WP: Washington Redskins: loud talk, little action, more losses than wins

[WFC]

I just want to point out a few quick things that hopefully some will contemplate. Do you think this would happen in a locker room with Peyton Manning? Now if anyone has a right to have some hard feelings towards the press its him. He is constantly talked about his lack of Super Bowl wins and playoff wins. They call him "the greatest regular season QB" of all time who just can't get it done when it matters. You don't think that eats him up inside? You don't think he wants to lash out at the media? But he always stays professional and he is always on a winning team because of his focus. If you think this stuff would be tolerated in his locker room you are mistaken. Players interviewed about him say he is all buisness and expects the same from every player on the team. By the way everyone would love to play with him.

Aaron Rodgers is known to be a huge prankster and is famous for photobombing teammates. You think this would happen in the Packer locker room? It wouldn't. I only bring this up because I want this team to be winners like that. The only way to do that is to identify some issues and fix them so we can be consistent winners. If they want to have fun in the locker room and goof around I'm all for it, it bonds a team together. But there is a time and place. Just my 2 cents.

Oh and before anyone jumps on the RG3 bashing, my post has nothing to do with him in a negative form or fashion. This is simply how a feel about our team as a whole. I'm tired of the loosing seasons, I love my Redskins, and think we need to see what we are doing diffrent from the winning teams so we can use their formula.

[DogofWar1]

In regards to the media I can't exactly blame the players for being hostile (media says Snyder started it, but the players their hostility rubs off on haven't been here that long), but I'd like them to keep things from becoming stories.

 

Media should probably be backed out of the locker room, but that's on the coach, GM, and owner.

 

 

That being said, I do think we need to be more aggressive against negative media personalities who attack without any real substance.

 

Sally Jenkins, for example, ran that hit job on Griffin, quoting DJax but initially attributing it to Gruden.  Even as a mistake (which a truly competent journalist shouldn't make), she deserves to be punished.  I would place a one year ban on her from any and all Redskins events.  Cut her off, and make it very clear WHY she's gone.

 

Same thing for Britt what'sherface from ESPN.  She ran a story that was essentially false in all respects, and she can't even hide behind a "I thought quote X was guy Y's" like Jenkins can.  I'd personally toss a lifetime ban her way, but a year one is fine too.

 

Let the media know and understand that they will be held accountable for their shoddy reporting.  If they have an opinion, that's fine, so long as it's labeled as such. And they're allowed to say the team sucks as much as they please provided that's what's happening.

 

But to make up stories, and mislead, that's unacceptable.

[SoulSkin]

Here's a pretty good recap of what happened from Brian McNally's perspective.

 

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/11/03/another-pr-debacle-involving-rgiii-and-the-washington-redskins/

 

The bottom line is this kind of stuff is fodder for an already aggressive media. This team needs to be run like a buttoned up, well-oiled machine. There is too much of a perception of dysfunction. There is such a thing as professional courtesy and acting appropriately in the environment around you. Play the games you have to play and be the real pros. There are too many big issues, on too many fronts for this team to not get little things right. 

 

Look at Tony Wyllie's job description.

 

Serves as senior advisor to the principal owner on all issues related to public perception of the franchise. He is responsible for shaping the team image through all public contacts and publicity generation. He serves as the liaison between the local and national media and the Skins’ ownership, front office, coaches and players. Oversees the coordination of all interviews for the club and serves as the team spokesman.

 

Most agree that he's not doing a very good job with PR. But why? He had a really good history before coming here.

 

Wyllie and his staff have earned the Pete Rozelle award, which is presented annually by Pro Football Writers of America to the best NFL public relations staff, a record five times. The Rams’ PR department won the award in 1997, the Titans in 2000, and the Texans in 2004, 2007 and 2010. He is the only executive in the NFL to win it with three different teams.

 

Apparently, Wyllie tried to keep the incident under wraps, and wanted to handle the matter in house, but Britt McHenry ran with the poorly interpreted story. I agree that guys were probably being obnoxious and got carried away. Losing and being under a microscope puts everyone in a foul mood. Seems like the players are pissed at the media, in general, and Wyllie for opening up the locker room to them more. I imagine there was probably a lot of discussion about acting appropriately around the media after the incident. I hope Gruden led it. He seems like a good guy and can't be blamed for any organizational deficiencies yet. The players don't need to give reporters extra fuel to pile on this team. Circle the wagons, act like pros, and suck it up.

