thing that may change again, if he get's his big name at the end of the coming season, is Coach Cowher will doubtless want more or less full control over the football side, to build a franchise the way it should be built. Which Snyder will probably agree to, given his desperate need to win and get his man in. This will hopefully see the demise of Vinny, or see him take a back seat in player acquisitions.

I actually believe lil' Danny's heart is in the right place, and he does desperately want to win. His problem comes with the way he goes around that, and meddles in the football side he knows little about instead of doing what he'd do in any other business venture that was foreign to him; surround himself with the best people in the field, let them do what they do best, and everything else would take care of it's self.

Hail.

Another bash Danny thread already?

Another bash Danny thread already?

One wild card win and you don't want to bash him? He's completely unprofessional. We're the raiders of the east.

Dan Snyder is like a child who got some seeds. He can't stop digging them up to see if they're growing. I think the knee jerk reaction is a bigger part of why Gibbs left than we really know. How ticked would you have been if Dan Snyder forced you to get an offensive coordinator in Al Saunders after your offense made great strides? Gibbs was too classy to mention some of the things that I believe were really forced upon him. Snyder is a meddler, and that will never change. He just can't help himself. He has no direction, and he's nothing but a reactionary pseudo-GM. He needs to sell the team, because even if we ever become successful, he'll screw it up. He'll start changing things for absolutely no reason.

Dan Snyder is like a child who got some seeds. He can't stop digging them up to see if they're growing. I think the knee jerk reaction is a bigger part of why Gibbs left than we really know. How ticked would you have been if Dan Snyder forced you to get an offensive coordinator in Al Saunders after your offense made great strides? Gibbs was too classy to mention some of the things that I believe were really forced upon him. Snyder is a meddler, and that will never change. He just can't help himself. He has no direction, and he's nothing but a reactionary pseudo-GM. He needs to sell the team, because even if we ever become successful, he'll screw it up. He'll start changing things for absolutely no reason.

According to this article, Joe Gibbs handpicked Al Saunders. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen.

I agree that Snyder has the patience of a little kid needing to go potty on a long road trip, but let's get the facts straight.

One wild card win and you don't want to bash him? He's completely unprofessional. We're the raiders of the east.

Thank You! This is what I mean,this man is taking a team we grew up with and loved and tearing it apart slowly.YES he spends money ...but on what ?In this game you need patience ,you need to develop players ........"The Danny"doesn't know how to do that ...so we rebuild year after year and when we do have a good D.......the O needs to rebuild, now he's pissing off the QB becuase he's not a "SUPER STAR QB".So now we must rebuild both lines at the same time and spent all our money on one man,God forbid a big name comes up....doesn't matter what the position grab him wether we have a good player at that position or not ....grab the name.:mad::mad::mad:

Another bash Danny thread already?

There can't be enough of them as far as I'm concerned.

5) Danny and Vinnie stay joined at the hip, and continue to cook up the NFL's version of ponzie schemes, and continue to create more talk than Rush Limbaugh.

I agree with this in particular and I think alot of people who expect that this is a sink or swim year for Zorn and Cerrato will be very surprised when a poor season results in only the coach getting the boot.

I cannot see Dan cutting his boy Vinnie loose again after the Marty mess when he provides such a convenient yes-man for his ideas.

No, the boss likes this setup way too much to bring in an actual GM or autonimous coach that would tell him to just sit back and enjoy the ride instead of grabbing the wheel and swerving into the nearest ditch.

Who would you rather have as an owner? Pat Bowlen? When Danny finally gets his franchise QB ... all the naysayers will fade away like a turd in a rainstorm.

I can't blame Snyder for all of his actions, because I see him as a fan first and foremost. Does he have the most football knowledge? No. Does he care enough to try to build a winner however he sees fit and no matter the cost? Yes.

Most of us would be doing the same thing. While that doesn't justify it, because none of us has the football knowledge to run a franchise, it just gives a better perspective.

If all you can come up with is knee jerk reaction, it's because you have a false, foolish view of the team we root for. The Redskins are a .500 team who were getting worse last year. The team has holes that needed to be filled. The team has strengths as well.

One of the concerns for us was very soft play at QB. It is the furthest thing in the world from knee jerk to recognize that soft play as a problem and at least look in to the possibility of improving that position with a younger, under contract Pro Bowl player.

Doing so provides two reasonable things.

1. The opportunity to acquire a player who's produced better at the position than the one you have.

2. Failing that, the opportunity to inspire your current player to produce better at that spot.

A third option also existed where you alienate your current player and he gets worse by holding a grudge against you. That third option is protected against by signing someone who's a near clone of him as a backup and remains the most unlikely. After all, the QB is entering a contract year. The focus of his effort is likely going to be to assure he continues as a starter in the league, as if he plays soft again, he becomes a career backup from that point forward.

