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Grantland: Snyder Stays Silent: Why Washington’s Quiet Offseason Provides a Welcome Change in D.C.


MattFancy

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The timing of this article would have been more relevant in the off seasons of 2011-12. Spring time in Ashburn was quiet in the early Shanallen admin. That was a change of pace for the first time in many years. Bringing up a Haynesworth reference today seems a little dated. Aside from RG3, we haven't had a blockbuster March since 2009. JMO

Quiet? You mean aside from being "all in" on our huge interdivisional QB trade?

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I think we could do a lot worse than Dan.

 

He has deep pockets, loves the team, and seems to have learned not to meddle.

 

And never quite reached that top tier of terrible, along the likes of Al Davis, Jerruh etc.

 

I am interested to know if the recent blurb about Dan wanting RG3 named as our starter, is accurate. Me personally, I don't mind giving RG3 this year to prove himself, once and for all. Particularly in light of what we gave up for him, and also because the other QBs on the roster clearly were unable to unseat him. If Scot agreed with Dan, which early comments from Scot about not giving up on RG3 so easily suggest, we can call it Dan the decider to stroke the ego but there is a new sheriff in town, so I don't think we should be concerned.

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Here's at least my difference between Gruden and Scot.

 

First, a HC is usually judged by the season. A GM is judged by free agency and the draft.

 

Both guys had people saying "give them some time and let's see what can happen" when they were first grabbed.

 

However, a true test of how peoples perceptions may change, in my eyes, can't be had until after free agency period.

 

....... <EDIT>

 

Telling people to be patient on a 4 hour trip, and then it seems you're driving in the completely opposite direction, is generally going to make some people suddenly have a little less faith in giving you that patience.

 

Your analogy doesn't fit, here, really, since it assumes the passengers in the car know exactly what direction the driver should be going. It also assumes a road with no detours, collapsed bridges, and historical natural disasters, lol. 

 

So it's too bad that wasn't the logic they were necessarily applying. You know, since it should be near impossible to be so arrogant as to assume you know exactly what "direction" things should've gone. 

 

The fact is, the "patience" asked for and the reasoning behind it never changed. Gruden WAS a rookie HC and he DID inherit a disaster. The only thing that changed their attitude was clearly his actions toward one player. The same posters were making excuses for Gruden and preaching patience for him up until the point it became clear he had an issue with him. 

 

So, I'm sorry, you may have been applying this wonderful rationale as you perfectly judged all of Gruden's decisions during the season (and good for you if you did), culminating in your "lack of patience" in the end (not sure you did that, but just applying your post to you for argument's sake), but that's clearly not what most observers who have a keen eye for things here on ES saw. :)

 

Of course, my point wasn't about whether Gruden deserves patience or not, it was about the change that took place with regards to that line of thinking in a certain group of posters who obsess over establishing their narratives here. Same thing WILL happen to Scot if they perceive the same from him and it will happen quickly. There is no doubt about it.   

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I think we could do a lot worse than Dan.

 

He has deep pockets, loves the team, and seems to have learned not to meddle.

 

And never quite reached that top tier of terrible, along the longs of Al Davis, Jerruh etc.

 

I am interested to know if the recent blurb about Dan wanting RG3 named as our starter, is accurate. Me personally, I don't mind giving RG3 this year to prove himself, once and for all. Particularly in light of what we gave up for him, and also because the other QBs on the roster clearly were unable to unseat him. If Scot agreed with Dan, which early comments from Scot about not giving up on RG3 so easily, we can call it Dan the decider to stroke the ego but there is a new sheriff in town.

 

For 90% of pretty much every fan base out there, if the team is winning, the owner is good lol...hardly matters what is or is not true about the owner at that point. If the team is winning, the owner is good. For that 90%, no further thought need be put into it.

 

If the "blurb" you're referring to is the comment by Keim that "if it were up to Gruden, Griffin would be gone" ( or words to that effect) but that Snyder wants Griffin to be given another year...I fully believe that Scot M wants that as well. Probably Allen, too. Snyder and Allen for obvious reasons, Scot M only because one of the first things he said arter being hred is that "you don't give up on a young QB who took you to the playffs and a division title in his rookie season" (again, or words to that effect), and all the Alex Smith talk he did afterwards. If so, it wouldn't be surprising for Scot to have the mindset that "we'll give Griffin every opportunity and the support to succeed, but it's still up to him TO succeed. Not gonna put anything on hold for him."