[Rufus T Firefly]

While the Redskins do have their issues both on the field and internally, I think this is being way overblown by Reid. Look around the league and you'll see dysfunction is commonplace. 

 

Seahawks - QB "not black enough", Marshawn Lynch is a locker room cancer, Percy Harvin traded

 

Eagles - KKK member on staff, Jeff Lurie and Kelly fabricating a gang story

 

Cowboys - Jerruh Jones

 

49ers - Jim Harbaugh treating players like toddlers, 49ers brass "sick" of Harbaugh's antics, police officers moonlighting for players

 

Bengals - How many arrests have the Bengals had since 2010?

 

Patriots - They get blown out by the Chiefs on MNF and BSPN is all over it stating that Brady wants out of NE

 

Ravens - Owner, coach, and GM try to cover up a gruesome video of Ray Rice beating his fiance

 

Texans - Apparently Clowney was tweeting during the game on Sunday while he was on the sideline. Plus the Texans players say they play on the worst playing surface in the NFL, which is odd because FedEx is worse IMO

.  

Some of those are just silly, but I wouldn't waste my time going case by case. The bigger issue is that none of those examples point to a team full of unprofessional players with a lack of leadership. There's nothing that's a comparison for 1/3 of a roster openly disrespecting their QB because of a problem with the PR guy.

 

Nor do they seem as worrisome as a team that can lose 10 of 11 games and yet still need a "wake up call".

[Destino]

That being said, I do think we need to be more aggressive against negative media personalities who attack without any real substance.

So, in your opinion, the best and most effective way of handling the media is banning them for variable lengths of time every time they "attack" without what the team considers real substance? Can we call it the Wile E Coyote media strategy?

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Some of those are just silly, but I wouldn't waste my time going case by case. The bigger issue is that none of those examples point to a team full of unprofessional players with a lack of leadership.

 

Seriously?...Did you not see the Cowboys and Jerruh on that list? lol...Randle and Bryant damn near came to blows on the practice field last week, Jerruh is suspected of being the one who said to put an injured Romo back in the game against the Skins--how many owners or GMs have you ever seen go down to the field in the middle of a game to insert themselves in that type of decision...they give an extension to a player who killed a team mate while driving drunk...

 

But they went on a 6-game winning streak so, hey, must mean those guys must have leadership and professionalism out the wazoo.

 

 

At any rate, if I had to pick a "dysfunction" to deal with for the Redskins, I would pick "Unprofessional players/lack of leadership" 10 times out of 10 over "Wife beater caught on video/team officials cover it up", "Owner tries to trade head coach behind his back/player "jokes" about having bomb at airport", "Owner under FBI investigation/overrides GM and coach in draft room", etc, etc...

 

Wins come to dysfunctional teams all the damn time. That's because there is hardly a franchise in the entire league that isn't dysfunctional. The leadership needs to come from the head coach first and foremost. Gruden may not have it, or he may be growing into that type of leader, who knows right now. But there have been teams with a "winning culture" due to the head coach regardless of how idiotic the owner was (see Rams under Vermeil and Georgia Frontiere just for starters). Does there need to be leaders among the players as well? Absolutely. But the idea that there can not be a "culture of winning" unless the team owner is strong, decisive and principled is ridiculous.

 

And for the record, the D.C. sports media definitely needs to be called out, and I'm glad guys like Clark are doing so. Does anyone here recall any stories about Clark calling out media members while in Pittsburgh? But he comes here and inside of like 6 months he's already doing just that? Did Clark have a personality transplant during the flight to Washington? Did the Steelers and their "culture of winning" make Clark keep quiet even though he was chomping at the bit to call out the stupidity of sports journalists his entire time there? Did signing with the Redskins transform him into some sort of immature diva after over a decade of apparentlly being a completely stand-up player and person?

 

Or did some of the media in D.C. have anything whatsoever to do with Clark's irritation and outlet of his feelings?

 

Naaaah...the Redskins are 3-6 so it can't be that. That means the sports media has done nothing whatsoever to be chastized over, and that the Redskins and their players deserve whatever is written about them, true or not.

[GoSkins0721]

It's really interesting how effective this "media hates us, so don't believe anything they say" political strategy is. I guess it makes sense that a Washington political strategy would be adopted by the local football team.