The coaching search of a year ago was the furthest thing from knee jerk. In fact, it was a little ridiculous how long that went. While the ultimate decision to hire Jim Zorn was a surprise to everyone, it also goes to speak about the limited group of coaches out there.

The Redskins are an active franchise. Where we perceive we have a weakness we try to make it a strength immediately through the acquisition of a proven player like Albert Haynesworth rather than a young drafted player like Golston or Montgomery, or someone drafted earlier. It is perfectly reasonable to hope we find our next Chris Samuels in the draft rather than in free agency, thus allowing us to dip into free agency for fewer gaps.

It's hard to argue with the team's insight into itself as to where it looks to improve with such moves. Meaning, the team seems to have a fairly honest assessment of itself when it goes out to find people in free agency to improve itself with. We might whiff on the player we acquire, but, he's always a player at a position we have difficulty thinking doesn't need help.

Tell me someone in recent years we acquired who was simply not needed because we were set at his spot. The only guy I think is CLOSE to that is Archuleta who Williams wanted as a hybrid type player and it failed miserably.

I can't blame Snyder for all of his actions, because I see him as a fan first and foremost. Does he have the most football knowledge? No. Does he care enough to try to build a winner however he sees fit and no matter the cost? Yes.

Most of us would be doing the same thing. While that doesn't justify it, because none of us has the football knowledge to run a franchise, it just gives a better perspective.

I realize you are more sane than most people here, so I'll ask this kindly, as it's an area I've never fully understood.

At what point does Dan Snyder get to be understood that he actually not only knows football, but probably knows football better all but a very small handful of professional football people.

Snyder has owned a professional football team for a decade. Some owners still run their car dealerships or other businesses. Ours has been involved with the football team from a business standpoint and from a football standpoint for 10 years.

He has access to football coaches, personnel men, tape piped to his desk, assessments, opinions of others "in the know" etc. Snyder has been able to live, breathe and immerse himself in football for a decade. He understands all aspects of the business far better than most anyone in the world.

I do not want him putting on the GM title as Jones wears in Dallas any more than the rest of you. But, it strikes me that by now, we must realize he knows football better than most people could possibly know football. A lot of people know football very well who work in it daily.

Who would you rather have as an owner? Pat Bowlen?

Damn Straight!

I realize you are more sane than most people here, so I'll ask this kindly, as it's an area I've never fully understood.

Haha, I wouldn't go that far, but thanks.

At what point does Dan Snyder get to be understood that he actually not only knows football, but probably knows football better all but a very small handful of professional football people.

I do not want him putting on the GM title as Jones wears in Dallas any more than the rest of you. But, it strikes me that by now, we must realize he knows football better than most people could possibly know football. A lot of people know football very well who work in it daily.

Personally I believe he knows the game and the facets of owning a franchise better than most. In no means would I put him up there with a Parcells type, but he does have extensive knowledge. The one area I'd guess that he lacks behind in is player evaluation, but that just may not be his thing.

Contrary to many, I love him being an owner. I feel that he truly gives a damn how well this team does and would do anything to improve it. Another thing that sticks out to me is hearing him scream "In Dallas! In Philly!" after the Philly game this past year. That's a man with passion and a man that cares.

I just remember last year, people talking about how the Skins front office finally "Got it". Without making any huge offseason moves. A lot of folks talked about needing this to happen a few offseasons in a row to show they had learned.

Well, Obviously it hasn't gone down like that.

I am with the crowd who believes the best owner is the one who hires football guys to be team President, and GMs.

Look at the Caps. Teddy is involved with marketing his team....but he lets George get it done. If Teddy is MORE involved behind the scenes. Then he's good at not showing it....and he's better at it.

Yeah, but Leonsis also lucked out in that he got the first overall pick in a year where a guy like Ovechkin was available. Also, his moneystream via AOL and Time Warner changed... although I guess you could say he had the patience to let the team become absolutely miserable so that they had the chance to rise from the ashes.

Leonsis actually has gone through quite a few coaches too in his relatively short tenure as owner.

I just remember last year, people talking about how the Skins front office finally "Got it". Without making any huge offseason moves. A lot of folks talked about needing this to happen a few offseasons in a row to show they had learned.

Well, Obviously it hasn't gone down like that.

I am with the crowd who believes the best owner is the one who hires football guys to be team President, and GMs.

Look at the Caps. Teddy is involved with marketing his team....but he lets George get it done. If Teddy is MORE involved behind the scenes. Then he's good at not showing it....and he's better at it.