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This article (and most relating to Snyder) completely miss the point as to why he is a terrible owner.

 

Doesn't do us any favors.

This is exactly right. Just because he has stopped meddling in personnel, doesn't fix all of the other things he does wrong. He still sucks as an owner. When he was running personnel, he was even worse.

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This article (and most relating to Snyder) completely miss the point as to why he is a terrible owner.

 

Doesn't do us any favors.

 

Yeah, for me it never was the "meddling" or even the FA-spending, as a lot of that seemed to be overblown by the media. 

 

My turning point was when I finally recognized his total inability to form a proper structure of management that's effective in its execution of its goals. And that the goals themselves were the right ones in the first place. The titles here and the responsibilities involved with said titles were just so meaningless for so long, that no semblance of accountability was ever established throughout the building.

 

It's how guys like Allen, Haslett, Campbell and Brown could completely get away with their roles in the failure of the Shanahan era, for instance. And how Vinny managed to survive for as long as he did.  

 

Hopefully, that's changed now with the hire of Scot. We'll have to see.  

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Same exact thing was being said with regards to Gruden last year as well. "Give him time to turn this disaster around" and "it's going to take a few years, he's a rookie HC inheriting a crap team".

It's the exact same posters who loathe him, now, too. And most of us know why and even when that change occurred.

God help Scot if he does anything they perceive as wrong to you-know-who. ;)

 

Heck, folk have a dislike for Gruden just because of his relationship or not with you-know-who?

 

Man, I bet he wishes he could spin that into the public conscience at large to cover the rest of his glaring flaws. But that's another thread topic.

 

 

As for the article, more lazy ass, amateur journalism that just runs with the narrative built up around Snyder instead of telling it like it now is and has been for a good few years now. 

 

Doubtless that will NEVER change as he remains the Devil incarnate and easy pickings for a hack job. 

 

Hail. 

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Heck, folk have a dislike for Gruden just because of his relationship or not with you-know-who?

Man, I bet he wishes he could spin that into the public conscience at large to cover the rest of his glaring flaws. But that's another thread topic.

If by "folk" you mean the particular group of obsessive posters who have a narcissistic need to spread their narratives as proven by the volume and repetitive nature of their posts then, yes, exactly.

No need for spinning anything since the rest of his supposed "glaring flaws" were not the point of discussion.

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I never said "nothing".   The biggest problem the past 15 years has been coaching and subpar QB play.    Throw in Cerrato; which you can blame Snyder for.....but to think that Snyder's so called meddling has been the biggest issue or even an issue is pure, utter nonsense.

 

You have to be really naive to think all owners aren't involved to a certain extent.

 

Snyder hired the coaches, so, he has a hand in that failure.  Drafting, players, QBs, he's had a hand in that as well.  FA signings,...etc.  Poor, poor decision making.

 

There's plenty of blame to go around regarding the failures of this franchise over the last 15 years -- Danny deserves a good amount.  And he has meddled, we all know this.

 

Hiring McCloughan is the best thing he's done his entire tenure as owner, and actually gives me hope.  I just hope he lets Scot do his job.

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I still have no idea who the group of people are who only hate Gruden due to his treatment of RG3 (I'm not big on "you know who" and all that lol)...It's probably because I don't read nearly as much around here as I used to so no names come to mind whenever this is brought up.

 

Needless to say, both Gruden and Griffin have more than enough flaws in their respective games to validate anyone criticizing them, as long as they are accurate and factual in doing so.

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Snyder likes to surround himself with dummies and yes men. Once you fall out of his buddy network, or choose not to be in it, you get the boot.

I don't know how Scot will turn out. Hopefully Snyder has enough friends in the organization to keep him happy for the next few years.

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Snyder likes to surround himself with dummies and yes men. Once you fall out of his buddy network, or choose not to be in it, you get the boot.

I don't know how Scot will turn out. Hopefully Snyder has enough friends in the organization to keep him happy for the next few years.

 

If Scot does his job; He'll be in the "buddy network".  If not; he'll be gone.

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I still have no idea who the group of people are who only hate Gruden due to his treatment of RG3 (I'm not big on "you know who" and all that lol)...It's probably because I don't read nearly as much around here as I used to so no names come to mind whenever this is brought up.

Needless to say, both Gruden and Griffin have more than enough flaws in their respective games to validate anyone criticizing them, as long as they are accurate and factual in doing so.