So Ben was guilty? You know this?

 

No, I don't know this that's why I used the word "allegedly".  What is known is what he did was enough to be handed a 6-game suspension, reduced to 4 games, by Commissioner Gordon. He also paid off the "alleged" victim for an undisclosed amount of money. 

[dballer]

"Yes, it was not a rowdy locker room and there were some jokes about keeping the noise down (including one from Gruden). Some of these issues have been going on for a little while."

From Keim http://es.pn/1x9fu3O

Take that how you will but it tells me a couple of things.

Gruden doesn't think it's as serious as many on here. But he has obviously addressed it and the players listen. Probably something like "I know it's stupid but this is what we have to do".

Gruden is obviously aware of his surroundings, which is a good thing. I think he'd much rather stick to football but he can navigate the media as well.

I get the feeling he's a players coach but is no nonsense at the same time. I really hope he gets a fair chance here.

[Jandre002]

Honestly asking, does Jason Reid write anything other than RG3/ Redskins bash pieces?

Does he ever like, I dunno, analyze the games and break down film?
 

[fearlessNelms]

After we beat Dallas last week, there was a thread asking if people on here "Believe in the program" and surprisingly a lot of people said yes.  I said in a post that if we didn't win on Monday night, that would've never been a thread in the first place and winning makes everybody feel good.

 

The media's job is to write what interests people and in this day and age, negativity and misery is interesting reading to most. When you're losing, the media is going to pile on, especially if you don't kiss their asses. Our owner obviously doesn't kiss up to the media, so as long as we're losing, we're going to get hammered. Hell, even if we were winning, there would still be a certain amount of hate from the media. You don't think there are many a media heads both in Boston and nationally that are chomping at the bit to rip that stick in the mud Belichick? The problem is that they can't because he wins and his team is always in contention. An indicator of what awaits them when/if they finally fall from grace was when they lost a few games earlier this season and the media had Brady on the trading block and Jimmy Garafolo ready to take over any week. We all seen how New England has reacted to that garbage...they appear to be an unstoppable juggernaut.

 

It's all BS and everyone needs to stop with the media this and the media that. Our team needs to go out and play football, win some games and the negativity from the media-- for the most part-- will magically disappear.

 

WINNING= UNIVERSAL SOLVENT!

[elkabong82]

They really going to bring up Peyton and Brady? Nice passive aggressive way to say rg3 isn't a leader and keep pushing the agenda. Compost taking a non story and making it a story. Yawn. Guess we forgot Hernandez played with Brady and Manning's issues with vanderjagt. But hey completely fair comparison of proven vets and future hofers to a 3rd year player. Our locker room is young and they need to mature. Oh wow. Stop the presses. Amazing story here that has to be reported because no other team deals with it. There is a point to be made about maturity but its ruined because of the BS agenda driving. Hard to take it serious when the writer is a clown. For all we know it is as fabricated as the story they used for the jumping off point. Such gems like this I can't believe people want to boycott the compost.

[AlldaySkins]

Almost everyone in the media grasp for straws and this is exactly what they are doing right now. Like somebody else said if we were 6-3 this would be a non-issue and we never would've heard about it. Was it immature? Yes. Is it really a big deal in the scheme of things? No.

[Mad Mike]

Hard to find fault in that article. I keep waiting for someone on THIS team to stand up and say that the consent loosing is unacceptable.

[MartinC]

Does he ever like, I dunno, analyze the games and break down film?

 

Most of the media are no more able or qualified to break down film and give intelligent insight on what happens on the film than you and me. Even if they did thats not what drives clicks - TMZ style "he said she said" and sensationalism does that.

[Rufus T Firefly]

 

Seriously?...Did you not see the Cowboys and Jerruh on that list? lol...Randle and Bryant damn near came to blows on the practice field last week, Jerruh is suspected of being the one who said to put an injured romoSUCKS back in the game against the Skins--how many owners or GMs have you ever seen go down to the field in the middle of a game to insert themselves in that type of decision...they give an extension to a player who killed a team mate while driving drunk...

No, none of that has anything to do with whether the majority of the team is acting professionally or the locker room has leaders the players listen to.

 

Even if it did, I'm not sure why you would consider comparing us to chronic underachievers like the Cowboys to be a positive thing.

