A New Start! (the Reboot) The Front Office, Ownership, & Coaching Staff Thread

[Voice_of_Reason]

23 hours ago, bowhunter said:

but by golly this sounds like a bit of a stretch.

I salute and appreciate your use of the word "golly."   Very underused.  

[Skinsinparadise]

 

[Riggo#44]

55 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Gold Standard, amirite?

[goskins10]

On 11/11/2022 at 6:32 AM, KDawg said:

Do people still not believe that Snyder has an effect on the play? The players have been silent about it, but it's clear it's always on their minds. Is it clear that Snyder effects the signing of incoming free agents? Is it clear that the lack of facilities effects performance? I know most agree, but there are some who STILL think you can separate this team's performance from Dan Snyder. You cannot. Can't do it. 

 

He is the presence that has sunk this franchise from GM to GM, HC to HC, OC to OC, DC to DC, player to player. It's him. It's always been him.

 

And now the gag is off the players somewhat.

 

 

 

Just tog add onto this - for those who have been trashing Ron - and he deserves some of it for sure - it is jsut so hard to understand what a toxic work environment does to your thinking process. I have worked in1 or 2 and when I got out of it I looked back and could not believe some of the decisions I made. It's like a massive weight that sits on your shoulders 24-7. It's hard to get out from under it. It enters every facet of your life and ultimately becomes suffucating. 

 

If Ron is removed with the rest by a new owner I will be 100% Ok with that. But he has done a better job of navigating this entire team and still fielding a mostly competitive team than some have given him. Where he has obviously mostly messed up is QB but he also has some bad luck. Still, not the best decision making. But who knows how much was truly him or was forced on him by danny boy. 

 

[Skinsinparadise]

 

Ron Rivera never got to celebrate the Washington Commanders’ win over the Green Bay Packers. Less than 48 hours later, he hopped on a private jet to California to visit his mother, who was battling Stage 4 lung cancer and didn’t have much longer. For weeks, Rivera had been shielded from the seriousness of her condition.

 

 

But it reached a point where Dolores Rivera-Munoz knew she needed to see her son. So Rivera took a quick trip, left the hospital in California believing he had seen his mother for the final time and returned to Virginia — where he was bombarded with chaos.

Daniel and Tanya Snyder, co-owners of the Commanders, announced they had retained a bank to explore potential transactions related to the team, including a sale, which trampled any shred of renewed hope and fanfare the win head earned.

 

Shortly after the Commanders’ close loss to the Minnesota Vikings two weeks later, Rivera was again on a flight to California, this time for his mother’s funeral. He returned Wednesday night — again, just in time for more drama in Ashburn. A statement issued by a team spokesperson referenced running back Brian Robinson Jr., the victim of a shooting in D.C. in August, while clapping back at the District’s attorney general. It earned widespread criticism, and though team president Jason Wright tried to walk it back, Rivera had to address the matter with his team the next morning.

“[At] a team meeting at 8 a.m. … he came in and talked about it,” quarterback Taylor Heinicke said. “[He said:] ‘This is what’s going on. I want you guys to focus on football. I’m going to take care of this.’ For everything that goes on, he does a great job of doing that. He really just wants us to focus on ball.”

 

For nearly three years, since he accepted the job of head coach, lead football decision-maker and de facto culture-fixer in Washington, Rivera has taken on a task few could tackle. He is a shield. At times, he’s also a team spokesperson. He’s the rally captain when the outside negativity intensifies, the trusted voice when the noise permeates the locker room walls.

 

 

 

 

 

The weight of his job has, perhaps, never been more magnified, as he manages his own grief, the franchise’s football operations and his players’ needs as they prepare for a matchup with the undefeated Eagles in Philadelphia.

“He’s doing a good job,” left tackle Charles Leno Jr. said. “He’s trying to keep us focused on football. That’s not his job — he shouldn’t have to keep us focused on football — but he’s done a good job with that.”

Turns out, Rivera didn’t get his knack for compartmentalizing or his compassion for his players from football or from coaches in his past. He got them from his mother.

