Art Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 Mr. Snyder, I'm a long-time, and recently long-suffering Redskin fan. After Jack Kent Cooke's death, the team needed an infusion of energy, excitement and dedication to the team and an owner willing to provide whatever resources necessary to accomplish that job. Despite erroneous press reports and your own admitted mistakes, you have shown that ability and have provided the franchise with an infusion of excitement and the ability to compete both in offseason moves and on the field. The 2000 offseason free-agent spending spree, largely attributed to you, also is largely considered a failure on your part. But, don't worry. Real fans know just what you did and how well you did it. The Redskins had the No. 2 offense in football in 1999 to go along with the No. 30 defense. You went out and got us players on defense and a coach on defense that turned our unit into the No. 4 unit in football. That is a great success. Obviously you couldn't know of the injuries and subpar performances by many of the offensive players, who the year before had carerr years. You signed your workhorse runner, Stephen Davis, to a contract that was fair for the team and the player. You didn't overpay for an unproven running back, therefore hurting the team if he failed. And you crafted a contract that allowed the player to succeed and get more millions later. Your energy and effort is not unnoticed by the fans. We appreciate that you didn't want to fire Marty Schottenheimer after the season, as both you and Marty have indicated to the press on more than one occasion. You have both said that if he simply would have yielded slightly on some issues, he'd still have been here. It's been reported that you wanted Jimmy Raye out and you wanted a personnel man in, but that you would allow Marty heavy and final sway in close calls of disagreement. Obviously Marty didn't care about working this out with you despire the reasonable nature of your requests. Leaving you no choice, despite days of negotiation and having him go back on what he said he'd be willing to do, as both you and the press have indicated happened. Obviously the control and Jimmy Raye was so important to Marty that he went to San Diego with a powerful GM and Cam Cameron as his offensive coordinator. Don't worry, Mr. Snyder, as fans, we saw through Marty's game. He was in it for your money and as fans we're just glad you gave it to him and improved our situation. The Joe Mendes hiring showed just how much you've learned over your time as an owner. Focusing Vinny Cerrato on scouting further validated that. Your ability to recruit free agents and coaches is beyond compare. In your short time here you've added a life and energy that had left the organization after the death of Jack Kent Cooke. While false press reports -- such as the Washington Times report that you and the team have repeatedly denied about having given Stephen Davis an ultimatum -- circulating around you, you'll have to keep in mind that fans see what you are doing and we understand. Keep up the good work. You are the right guy to lead this team to the historical greatness your fans miss and yet crave. A Fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Skins Fan Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 Nice letter, Art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 Great post. Why can't letters like this from fans can't find their way to the airwaves like WTEM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 HEAR HERE! What Art said!! I was gonna try and write a retort as if I was Snyder but your letter covers it fantastically. Reports of his giving millions to local hospitals, letting the fans INSIDE when waiting to buy playoff tickets and selling beers and hotdogs for cost to those waiting fans, installing 10 million dollars worth of escalators at the stadium just to provide ease to the fans, seem to be forgotten. He shows up and tells the players that they will be held accountable, that Club Norv was OVER. What happened? We went to the playoffs for the first time in like what.............8 years? He fires Norv and again get wasted in the press. Key-Rist! What does Norv do, give the friendly hand job instead of a normal handshake? Everybody loves that guy but, he had a LOOSING record to EVERY SINGLE team in the NFC East. Yes sports fans, that includes the powerful Arizona Cardinals!:shootinth He was TOTALLY lambasted for opening training camp to the paying public and moved it closer to the fan base. A fan base that can't get season tickets, he provided them the opportunity to see, up close and personnel, thier beloved team for a measly 10 bucks! Tactical error?............quite possibly. But he was beat for for gouging the fans when he really squared them (us) away. What was the financial difference in taking a family of four to the DC area training camp vs driving to Frostburg (up to 4 hours away, depending on where the start point was, at $1.75 a gallon of gas), hotel probably, retraunts, etc., etc., etc. Seems to me he make it quite a bit cheaper for the Redskin starved fans. And who sits in judgment. Idiots like that imbecile Terry Bradshaw who is so stupid he probably can't even spell DUMB!:doh: Whatever. Then he yet again gets beat up for firing Marty. Now granted, I'll be happy to have the same coaching staff for more than 1 year straight, but he got the college coach the EVERYBODY wanted. They wanted him for the last 5-6 years and Dan Snyder is the ONLY guy that convinced SS to come the NFL. Is he on the hook for this? Of course! Yet another reason to appreciate the move. The safe play was to keep Marty. The