[dballer]

No, none of that has anything to do with whether the majority of the team is acting professionally or the locker room has leaders the players listen to.

 

Even if it did, I'm not sure why you would consider comparing us to chronic underachievers like the Cowboys to be a positive thing.

 

Well their profession is football player so when you say the majority are not acting professionally, I would agree. A lot of them don't act like football players on Sundays. 

[Boss_Hogg]

Some of those are just silly, but I wouldn't waste my time going case by case. The bigger issue is that none of those examples point to a team full of unprofessional players with a lack of leadership. There's nothing that's a comparison for 1/3 of a roster openly disrespecting their QB because of a problem with the PR guy.

 

Nor do they seem as worrisome as a team that can lose 10 of 11 games and yet still need a "wake up call".

 

But they still count as a form of "dysfunction" in their respected organizations, there's no denying that. The Redskins do a very poor job of dealing with dysfunction...and by "job" I mean winning games. 

[AlldaySkins]

Hard to find fault in that article. I keep waiting for someone on THIS team to stand up and say that the consent loosing is unacceptable.

 

I keep waiting for somebody to stand up and say that the constant misspelling of losing is unacceptable. Do you really think any of these guys are okay with losing? We are with a rookie coach and coming off a 3-13 season with our star QB being hurt most of the year. Also for whatever reason, Bruce Allen decided to keep Jim Has been as our D. Coordinator so we all should've expected this crap of a defense. Expectations for this season were way too high because of what happened in 2012.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

No, none of that has anything to do with whether the majority of the team is acting professionally or the locker room has leaders the players listen to.

 

Even if it did, I'm not sure why you would consider comparing us to chronic underachievers like the Cowboys to be a positive thing.

 

Sorry, I forgot that threatening to beat the living daylights out of your team mate falls under the "Professional Etiquette" section of the players handbook. I also forgot that the first thing they teach you at the "How To Behave Like A Professional Owner In The NFL" seminar is to make sure you are on the sidelines during an important divisional game checking on injured players and talking directly to the coach, who obviously has little else to do at that moment.

 

And in what ridiculous fashion did you reach the conclusion that I mentioned the dysfunction of the Cowboys as being a "positive thing" for the Redskins? Quick hint: I mentioned the Cowboys because you claimed that none of the teams on that list had dysfunction that was due to unprofessionalism and lack of leadership. Nobody in their right minds would claim neither of those two things have--and continue to-affect the Cowboys and their owner.

 

 

 

I keep waiting for somebody to stand up and say that the constant misspelling of losing is unacceptable. Do you really think any of these guys are okay with losing? We are with a rookie coach and coming off a 3-13 season with our star QB being hurt most of the year. Also for whatever reason, Bruce Allen decided to keep Jim Has been as our D. Coordinator so we all should've expected this crap of a defense. Expectations for this season were way too high because of what happened in 2012.

 

Actually, expectations around here were, for the most part, centered around a 6-8 win season.

 

However, it's damn easy to claim those are your expectations before the season starts...it's much, MUCH harder when the team plays like a team that may only win 6 or 7 games, though lol.

 

Maybe a lot of fans here on this board expected the Redskins to play so well that they could win each game but, for reasons unexplained, keep losing? That's the only way I can explain how anyone who thought 7 wins would be "realistic" still wants everyone fired or cut when the team actually plays like a 7 win team lol ...

[ExoDus84]

Most sports media these days are nothing but ****-slinging, self-serving sensationalist vultures. The WP is just another turd that won't flush it's way out of public consciousness.

[DogofWar1]

So, in your opinion, the best and most effective way of handling the media is banning them for variable lengths of time every time they "attack" without what the team considers real substance? Can we call it the Wile E Coyote media strategy?

 

Considering all many of them do is twist neutral or even good things when more media coverage is allowed, giving them less doesn't really hurt us, at worst we get the status quo of them warping things.  Especially if we're only kicking out the people who were already warping things.

 

Many of these people are paid to come to Redskins park and FedEx and do interviews and get quotes, but some love to do some extra credit and work in a hit piece.  If their respective news agency suddenly has to re-assign them to desk duty because they compromised their journalistic integrity for a cheap shot, maybe their bosses will be more careful about the journalistic chops of the people they send into the field in the future.