 

Rivera choked up when he was asked to share about his mother just days after her Oct. 31 death.

 

“There was a toughness about my mom,” he began.

Rivera-Munoz, 82, loved sports. Loved football. And, boy, did she love her family.

When Rivera’s father, Eugenio Rivera, served in Vietnam, Rivera-Munoz filled in as interim coach, pitching batting practice for her sons and even taking part in tackling drills. She was involved in bake sales and Christmas bazaars. She was the team mom on all of her sons’ sports teams.

Later, after Rivera embarked on a successful career in football, she purposely shielded her son from bad news so as not to worry him or to take his focus away from his team.

Early in his career, when Rivera was with the Bears, he bought his parents tickets to see a preseason game against the 49ers in San Francisco. But when he jogged onto the field, he noticed their seats were empty. His parents didn’t answer his calls after the game, and it wasn’t until he stepped on the plane that his mother finally rang.

 

Rivera’s father had been hospitalized because his appendix burst. Surgery was scheduled.

“He goes through this whole thing and doesn't say a word,” Rivera said. “That's kind of them.”

Years later, when Rivera was in Spartanburg, S.C., for training camp with the Carolina Panthers, he called his parents again and again to no answer, only to hear from his mother days later. She had been in the hospital; doctors had found a benign tumor on her pancreas, and they had removed it.

Then, in 2020, Rivera called home to inform his parents he had been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in his neck. He heard his mother cry on the other end; she had already lost her oldest son to cancer in 2015.

....In August, when Rivera’s mother shared the news of some tests, he knew something was up. He had seen this dance before, and it became clear Rivera-Munoz was hiding something. She asked Rivera’s brother to take her to a specialist weeks later, and she ordered him to not say a word. Eventually, though, John Rivera told his older brother he needed to fly out immediately.

 

When Rivera arrived, he learned what had been going on. His mother’s first question when he arrived: “What are you doing here?”

“She was private. She was quiet. She didn’t say much,” Rivera said. “… She was the wife of an officer. Everything was community service. … Her duty was her family, her kids and protecting us and shielding us from stuff.”

Over the past few years, Rivera has used one mantra often: Focus on what’s important, not what’s interesting.

 

“I compartmentalize things,” Rivera said. “I’m able to separate them and put them in buckets.”

Rivera reminded the team of what’s interesting vs. what’s important last month, when their Thursday night game in Chicago turned into a wild day of news that could’ve easily distracted them. More allegations had been made against Snyder, and there was a report that Washington’s highest-paid cornerback wanted out. Despite the whirlwind, the Commanders eked out a win over the Bears, and Rivera was feted with the game ball.

D.C. attorney general sues Daniel Snyder, Commanders, NFL

Days later, Colts owner Jim Irsay declared at the league’s fall meeting that “there [was] merit to remove” Snyder as owner. And days after that, the Commanders rallied to defeat the Packers, only for the top headline to be about the “sell the team” chants from the crowd. A week after that, Washington’s win in Indianapolis gave way to the news that the Snyders may be selling.

 

And with every controversy, Rivera is almost always asked for his reaction, a comment, a response of any sort. So, too, are his players.

“The hard part is a lot of the stuff doesn't involve us,” Rivera said. “That's one thing that I try to get across to the guys first and foremost. This stuff happened before us.”

Yet when the outside noise builds, Rivera is able to cut through the pandemonium, a skill some players know is a rarity. It’s one they deeply respect.

“I can think of coaches right now who couldn’t take on a task like this,” Leno said. “They wouldn’t be able to control what they can control.”

Before Rivera left for his mother’s funeral, his family framed an enlarged photo of her. It was taken at his wedding, and in it, his mother stands with a small smile on her face — a smile “that kind of tells you, ‘Hey, everything’s going to be fine,’” Rivera said.

 

The photo is Eugenio’s favorite, and it was featured at Rivera-Munoz’s vigil and rosary, as well as at the funeral and ensuing reception. That small smile was the same one she’d had on her face when she last saw her son, at the hospital in California days after his team defeated the Packers.