The problem with that talk is it fails to understand how we do things. We don't make big free agent moves every year. We do one year, then clear the contracts through, then reload a couple years later for more. We've done this since 2000. It's not a mystery.

I don't follow hockey that much, but, I imagine the Caps, having found the top young player and maybe top player in the league benefit from that and allows Leonsis to overcome, after years of horrible and a fight with a fan, the early negatives attached to him as an owner.

As for Snyder, if by some remarkable stretch Colt Brennan is the next Tom Brady, Dan will go down as the finest owner in sports within five years of that emergence. Similar to how Kraft, who was a clueless dope, has become a model owner when Brady saved his coach and franchise.

I wish we had an owner who knows football. Someone who cares only about building a legacy the right way. Someone patient who's not driven by marketing or Ponzie schemes and free agents, big names, seeking frenzy. What kind of return did we get with all this free agents circus show ?

About Colt, I really wish he will be a Brady type QB, but it's not likely to happen if we keep him on the bench. Brady became a starter in his second year with the Pats.

You guys are right. Ovie is the best player in the world. When the holdout was coming. Ted knew to get rid of his big contracts and get his house in order for the new NHL.

But, his team also have a strong, if not THE strongest minor league system in the NHL. NFL teams don't have the luxury. That's why you need to draft linemen every year, and depth guys who can mature in your system.

There is no doubt you need LUCK.

But if you look at the 3 other major teams in DC. The GM's are always face of the front office for those teams. Ernie, George, and now Stan with the Nats. The ownership sits back and lets who they hired to do the jobs.

I don't know if the story about Mr. Snyder calling Vinny and saying to drop everything and get Cutler is true. I imagine it's somewhere in the middle of full truth, and full of ****. But I'll go back to something I said yesterday. Mr. Snyder is a marketing guru. Even with his team being the biggest in town. He should be acting like they are in 4th place. I want to see Cooley and Portis all over D.C. in ads, on the sides of buses, on TV, everywhere.

If you go to Pittsburgh, you see there guys everywhere.....and its not like they need to build their fanbase. Billboards as you go into the city have Mean Joe welcoming you to town and selling something like health insurance.

This isn't another Fire Vinny thread. But is seems the guy is just doing whatever the owner wants without holding him back. Mr. Snyder needs to look at the best front offices around the league, and hire that Assistant GM who's ready for the next step, and give him the keys while he works on the marketing side of things. It will take time to get it right. Even AZ had to spend years to change their culture. They were drafting well for a few years, then they got a good coach, and got a little lucky.

Another bash Danny thread already?

There can never be enough of them. Snyder and Cerrato are the reasons this franchise is considered a JOKE by the rest of the league. Sure, we ain't as bad as the Lions or Browns, but everyone knows what an idiot Snyder is.

Snyder has these "knee jerk" reactions at a convenient time every year: right before season ticket renewals are due. To sell more season tickets, he has to drum up interest, and the best way to do that is sign some big-name free agent.

The fans drink the Snyder Kool Aid and believe his "brilliant" personnel moves will FINALLY put this team over the top. Now that Gibbs is gone, there is no counter-weight to Snyder's oversize ego and impulsiveness.

When Snyder plays racquetball, he stomps his feet up and down like a petulant child when he loses...that should be some indication of his temperament.

At this point, anyone who is still defending Snyder is doing so due to some agenda, whatever that may be.

There is no basis in historical fact that would allow someone to defend him as an owner who is benefiting the franchise. It is quite clear that he has turned this once proud franchise into a joke in the league. And the proof is in the pudding: no trophies, losing record, no direction.

People used to say, "Wouldn't you rather have Snyder as an owner than Bidwell because Danny spends money?" Well, no. Bidwell's team went to the Super Bowl last year. Proof is in the pudding. Bidwell is a better owner. Now I see someone asking about Bowlen. The answer is yes: I'd rather Bowlen. He let's his general manager run things. Been to the conference championship 5 times, won 2 Super Bowls, won his division in the last decade. Bowlen wouldn't be my first choice, but I'd take him over Danny.

But this is all to miss the point: sure you can find a worse owner, probably. But that doesn't mean Snyder is a good owner. He isn't. He is a terrible owner and turned his franchise into an embarassment. Redskins fans should never feel embarassed of their team. We used to be one of the proudest franchises. But we've become a joke. And the constant factor and producing cause of this is one man, Snyder.

The problem with that talk is it fails to understand how we do things. We don't make big free agent moves every year. We do one year, then clear the contracts through, then reload a couple years later for more. We've done this since 2000. It's not a mystery.

Ok. So you think this has been a wise way of doing business? Whether we do it every year or too often is irrelevant. The relevant question is whether it is wise and good business to do it at all.

