thebluefood

I'm inclined to agree that the foundation began to come apart when Beathard left town, just as the foundation of the "glory years" was set when he was hired in 1978. I wasn't alive during those years so it's hard for me to grasp how important he was to this team's success in the 1980s.

I appreciate the feedback on this thread. I was still a toddler when Gibbs announced his retirement and by the time I actually started watching football, we were well into the team's current "dark age." As I said in the OP, for a team to be this consistently mediocre for this long shouldn't be possible in the current NFL. This franchise hasn't had a win total over 10 since the Super Bowl season nearly 30 years ago. Every other franchise - including the Lions, Bengals, and Browns (pre-1995) - have managed to have at least one season over that mark. That shouldn't be possible and yet they've done it.

And the kind of energy Joe Gibbs invested into coaching wasn't sustainable; it's incredible he lasted as long as he did over two different tenures and didn't end up checking into St. Elizabeth's or a divorcee. I know his second term wasn't nearly as successful as his first but considering who he was working with, it's a wonder he led this team to two playoff appearances and a playoff win in four years. The only other coach to do that in the Snyder era was...Norv Turner. And the only person to win a playoff game in Washington before Norv Turner was...Joe Gibbs. Come to think of it, only five coaches (out of 30) in this franchise's nearly 90 year existence have won in the postseason. Jeez.

I did not know that but it does make sense. I have to imagine that lead to some deeper, systemic issues that lead to the franchise's state today - something that's proportional to the payroll they had when the cap was implemented. And yeah - those post-Bethard drafts were not always the best. There were a few hits like Chip Lohmiller, Mark Schlereth, Brian Mitchell but when the franchise lost Bethard, it was noticeable. I believe 2007 was Joe Gibbs' best coaching job - even better than guiding the team through the '87 strike season.

In the "America's Game" for the 1991 team, Gibbs mentions JKC getting in his face and telling him how much better Jimmy Johnson was doing down in Dallas. And the Squire wasn't wrong but as we all learned, Norv Turner and Charlie Casserly (combined) were not on the level with Jimmy Johnson. That's why the latter's gonna have a bust in Canton. The Cowboys, at least at first, adapted to the new NFL well. Maybe it's because Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson were new to the pro game while JKC and the front office in Washington were from the old guard. Furthermore, Cooke wasn't a particularly patient man - he was used to winning and at his stage of life, he probably wasn't trying to hear anyone talk about a rebuild, though that's obviously what the team needed. And maybe that's one of the reasons why Joe Gibbs ended up retiring. He was burnt out for sure but he had to know this franchise was on the decline and maybe he also knew free agency was going to hit it like truck.

1999 was the first year I really got into football and it was an exciting, albeit heartbreaking one. That's another important year of course but 1993 seems to be the year everything came to a head. I don't know why this team has had such a tough time adapting to free agency and the salary cap but they have in a unique way - like night and day. Hell, even the Browns were on their way to great things before Art Modell pulled the rug out from the franchise and the city.

What else is there to say at this point?

While it's never particularly cut and dry, this franchise (like many others) seems to have fateful years that define particular eras of its history, especially if they've been around awhile. There's obvious choices like 1932 (founding), 1937 (first year in D.C.), 1962 (integration), 1971 (George Allen's first season), and 1981 (Joe Gibbs' first season) but I believe, at least for the franchise's current era, 1993 might be the most significant. It set the foundation for this team's improbable - like, statistically improbable - streak of mediocrity and it seems to be the year everything came to a head. Along with a pretty "meh" draft the year before and the year of, Joe Gibbs gets burnt out and retires, leaving Richie Pettibone with a badly aging team, setting the stage for their worst season in 30+ years. It was also the first year of Free Agency and a significant number of players who were part of the later Gibbs years (especially Wilber Marshall and Gary Clark) while none of their free agent signings really panned out. The next year was even worse as the franchise hired Norv Turner, lost Art Monk, had one of the most infamous drafts ever, went 3-13 (in which they did the impossible and went winless at RFK Stadium), and got further wrecked with the implementation of the salary cap. But it seemed like after 1993, the team never got its barrings and has been recovering ever since. Hubris and prejudice is what (largely) created the first "dark age" of the franchise's history but it seems this one was build on an incredibly poor ability to adapt to the modern NFL.