press would be happy. We will probably pay the price again this year for the coaching shuffle, but if SS delivers, we're building a new trophy case for our new Lombardis. Sometimes you have to take a shot and we OBVIOUSLY have a leader that is willing to do just that. Hear Here I say again!! Keep up the good work Mr Snyder, we fans got yo back!:high: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgordon Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 DITTO ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CounterTre Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 That letter was MUCH better and more reflective of the true state of things IMO. I didn't agree with much that the "other" letter had to say so yours hits the spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Skins Fan Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 Originally posted by CounterTre That letter was MUCH better and more reflective of the true state of things IMO. It *is* depressing how much of a bum rap Snyder gets. Certainly he's disliked outside D.C., but I don't think he's even appreciated broadly among Washingtonians and the D.C. media. Obviously we're still feeling the hangover from Snyder's 2000 signings. The Deion signing hurt the team spectacularly. The Carrier, Smith and George signings also are still hurting the team. But I'm a big believer in evaluating decisions by a broader measure than just "Superbowl or bust". As Art points out, Snyder's signings and the dumping of Nolan for Ray Rhodes boosted our defense from #30 to #4. How was Snyder to know our offense would collapse from its previous #2 position? (Not to flog a dead horse, but I always thought the offensive collapse in 2000 was due heavily to Westbrook's being injured early. I still can't understand why people hate this guy so much. We have a brilliant offense in 1999, and the same offense except Westbrook returns in 2000 and stinks out the joint. Instead of appreciating Westbrook's value, this forum can't wait for the guy to be gone.) (Related dead-horse flogging: this is why I think we need to sign a true #1 receiver. Albert Connell was fine as a complement to Westbrook, but totally stunk when he had to carry the passing game. I think Gardner is similar to Connell at this point -- a player with some talent who is just not going to carry the team. I say Gardner has a good year if we can get Jackson, McCardell or Westbrook, but Gardner will be pressured, exposed and heavily criticized if we don't. People perceive my desire for another receiver as a slap at Gardner, but in reality I think such an acquisition will help him develop in a less-pressured environment.) Anyway, back to Snyder -- the guy just wants to win. His decisions didn't work out in 2000, but they were reasonable decisions in the moment. I agree with every word Art wrote about Marty. And I think Snyder now has some of the best management in football working for him. That *has* to pay dividends, sooner or later. As my post "PCinOz's plan to bite the bullet now" indicates, I'm hoping that the team makes all the hard decisions now, so we can build an enduring winner. I don't really care what our 2002 record is, so long as I'm convinced that the team is building a strong foundation for enduring dominance. Here's hoping the team has the confidence to make those tough decisions that will benefit the team in 2003 and later more than 2002. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorEye Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 Great letter! It couldn't have been said any better. I wonder if Snyder knows how much many of the fans like what he's trying to do. Hopefully he can take a page from SOS's book and not care what anyone else has to say. Just keep doing what you feel is right, be true to yourself, and it will all work out in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacky Ralph Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 Dear Mr. Snyder: Can I borrow some money??? These tacos aren't free, you know. By the way, your wife is hot. Congratulations!!! And I'm certain she'd still be with you even if you weren't rich. I mean, I see Trophy Wives hanging out with short, nerdy-looking men with below average incomes all the time. By the way, don't have any children. More NFL franchises are ruined when team owners allow their idiot children to run the front office. So keep Willy in the basket, OK??? Also, thanks for using your influence to bring baseball back to DC. Cool beans and tangerines. But could you ALSO use your influence to bring the monkey back to "Friends"??? All we ever hear about anymore is Rachel being pregnant. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Enough about Rachel. I miss that monkey. He was the best friend Ross ever had. Phoebe once thought her dead Mom was inside a cat!!!! Isn't that silly??? Dead people don't live in cats!!! They live inside of seashells. And if you listen carefully, they'll tell you where their treasure is buried. I'll talk to you later. Right now, I need to take a dump. Love, Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CounterTre Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 LOL...man you are just plain Whacky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 My $$ says Snyder reads these posts, everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCS:BraveCaringSoul Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 Originally posted by CounterTre LOL...man you are just plain Whacky! No he Wacky, NOT WHACKY!!! WHACKY WHACKY no good for you!! Make you wear glasses and grow hair on palm of hand. And don't forget this... SAVE THE DAMN KITTENS! JUST SAY NO! