Going all in with gossip and innuendo: ridiculous theories

[zoony]

I am curious if anyone has any theories floating around that they've thought about that explain this mess, but then thought better of.  Here's mine.

 

After RGII's well documented appearance in the locker room a few weeks back to check on his son's health, he had a talk with Snyder about his son taking a pounding, at which point Snyder sits down with Shanahan and lets him know about the collective concern around Robert's health.

 

Shanahan, completely pissed about this sequence of events, leaks the story to Graziano about Snyder's over involvement with Griffin last year and comes out with "I may bench Robert" in the next day's news conference.  To protect his health of course, what RGII and Snyder said they wanted.  "Your move, Mr. Owner."

 

 

Do I believe it?  No.  Do I have any evidence?  No.  Does it fit perfectly?  gee it kinda does.

 

 

[Tyron Biggums]

I am all out of theories. I think the media has just about covered every possible scenario. Tomorrow's SI headline: After RGII's well documented appearance in the locker room a few weeks back to check on his son's health, he had a talk with Snyder about his son taking a pounding, at which point Snyder sits down with Shanahan and lets him know about the collective concern around Robert's health.

 

HTTR

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Shanahan, Snr and Jnr, fail as Coaches. The staff they've assembled fail as coaches. They need to shift blame away from that failure. So they turn to the easiest scapegoat available who plausibly can be seen as not carrying out what he's asked/ not learning/ knowing the plays/ not working with the HC/OC et all. 

 

Sunday's disgrace and the subsequent presser yesterday is ALL about Shanahan wanting to protect his $ 7 million and get fired to get the Hell out of here early. He's desperately trying every trick he can think of to try force lil' Danny's hand. 

 

Simples. 

 

Not a theory so much as what I believe to be the case. 

 

Hail. 

[hail2skins]

If the report that Shanahan (whoops, I meant Graziano) put out there on Sunday is accurate, I think the issues stem far before RG2 showing up in the locker room.  I'm not going to defend Shanahan....even with the cap hit, he has been a huge disappointment.....but I still believe that working with Snyder really has to wear on people.

 

I mean, Steve Spurrier walked away from $15 million.  Granted, he was lazy, but I think that tells you all you need to know.

 

In fact, I really think Snyder is the Steve Spurrier of NFL owners.

 

But what may have recently pushed this one over the edge is the extension situation. Perhaps Dan told Mike that he wasn't going to get one, and both would have to roll the dice on the fifth year.

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

I don't believe that any of these media stories is Shanny trying to force Snyder's hand.  The record and performance on the field has forced Snyder's hand already.  Shanny is toast.

 

I know the man in the luxury box doesn't like to spend money for guys to sit at home, but what are his other alternatives?  To me, the only logical alternative (as far as saving money) is to let Shanny finish out his five years.  And unless something weird happens, I certainly don't think that will happen.

 

Snyder is gonna eat this money one way or another.  

 

And I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I thought there was a great deal of truth in the reasons he laid out to why he might shut Griff down and let Cousins play the last three games.

[DJD2]

Wouldn't surprise me if this had a part in it as well. As I have said in another thread, I think there are many layers to this.

 

I don't believe it's as black & white as people are making it out to be.

 

And I don't believe Shanahan and Snyder are engaged in some super mental chess match through the media as some are buying hook line and sinker. Say what you want about Bruce Allen but I don't think he stands on the sidelines and lets that happen.

 

I do think though that Shanahan's main goal in whatever you want to call all of this going on is not to save his ass, but to make sure Kyle comes out with his reputation intact as much as possible. 

[Riggo-toni]

Zoony, that does fit...so why don't you believe it?

Here's mine. I think Hazlett can read the entrails and realize Snyder will do any and every thing to see to it that Shanny fires him. He knows there's an opening in TX and if Shanny gets that he will bring Hazlett with him. Sooo..he leaks stories to the media about what an idiot Shanny thinks Snydorama is in order to create a wedge and make the coach's firing inevitable.

[Epochalypse]

Since we're throwing out theories...

The team wins the division last year and heads to the playoffs.  RGIII starts the playoff game well but reinjures his leg.  Being the warrior that he is and being up 2 TDs, he decides to play it off and fight through.  The Seahawks come back and now he feels responsible and wants to get us back on top.  He fails and the team loses.  Shanahan takes heat because he's been lied to by his QB about his injury.  RGIII being young and immature (and with his father in his ear) may even start to resent Shanahan for not saving RGIII from RGIII.  The head coach and QB relationship begins to fray a bit.

RGIII spends the offseason rehabbing intent on getting back to the field as soon as possible.  After all, AP did it just the year earlier.  He pushes himself all offseason and gets ready to play.  With the support of the media who loves them some RGIII, it becomes a media event.  At the same time Kirk Cousins and the rest of the team look really good during the preseason but all they get asked about and hear about is RGIII.  The team begins to feel underappreciated and resentful towards RGIII.  RGIII feels a bit concerned since he remembers all the clamoring that they should have put Kirk in the playoff game much sooner, with a tinge of guilt and/or resentment towards Shanahan depending on how he may have rationalized the end of last season.  RGIII pushes to get into the preseason but is denied.  Shanahan who took heat because of RGIII's lying gets annoyed that RGIII is going to the media with this.  This further frays the HC-QB relationship.  RGIII spends the preseason handled by kids' gloves since Shanahan is protecting the long term investment he made and has to do so partly because of the position RGIII put him in.