I know I'm late to this but let the record show I was on board with there being no official nickname for years. I love the aesthetic and culture around soccer in general so, like, why not go with WFC or DCFC for the long run? Encourage fans to bring big-ass flags to games - have people singing and **** during the games. Like This is way more dope than anything you'd see at American Football games.

Is Dan Snyder, a ghoulish wretched man who never met a lawsuit he didn't like, still the owner of this franchise? Yes. Will this franchise, under his control, continue to be the epitome of mediocrity and gracelessness? Almost certainly. Am I still gonna rally hard against any effort to give Dan Snyder any land on the tax payer's dime, especially on the RFK Stadium site? You know it. Am I still gonna buy the merch with the new name and make that miserable trip to Landover at least once a year to watch them lose? ...yeah.

To this day, 20 years later - despite all the things that I've done and have happened to me, three words are still lodged in my mind and will remain there until I'm good and dead: Aikman to Rocket.

If they really wanted to make PATs harder, they would have required everyone to kick them straight-on instead of moving the spot back to the 15-yard-line.

I can't hate him - he really does seem like a good guy trying his best. Just...just hold on tight, Seattle. This might get sorta rough.

Has there ever been a detailed account of the team's history between 1993 and 1999 - between the retirement of Joe Gibbs and Dan Snyder's purchase of the franchise? It seems like it was one of those "everything that could go wrong, did go wrong" situations and set the foundation for all...this.

D.C. Flag colors - even with the three stars and two stripes (albeit as lightning bolts). Not bad at all.

You made a (not so powerful) enemy today, you heretic.

Something lost in this entire fiasco: how's the marching band holding up? Last I heard they were barely getting any chances to play on game day.

Vince McMahon's pretty high on my **** list for the way he's treated his workers over the years so I'm nearly as loathe to give him money as I am Dan Snyder. Having said that, the league created a health advisory board over the summer so hopefully, this league won't go out of its way to be as cartoonishly violent as last time (though I'll wait to see how this plays out). Would be hilarious if the Defenders find a way to overtake the 'Skins as the most popular football team in the area, though. At least that will be worth a few laughs.

D.C. hasn't been a baseball town since the FDR Administration - and that was only because the Senators were the only show in town until 1937. I know the Post's poll only covered the District but that 10-year drop off is still pretty incredible. Winning, obviously, plays a none-too-small roll but so does not actively alienating the area you represent, which the Lerner Family and Ted Leonsis have managed to do. It really isn't that hard. The 'Skins, though, couldn't seem to swing that.

NSFW but why the **** does this slap so hard?!

I'm just happy he's still finding success. After watching his "A Football Life" profile, it seemed like being the head coach here took a toll on him and his familial relationships. I think he even mentioned missing his son's football games at his exit press conference in '93. Godspeed, Joe Gibbs. May you never have to deal with this tirefire again.

Regarding the beatdown Ohio State put on the Terps: I would sarcastically ask if Maryland's happy they went to the Big 10 but considering the fat stacks they're getting from the conference's TV revenue, the answer is surely a sincere and emphatic "yes." Who knew getting your ass whooped could be so lucrative?

Breaks my heart Sonny only got one year of really good coaching with a halfway decent support staff around him (at least on defense). It's one of the reasons I can't bring myself to really embrace George Allen the way a lot of other folks do - especially the way he did him dirty during that Super Bowl, banishing him to the press box. Sonny should be flashing some hardware from his time as a starting quarterback.

As others have said, all 162 games matter in the end but you sorta have to wait awhile to see just how much they matter. In NFL, the implications are almost instantaneously known since the season's over in 17 weeks but baseball does require patience in the short and long term and it requires you to look at the big picture. Along those lines, one of the things I love most about baseball is its allowance for failure. Baseball gives you space to fail on the personal and team levels, at least to some degree. One of the greatest teams of all time, the 1998 Yankees, won 114 games in the regular season. That means they still failed to lose 48 times and I'm sure members of that team still wince when you bring it up. On a more individual level, Ted Williams is considered by many to be the greatest hitter of all time and batted .344 throughout his career. A man who had batting down to a science still failed nearly 7 out of 10 times he went to the plate and I'm sure he remembered those failures well. Ever game absolutely matters and any ball player worth their salt, even if they aren't particularly talented, goes out there wanting to bat 1.000 and wants to do all they can to contribute to a 162-0 team that sweeps through the postseason. It will never happen, mind you, but that doesn't mean they aren't straining to do it every single day.