Rivera knew what the smile meant as he left the hospital. Shortly after the coach returned home, his mother’s doctor called to confirm the news she’d shielded him from for weeks.

She didn’t have long.

“I was the last one to know, and that was her wish,” Rivera said.

[CommanderInTheRye]

One thing that's shocked me about myself is the rapid change in my expectations.

 

A month ago I'd have been elated if Mayor McCheese became our new owner (insert gratuitous image here Alexa)

 

 

 

 

 

 

My constant refrain and most fervent desire back then was simply: "Anybody but Snyder!"

 

Today however, I am completely intrigued and intoxicated by the prospect of having an all star dream team ownership group headed by Bezos, Jay-Z, McConaughey, Kevin Durant...

 

Hell why stop there-- I think to myself-- let's add Peyton Manning to oversee the offense, Ray Lewis to bring some spirit and accountability to the defense, and even the ghost of John Madden to oversee things from above just for good measure.

 

At this point anything less, no matter how reasonable and sensible the choice may actually be, leaves me holding my nose in utter disgust like a spoiled brat (Alexa please insert gratuitous image here)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Riggo#44]

I question the viability of this going anywhere significant, but the judge assigned to the CPPA Suit is supposedly very liberal in interpreting the scope of that law. Even if it goes nowhere, seeing this list would be worth it.

 

 

[CommanderInTheRye]

4 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Ron Rivera never got to celebrate the Washington Commanders’ win over the Green Bay Packers. Less than 48 hours later, he hopped on a private jet to California to visit his mother, who was battling Stage 4 lung cancer and didn’t have much longer. For weeks, Rivera had been shielded from the seriousness of her condition.

 

 

But it reached a point where Dolores Rivera-Munoz knew she needed to see her son. So Rivera took a quick trip, left the hospital in California believing he had seen his mother for the final time and returned to Virginia — where he was bombarded with chaos.

Daniel and Tanya Snyder, co-owners of the Commanders, announced they had retained a bank to explore potential transactions related to the team, including a sale, which trampled any shred of renewed hope and fanfare the win head earned.

 

Shortly after the Commanders’ close loss to the Minnesota Vikings two weeks later, Rivera was again on a flight to California, this time for his mother’s funeral. He returned Wednesday night — again, just in time for more drama in Ashburn. A statement issued by a team spokesperson referenced running back Brian Robinson Jr., the victim of a shooting in D.C. in August, while clapping back at the District’s attorney general. It earned widespread criticism, and though team president Jason Wright tried to walk it back, Rivera had to address the matter with his team the next morning.

“[At] a team meeting at 8 a.m. … he came in and talked about it,” quarterback Taylor Heinicke said. “[He said:] ‘This is what’s going on. I want you guys to focus on football. I’m going to take care of this.’ For everything that goes on, he does a great job of doing that. He really just wants us to focus on ball.”

 

For nearly three years, since he accepted the job of head coach, lead football decision-maker and de facto culture-fixer in Washington, Rivera has taken on a task few could tackle. He is a shield. At times, he’s also a team spokesperson. He’s the rally captain when the outside negativity intensifies, the trusted voice when the noise permeates the locker room walls.

 

 

 

 

 

The weight of his job has, perhaps, never been more magnified, as he manages his own grief, the franchise’s football operations and his players’ needs as they prepare for a matchup with the undefeated Eagles in Philadelphia.

“He’s doing a good job,” left tackle Charles Leno Jr. said. “He’s trying to keep us focused on football. That’s not his job — he shouldn’t have to keep us focused on football — but he’s done a good job with that.”

Turns out, Rivera didn’t get his knack for compartmentalizing or his compassion for his players from football or from coaches in his past. He got them from his mother.

 

Rivera choked up when he was asked to share about his mother just days after her Oct. 31 death.

 

“There was a toughness about my mom,” he began.

Rivera-Munoz, 82, loved sports. Loved football. And, boy, did she love her family.

When Rivera’s father, Eugenio Rivera, served in Vietnam, Rivera-Munoz filled in as interim coach, pitching batting practice for her sons and even taking part in tackling drills. She was involved in bake sales and Christmas bazaars. She was the team mom on all of her sons’ sports teams.