Season starts and RGIII's persistent pushing to play (and Kirk's foot injury) gets him in the game week 1.  However, with no preseason the rush is coming much quicker.  Teams aren't respecting the read option since RGIII is nowhere near as explosive to make them pay for it.  RGIII starts to get a bit gun shy as he is asked to progress as a pocket passer against defenses that have spent the offseason devising ways of stopping him.  The team begins to crumble as RGIII is no longer good enough to carry them, the salary cap of the past two years has crippled their depth (which significantly affects special teams), the defense, already short on talent and experiencing a significant decline from its leader Fletcher, is not built to carry the offense as it struggles, the inability of the coaching staff to bridge the gap between what they did on offense last year and what their still recovering QB is capable of doing without the offseason of preparation can do this year, etc., etc.  With the losing comes a lot of the underlying relationship issues that may have remained hidden had everything been going well.  Shanahan and RGIII butt heads with Shanahan concerned about RGIII's development and RGIII worried more about winning while subconsciously not as confident in his reconstructed knee.  With the team losing, the team becomes ripe for little stories, especially with the Redskins name already being a rallying point for the media looking to kicking the team while they're down.  The media no longer really even needs actual evidence, they can throw out conspiracy theories and conjectures ad nauseum with little to no grounding in fact because the avalanche has already started.  Now the team has to deal with constant questions about outside stories and mistrust and anger begin to develop.  It's bad enough the season is not going well when expectations were high, but now they look around the locker room and wonder if any of these stories are actually coming from inside the organization or not.

Which brings us to 3-10.

 

Just a theory.

[Phat Hog]

Shanahan, Snr and Jnr, fail as Coaches. The staff they've assembled fail as coaches. They need to shift blame away from that failure. So they turn to the easiest scapegoat available who plausibly can be seen as not carrying out what he's asked/ not learning/ knowing the plays/ not working with the HC/OC et all. 

 

Sunday's disgrace and the subsequent presser yesterday is ALL about Shanahan wanting to protect his $ 7 million and get fired to get the Hell out of here early. He's desperately trying every trick he can think of to try force lil' Danny's hand. 

 

Simples. 

 

Not a theory so much as what I believe to be the case. 

 

Hail. 

Could not agree more!

[bobbi3stix]

Here's my theory, because I have no facts to conclude otherwise.

 

Losing sucks, the ridiculous expectations set us up for complete disappointment.

 

The media, fans, etc., want (need for some) a scapegoat.

 

And what's going to happen, is no one is fired (other than the ST's coach). We're going to have a real offseason to finally get healthy (Carriker, RGIII) and come back with a few free agents and a couple of better depth players.

 

 

edit: Because I firmly believe we missed Carriker more than we missed Rak, he's a huge help on our D-Line. And I think he has been overlooked, his presence (and competence) is a domino effect for our LB's & DB's.

[Riggo-toni]

Vinny Cerrato has been the unnamed source behind ALL the leaks from both sides, hoping to get Shanny fired so he can get his old job back.

[rick7423]

Since we're throwing out theories...

The team wins the division last year and heads to the playoffs.  RGIII starts the playoff game well but reinjures his leg.  Being the warrior that he is and being up 2 TDs, he decides to play it off and fight through.  ..

Which brings us to 3-10.

 

Just a theory.

Wow, that was almost 1 long sentence! Hard to read but 100% on point.

 

I fully believe that these problems are based on 3 very egotistical men: Shanny, RGIII and Dan (to a much lesser extent).

 

RGIII is the main culprit though, especially with how he is now blaming Shanny for the Seattle debacle. Maybe Shanny should have been in the recovery room when he woke up?

[Mr. Sinister]

Aliens... It's all Aliens.

[21 always]

Snyder sucks , shanny sucks and we suffer.... Mara leaked it all ... That's my theory... It's all Mara

[chipwhich]

All of the "leaks" started with RG3 and the playoff game.  (Well the leaks started before that but I won't digress on that at this point).

 

My opinion is Shanny got tired of being besmirched by the "leaks" so he started leaking things himself.

Then came the leak battle.

The relationship between Shanny and RG3 was forever ruined....because of the leak war.

[Big Weirdo]

It was me ZOONY! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG!

[martytheman]

Here's my theory:

 

Snyder REALLY pissed off alot of owners and the stupid assed commish, so therefore the league is out to screw snyder in any way, shape or form.

We see it quite often on the field with all the lopsided calls (not all calls are bad, but some are just retarded)

2!! refs involved in verbal altercations with skins players in 2 seasons (has this happened to the same team before??)

 

in short, they will do everything they can to kneecap snyder, and that included letting him kneecap himself (which he's good at)

[Rodriggo]

Shanahan has been a disaster from the start, no gossip or innuendo just plain ******* fact.