And surely we do so ridiculously often that the impression we do it every year has arisen. Can't blame people for having that impression. Snyder encourages it.

As for Snyder, if by some remarkable stretch Colt Brennan is the next Tom Brady, Dan will go down as the finest owner in sports within five years of that emergence.

No he won't. Because getting lucky on one player won't change the rest of the garbage he does that is toxic and embarassing.

Similar to how Kraft, who was a clueless dope, has become a model owner when Brady saved his coach and franchise.

Kraft became a model owner when he hired good football men to run his franchise and he sat back and let them make the decisions. Danny does not do that.

Yes, SMG, acquiring talented players to fill voids is a very fine way to go about doing business. It's impossible to think otherwise, because it's exactly what you must do to quickly fill areas of weakness.

It's a ludicrous proposition to say the Redskins, feeling an extreme weakness at defensive tackle, ought not sign a man many feel is the best defensive tackle in the sport. It makes you seem agenda-driven to blame Snyder for signing one of the best players in the game at his position.

Such moves may not always work out perfectly, or even all that well, but, acquiring players who've proven they are able to play in the NFL versus hoping a draft pick, most of which do not work out, works out, is a viable strategy and concept.

The Redskins also receive great benefit in Snyder as the owner because he's made D.C. a destination for players throughout the league. You conceive of this because they know he'll overpay for them. Whatever the reason, the Redskins ARE the team players in the league hope has interest in them. This has proven to be an advantage for us in acquisitions as well.

Kraft, in New England, was a few games away from firing his failed coach and personnel group before being rescued by Brady. Leonsis, who was used here as a good owner example, got into a fight with a fan and had years of ridiculousness, before landing the game's best player and starting the turn of the franchise.

With how we approach building a team it is more necessary for us than for others that our QB be among the game's best because stability there will allow for moves elsewhere. Once the team finds the answer at QB, everyone will believe we're the finest run organization in sports until that QB is hurt and we go 6-10 .

Yes, SMG, acquiring talented players to fill voids is a very fine way to go about doing business.

Conceptually, yes. Of course. It would seem intuitive that if you need X and you can go get the best X available, you do that.

However, the problem is that that history disproves that theory. Just like it might seem intuitive to try to climb out of quicksand, history tells us that it is the wrong thing to do.

One cannot ignore the consistent failure of this approach. And that is the problem with Snyder. He keeps doing it. Over and over and over despite its failure. Occasionally it might work on the margins. But as a model on how to build a team, it is a proven, unmitigated failure.

If all you can come up with is knee jerk reaction, it's because you have a false, foolish view of the team we root for. The Redskins are a .500 team who were getting worse last year. The team has holes that needed to be filled. The team has strengths as well.

Doing so provides two reasonable things.

The coaching search of a year ago was the furthest thing from knee jerk. In fact, it was a little ridiculous how long that went. While the ultimate decision to hire Jim Zorn was a surprise to everyone, it also goes to speak about the limited group of coaches out there.

I NEVER SAID THE COACHING SEARCH WAS KNEE JERK. The Skins had an opening and they filled it. HOWEVER, there were indeed knee jerk reactions INSIDE the coaching search and after the coaching search. How many owners knee jerk a defensive coodinator hiring and knee jerk an offensive coordinator hiring BEFORE they have completed the hiring of the HEAD COACH? Riddle me that one Batman?

The Redskins are an active franchise. Where we perceive we have a weakness we try to make it a strength immediately through the acquisition of a proven player like Albert Haynesworth rather than a young drafted player like Golston or Montgomery, or someone drafted earlier. It is perfectly reasonable to hope we find our next Chris Samuels in the draft rather than in free agency, thus allowing us to dip into free agency for fewer gaps.

IT WOULD ALWAYS BE REASONABLE TO FIND ANOTHER CHRIS SAMUELS BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHY YOU BRING THIS UP.

It's hard to argue with the team's insight into itself as to where it looks to improve with such moves. Meaning, the team seems to have a fairly honest assessment of itself when it goes out to find people in free agency to improve itself with. We might whiff on the player we acquire, but, he's always a player at a position we have difficulty thinking doesn't need help.

Tell me someone in recent years we acquired who was simply not needed because we were set at his spot. The only guy I think is CLOSE to that is Archuleta who Williams wanted as a hybrid type player and it failed miserably.

How about Fred Davis at TIGHT END. We had an all pro tight end and we wasted a valuable 2nd round pick on a backup rookie while trading away our another 2nd round pick on Taylor who eventuall was cut less than 9 months later.

THESE ARE NOT SOUND DECISIONS...and they result in mismanagement that leads to poor production on the field.