Later, after Rivera embarked on a successful career in football, she purposely shielded her son from bad news so as not to worry him or to take his focus away from his team.

Early in his career, when Rivera was with the Bears, he bought his parents tickets to see a preseason game against the 49ers in San Francisco. But when he jogged onto the field, he noticed their seats were empty. His parents didn’t answer his calls after the game, and it wasn’t until he stepped on the plane that his mother finally rang.

 

Rivera’s father had been hospitalized because his appendix burst. Surgery was scheduled.

“He goes through this whole thing and doesn't say a word,” Rivera said. “That's kind of them.”

Years later, when Rivera was in Spartanburg, S.C., for training camp with the Carolina Panthers, he called his parents again and again to no answer, only to hear from his mother days later. She had been in the hospital; doctors had found a benign tumor on her pancreas, and they had removed it.

Then, in 2020, Rivera called home to inform his parents he had been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in his neck. He heard his mother cry on the other end; she had already lost her oldest son to cancer in 2015.

....In August, when Rivera’s mother shared the news of some tests, he knew something was up. He had seen this dance before, and it became clear Rivera-Munoz was hiding something. She asked Rivera’s brother to take her to a specialist weeks later, and she ordered him to not say a word. Eventually, though, John Rivera told his older brother he needed to fly out immediately.

 

When Rivera arrived, he learned what had been going on. His mother’s first question when he arrived: “What are you doing here?”

“She was private. She was quiet. She didn’t say much,” Rivera said. “… She was the wife of an officer. Everything was community service. … Her duty was her family, her kids and protecting us and shielding us from stuff.”

Over the past few years, Rivera has used one mantra often: Focus on what’s important, not what’s interesting.

 

“I compartmentalize things,” Rivera said. “I’m able to separate them and put them in buckets.”

Rivera reminded the team of what’s interesting vs. what’s important last month, when their Thursday night game in Chicago turned into a wild day of news that could’ve easily distracted them. More allegations had been made against Snyder, and there was a report that Washington’s highest-paid cornerback wanted out. Despite the whirlwind, the Commanders eked out a win over the Bears, and Rivera was feted with the game ball.

D.C. attorney general sues Daniel Snyder, Commanders, NFL

Days later, Colts owner Jim Irsay declared at the league’s fall meeting that “there [was] merit to remove” Snyder as owner. And days after that, the Commanders rallied to defeat the Packers, only for the top headline to be about the “sell the team” chants from the crowd. A week after that, Washington’s win in Indianapolis gave way to the news that the Snyders may be selling.

 

And with every controversy, Rivera is almost always asked for his reaction, a comment, a response of any sort. So, too, are his players.

“The hard part is a lot of the stuff doesn't involve us,” Rivera said. “That's one thing that I try to get across to the guys first and foremost. This stuff happened before us.”

Yet when the outside noise builds, Rivera is able to cut through the pandemonium, a skill some players know is a rarity. It’s one they deeply respect.

“I can think of coaches right now who couldn’t take on a task like this,” Leno said. “They wouldn’t be able to control what they can control.”

Before Rivera left for his mother’s funeral, his family framed an enlarged photo of her. It was taken at his wedding, and in it, his mother stands with a small smile on her face — a smile “that kind of tells you, ‘Hey, everything’s going to be fine,’” Rivera said.

 

The photo is Eugenio’s favorite, and it was featured at Rivera-Munoz’s vigil and rosary, as well as at the funeral and ensuing reception. That small smile was the same one she’d had on her face when she last saw her son, at the hospital in California days after his team defeated the Packers.

Rivera knew what the smile meant as he left the hospital. Shortly after the coach returned home, his mother’s doctor called to confirm the news she’d shielded him from for weeks.

She didn’t have long.

“I was the last one to know, and that was her wish,” Rivera said.

 

 

Few things touch me these days.

 

That did.

 

If you haven't taken the time to read this I urge you to do so.

 

It is the rare article that seemingly is just about a sport but for me, even if only briefly, it transcends the mundane distraction from the rigors of reality that is the usual territory of sport, and ever so briefly touches on something within the collective unconscious that has universal appeal to the human spirit.