 

And those that saw it have had to eat a whole bunch of **** from Shanahan supporters who won't get down from their high horses even when it's painfully obvious now you need to put in another quarter to make it go.

 

We know Snyder sucks. We saw Robert struggle. Nobody, not even myself thought Shanahan was this ******* pathetic of coach and a man.

 

New coach will have this humming in no time.

[skins island connection]

Ridiculous theories; right up my alley!

 

Actually, it makes sense, metaphorically speaking.  Too many spices ruin the meal. Too many egos; Mike and his hard-ass ways, Griffin and his 'its all about me' ego, Snyder and his 'i'm having a mid-life crisis so i'm gonna party like a rock star with football stars', and Allen just sits in the corner playing with his yo-yo.

 

Most all of these problems disappear if Griffin had played better, but it didn't work out that way. Now its the blame game as to why he was out there to begin with; some saying he needs the reps, even while he's being driven into the dirt and kicked in the balls, and every side is pointing fingers at the other; meanwhile, the other players on the field have given up and treat games like practices, and getting paid good money to 'take it easy'.

 

Only thing that could get worse is Snyder gives up, sells the team, and the buyer happens to be an apologist who caves to the minority and changes the Redskins name, and that will be my divorce of the team.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

SIC

[Destino]

I can see two scenarios that make sense and are entirely built on gossip and wild guesses. 

 

1 - Shanahan wants the Houston job.  He thought he could turn this team around quickly but has now come to realize that the losing culture comes from above his head and he's not convinced that he can change it at all, let alone in one more season.  He's going to do everything he can to stick it to his boss for three reasons.  The first is that he blames him for the torpedoing his tenure here in DC.  Mike is a sore loser and he isn't willing to claim he's simply emotionally drained or missing the college game so he's going to drag Snyder's name through the mud.  The second is that he wants to be fired so that his guaranteed 7 million is still waiting for him should he fail to get the Houston job.  This is a business and Mike is all about the business of making Mike a lot of money.  The third is that he wants to make sure all of this ugliness is pinned on RG3 and Dan Snyder because if it's all on him, Houston isn't going to be interested.

 

2 - Shanahan is going to show RG-Me who wears the top hat in this particular circus.  He's sick to death of having to take frantic calls from the fanboy owner fretting about the well being of the QB or dealing with a grown man's father approaching him like he was coaching 12 year olds.  Mostly he's a thin skinned egomaniac and all that second guessing bull**** RG3 pulled in the offseason has not been forgotten, neither has his blaming the play calling.  If they want to get in his face so much about the health of RG3 then he'll turn this game around and make them wish they'd never opened their mouths about it.  He'll bench him for the final three games and let him heal and be safe as a puppy in a blanket on the sidelines.  Let's see them complain about his putting his QB at risk after that!  

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Aliens... It's all Aliens.

 

At least there is one person on board with you.

 

[Rodriggo]

Why do people continue to treat Shanahan like a sane, rational professional? Why do people continue to put stock and hypothesize about his disillusionment as if he were at the same level of significance as Snyder or Griffin?

 

He's not right upstairs people and if he was he's no more than a quitter, turncoat piece of dog ****. The worst ******* coach this team has ever had b/c he's no better than the absolute dregs we've endured yet he's supposed to have this unbelievable ******* pedigree and grand vision soup to nuts about how a franchise is supposed to be run and built....at least that's what I've seen on here for going on four years....even as he squats, spreads and plants one right in your faces.

[Alaskins]

I haven't worked out the pieces leading up to the Press conference yesterday, but:

 

Dan at somepoint told Shanahan that RG3 is "his guy" and has to start.  Mike has a "100% in charge of football decisions" clause in his contract.  Mike decides to shut RG3 down so that Snyder will fire him, and he can pocket the cash.

 

-Or-

 

Dan told Mike that he is going to re-up him for two additional years.  Mike shuts RG3 down to protect him for next year.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I keep coming back to Kyle somehow the catalyst of this, because this madness seems very out of character for Shanahan.

 

So...stupid theory:

 

Mike and Dan had a handshake agreement when he was hired: I will give you 5 years. I retire and you give Kyle a long-term contract as head coach. At some point, this year, RGIII tells Danny "I can't stand Kyle." Word gets back to Mike that RGIII has cut Kyle off at the knees with the owner and that all their plans are now dead. So, he's orchestrating their escape/revenge.

 

Mike has more money than he can spend in ten lifetimes and probably had no plans to coach beyond next year anyway. Kyle will find another OC gig, because it's the NFL and he's part of the family. (I honestly don't think that anything that happens under Snyder's employ ever truly hurts anyone anywhere in the league).

[NickyJ]

Shanahan is really a plant by the lizardmen. He's going to rape and pillage the world, so hide yo wives and hide yo children cuz ain't nobody got time fo that.

 

Fortunately, in the year 2061, a hero by the name of Swiss Army Niles will rise up and throw off the yoke of tyranny imposed by Shanahan and lead us to the promised land of unicorns and numberless cousins.