Yeah, you weren't as heavily involved during the season to see it, I believe. Which is good for you, lol.

And I wouldn't say they "only" hate him for that, just that it sparked their "turn" on him to the point of it being a matter of constant agenda-based posts.

I admit, it's harder to spot now since they've improved in how they go about it. They'll do a lot more qualifying of their statements than previously, that's for sure. And that's also a good thing, I guess. :)

But enough about this. It's my fault for causing this distraction in the first place!

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If Scot does his job; He'll be in the "buddy network". If not; he'll be gone.

The Dan Snyder best friends club is quite independent of job performance. In fact morons have survived with this franchise for too long because of being in it. Current long term member being Bruce Allen who should have been canned right along with Shanahan.

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No, it coincided with Bruce Allen's arrival.

 

 

Excellent. Excellent points Cali. Definitely food for thought.

Snyder has made great strides. I'd bump him up to the 2nd tier of professional sports owners.

 

Of course, my previous rankings looked like this.

 

3rd tier: Snyder & Sterling

2nd tier: Haslam

1st tier: Everybody else

lol

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From an impartial observing standpoint, there seems little more alleged agenda used against Gruden as that used for him, shrugs. 

 

But this isn't for this time as we build up toward the draft. 

 

Hail. 

 

Uh-huh---Bull****.  :)

 

Especially linking yourself and your observations on those matters to "impartial."  Holy ****.   :lol:

 

And no one is required to be impartial, so that's fine.

 

<shrugs/gestures/makes faces/uses similes but not asterisks/ and totally abuses parentheses  :P

 

I still have no idea who the group of people are who only hate Gruden due to his treatment of RG3 (I'm not big on "you know who" and all that lol)...It's probably because I don't read nearly as much around here as I used to so no names come to mind whenever this is brought up.

 

Needless to say, both Gruden and Griffin have more than enough flaws in their respective games to validate anyone criticizing them, as long as they are accurate and factual in doing so.

 

 

Well, on your first paragraph, it's not the "only" reason in some cases as much as "mainly", or "heavily motivated to find fault" (bias) going by what those folks actually say in their posts, and the evidence is that lots of posters (and certainly the bulk of the staff) sure do know what sub is talking about--it's not hard to see.   :)

 

We do still deal with the skin-shedding of the residual fixated hater/fanboy contingents, and in threads other than the RG3OCD's epic testimonial to such mindsets. And while none want to be reduced to that terminology as it leaves little room for nuance, it does serve its illustrative purpose fairly enough.

 

Most of the reflexively and repetitively rambunctious types in either camp (again, simplified mass groupings bother us all at times and yet still have a useful and worthy place in life if applied properly) have (for now) been diluted by time and various events, or have just voluntarily (self-control does still exist) died down to the occasional "go." In some instances, assistance has been provided by moderators via our forum rules and guidelines. 

 

But I'll echo thesubmittedone and suggest all of us move on from all that and back to dan & the op.   :)

 

Per your 2nd paragraph, I do think it's a lot more challenging to accurately and objectively critique any first year HC in these kind of highly-****ed up team situations after one year, than a single player after three, for what should be obvious reasons of differences in complexity and variables. Other than that, the spirit of your second paragraph is one I share. Both are rightfully under the most serious examination.

 

 

Sticking with the title of the topic (crazy ass I am), it's a two-part deal to me--part one: historically, has Dan Snyder on his own merits been more of a consistent problem or more of a misunderstood and overly maligned dude?  

 

Maybe both?

 

Part two: as of now at least, is he hands-off enough?

 

My answer: I don't know.  :D

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Well Hell J, I thought you'd of jumped in there LONG before now. 

 

I'm a tad disappointed.  :P

 

But let's not get into all that again through this somewhat serene offseason period. 

 

Hail. 

 

 

It's a marathon for me, not a sprint.  :lol:

 

(but these days almost everything is headed towards that pace)  ^_^

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The Dan Snyder best friends club is quite independent of job performance. In fact morons have survived with this franchise for too long because of being in it. Current long term member being Bruce Allen who should have been canned right along with Shanahan.

I know... because of this I can't fathom how he became so rich and successful in any business... bought this franchise at 38 y.o.? crazy..makes me wanna puke outta pure unadulterated jealously and of course I'm a hater...eh haters gonna hate...

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