 

 

 

.

Edited November 13, 2022 by CommanderInTheRye

[Califan007 The Constipated]

On 4/3/2021 at 6:34 PM, CommanderInTheRye said:

Jay Z!*

 

*(This will make no sense to anyone now. But some time in the not too distant future I will refer to it again and give you an old fashioned: “I told you so!”

 

Heh heh heh...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did this get brought up again? lol 😮

Edited November 14, 2022 by Califan007 The Constipated

[CommanderInTheRye]

1 hour ago, Califan007 The Constipated said:

 

 

Did this get brought up again? lol 😮

 

 

Sssh...

 

 

I can't have anyone thinking  that while I play the fool here that like fools in the king's court of old, I might  just have the eyes and ears of powerful people, in powerful places.

 

Ssssh....

 

Heh heh heh...

 

...

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

Belated edit due to a guilty conscience. Damn you Catholic schooling!!!:

 

Either the above or perhaps I heard someone on the Sports Junkies or another local radio sports talk show say that they heard a rumor that Jay-Z was  interested in investing in an NFL team that morning and I decided to take a  long wild shot in the dark just so I could claim bragging rights in case one day in the future I got lucky and it actually became a reality.

 

Then, of course, I completely forgot about it and missed my "I'm ready for my closeup Mr DeMille" moment in the spotlight until CaliFan reminded me  with his post.

 

lol

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by CommanderInTheRye

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

 

[BrentMeisterGeneral]

Ooo Jeff ya big tease 😅

Edited November 14, 2022 by BrentMeisterGeneral

[CommanderInTheRye]

11 minutes ago, Califan007 The Constipated said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I gots me a feeling that when that VERY lovely lady wants something from BIG Jeff Bezos she is rarely left without it.

 

Me likes!

 

(Alexa,  insert the most extremely risque nsfw image of a HUGE manly tower dominating an otherwise empty landscape thatt you can find here please)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UK Skins]

He also said, when pressed, that he would give away his fortune during his lifetime. Hopefully not until after buying the club, greatly upgrading the facilities, the coaching staff and the team!!

[BrentMeisterGeneral]

7 minutes ago, UK Skins said:

He also said, when pressed, that he would give away his fortune during his lifetime. Hopefully not until after buying the club, greatly upgrading the facilities, the coaching staff and the team!!

Cor, I’m rapidly going off the idea of Jeff 😂

 

Unless he wants to build a $124b Washington football fortress that is 

[Wildbunny]

50 minutes ago, UK Skins said:

He also said, when pressed, that he would give away his fortune during his lifetime. Hopefully not until after buying the club, greatly upgrading the facilities, the coaching staff and the team!!

OK, what's his phone number? I could make use of a few billions to buy a certain team from a certain guy...

[BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen]

Hey Danya! Here's how a team involves their fans in the creation of new uniforms:

 

https://www.denverbroncos.com/news/broncos-seek-feedback-from-season-ticket-members-to-explore-possible-uniform-cha

 

 

 

[Professor_Nutter_Butter]

2 hours ago, BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen said:

Hey Danya! Here's how a team involves their fans in the creation of new uniforms:

 

https://www.denverbroncos.com/news/broncos-seek-feedback-from-season-ticket-members-to-explore-possible-uniform-cha

 

 

 

Go back to the old blue/orange colors and drop the stupid horse logo. Bring back the classic look.

[IrepDC]

"We take it on ourselves to play (hard) for a coach like him because there's no coach like him in the league, man. We really rally behind him, and I really have so much respect for coach (Rivera)."

-Charles Leno

 

"People's opinions outside of this lockerroom is probably one of the most irrelevant things I've heard in my entire life. I genuinely, from the bottom of my soul, do not care what you have to say if you're not on this team."

-Jonathan Allen

 

Some post-game comments from players that I liked a lot. Rivera as a leader is underrated. He has weaknesses obviously, but he is top tier when it comes to having the respect and ears of his team. They are starting to play like his personality.