 

Cutting off the people who have a history of hit pieces is hardly a scorched Earth strategy.

[dballer]

Cooley said this had been going on all year with a bunch of different players. A running joke the guys have been playing on the media.

 

So while embarrassing, not egregious. And not directed at RG3 because they don't like him. If anything just treating him like one of the guys. And if you dont think some of it is because of the way the media treated this team last year...well id be surprised if that wasn't a factor. .

[elkabong82]

Hard to find fault in that article. I keep waiting for someone on THIS team to stand up and say that the consent loosing is unacceptable.

 

Jay Gruden, RG3, Ryan Clark, and any player talking about losses in an interview

 

Is there anyone in the NFL that thinks constant losing actually IS acceptable?

Cooley said this had been going on all year with a bunch of different players. A running joke the guys have been playing on the media.

 

So while embarrassing, not egregious. And not directed at RG3 because they don't like him. If anything just treating him like one of the guys. And if you dont think some of it is because of the way the media treated this team last year...well id be surprised if that wasn't a factor. .

 

The team is losing, so some fans don't care about the accuracy of witch hunting so long as it's done so they can vent in any and all directions

[Mark The Homer]

...

**** these guys. **** the Washington Post and **** these small time reporters trying to make a name at the expense of this team.

Edit-

By the way. Not clicking the article and supporting this bull**** and neither should anyone else.

Again, **** these guys.

 

I subscribe to the paper, and it ain't cheap these days, but I mostly do it because my wife likes the print version.

 

It's true the WP has had it in for the team for quite some time.  It goes back at least a decade, probably more, when Snyder terminated the season ticket accounts of quite a few seats in the LL sidelines owned by the Washington Post.  No sure if you all remember, but this was because somebody was selling a "block" (six I think) seats for a particular game and the price was hiked a bit.  The team terminated the accounts.  And I think took quite a few more, under the guise that sellers were not permitted to sell above face. 

 

The underlying actual reason, of course, was because the team needed nicely positioned seats on the sidelines in the LL that they could sell them as Touchdown Club seats and earn super high dollar.  It's clear this was the real reason. 

 

Shazaam.  No more free Sunday morning newspapers on game day.  And from that point, the Post has had it in for the team and Snyder. 

 

Maybe the owner could have been a little more diplomatic.  Do you really want to piss off one of the greatest newspapers in the world?  The one that is in the city that represents your team?  Maybe not. 

 

A lot of the columnists I won't read.  UnWise Mike is at the head of the list.  I will read Sally, Jenkins, mostly because she's a great writer, although I often don't agree with what she says. 

 

A couple other jackasses that come to mind are Courtland Milloy and Robert McCartney.  I avoid them.  They aren't even sports writers and yet they both jab and poke at the team at every opportunity. 

 

So, imagine my surprise when the paper arrived a couple weeks ago, and, front page center, in full color, and in print, on page A1 no less, was a huge article about Red Mesa High School, showing the home team, the Redskins.  It stated that those Native Americans not only don't have a problem with the word, they embrace the word.  And this flies in the face of anything and everything that's been said in the Post going back since the pre Snyder days. 

 

Then it occurred to me.  The Post has new ownership.  So maybe they're trying to report without bias now. 

 

Anyway, it was a very refreshing article - not just the content, but the placement of it at the top center of Page One.*

 

*the article covering the Native American protesters at the Minnesota game Monday morning was on page three

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-arizona-a-navajo-high-school-emerges-as-a-defender-of-the-washington-redskins/2014/10/26/dcfc773a-592b-11e4-8264-deed989ae9a2_story.html

 

Sorry if I went a little off topic...

[Stadium-Armory]

The Washington Post has a lot to do with why I am a sports fan. Opening up the sports page as a 10 year old and reading about Ewing, Ripken, Riggins, Theismann, Art Monk, and even more Ewing set the hook. I love that paper and have read the sports page every day since. Did they write critical articles of the team's performance, its coaches and its previous owner. Of course they did. But I can tell you for certain that they NEVER "had it out" for the Redskins until this current regime and more specifically since the seat debackle Mark's referring to. To anyone who thinks they just have it out for the team for some unwarranted reason, you should consider for a second that we've brought some of it on our selves. Are some of their writers complete ass hats? Yes of course. But we (the team) bears much of responsibility for the feud because we are a complete hot mess to deal with.