[Peregrine]

44 minutes ago, IrepDC said:

"We take it on ourselves to play (hard) for a coach like him because there's no coach like him in the league, man. We really rally behind him, and I really have so much respect for coach (Rivera)."

-Charles Leno

 

"People's opinions outside of this lockerroom is probably one of the most irrelevant things I've heard in my entire life. I genuinely, from the bottom of my soul, do not care what you have to say if you're not on this team."

-Jonathan Allen

 

Some post-game comments from players that I liked a lot. Rivera as a leader is underrated. He has weaknesses obviously, but he is top tier when it comes to having the respect and ears of his team. They are starting to play like his personality.

I would absolutely hope every player in that lockerroom thats worth anything should respect someone like Rivera, and have his back at all times.  Wouldnt want them on the team otherwise.  That said Rivera is a very poor head coach.  But a coach who isnt good at the rest of it(managing men is important, I agree), can have a lot of success if they can only appoint the right football people and just stick to man management, which he has been unable to do with the likes of Scott Turner still in the building.  Ultimately Rivera isnt good enough to make decisions, and his success will be determined by who he chooses to surround himself with, and if that person is way better than Scott Turner at the X's and O's.  Respect buys you a lot until you have 75% loosing seasons.

 

 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

6 hours ago, Peregrine said:

which he has been unable to do with the likes of Scott Turner still in the building.  Ultimately Rivera isnt good enough to make decisions, and his success will be determined by who he chooses to surround himself with, and if that person is way better than Scott Turner at the X's and O's.  Respect buys you a lot until you have 75% loosing seasons.

Scott Turner is conjuring up game plans that win games with Taylor Heinicke.  He’s running the absolute snot out of the ball without a bell cow back and sticking to it, which is leading to play action opportunities.

 

Credit is due where credit is due.

 

Scott absolutely would not be on my dream list for OC, but for whatever reason - he knows how to call a game for TH and sticks to it, something not many OC’s would commit to.

[Zim489]

27 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

Scott absolutely would not be on my dream list for OC, but for whatever reason - he knows how to call a game for TH and sticks to it, something not many OC’s would commit to

Does he? 2 out of the 3 wins with Taylor the offense was beyond dreadful. Last night the offense wasn’t good either. They had some fortunate things go their way to allow them some extra possessions to grind out 50 runs for 3 ypc. That’s not going to happen very often. Rarely in fact. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

12 minutes ago, Zim489 said:

Does he? 2 out of the 3 wins with Taylor the offense was beyond dreadful. Last night the offense wasn’t good either. They had some fortunate things go their way to allow them some extra possessions to grind out 50 runs for 3 ypc. That’s not going to happen very often. Rarely in fact. 

It’s unconventional, something most don’t have the stomach to commit to.

 

I’m constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop myself, but they keep sustaining drives with 3 yards and a cloud of dust - and not just against bad teams.

 

Obviously this isn’t how you draw it up long term, but for now - they deserve credit.

[Professor_Nutter_Butter]

7 hours ago, IrepDC said:

"We take it on ourselves to play (hard) for a coach like him because there's no coach like him in the league, man. We really rally behind him, and I really have so much respect for coach (Rivera)."

-Charles Leno

 

"People's opinions outside of this lockerroom is probably one of the most irrelevant things I've heard in my entire life. I genuinely, from the bottom of my soul, do not care what you have to say if you're not on this team."

-Jonathan Allen

 

Some post-game comments from players that I liked a lot. Rivera as a leader is underrated. He has weaknesses obviously, but he is top tier when it comes to having the respect and ears of his team. They are starting to play like his personality.

Can't say I've been in favor of him throughout his tenure, but I'd have no problem if a new owner kept Rivera around for at least 1-2 more seasons. You could obviously do much worse. *cough* Josh McDaniels *cough*

[BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen]

1 hour ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

Scott Turner is conjuring up game plans that win games with Taylor Heinicke.  He’s running the absolute snot out of the ball without a bell cow back and sticking to it, which is leading to play action opportunities.

 

 

 

But, but...we finally have ourselves a quarterback in Wentz...right?? 😆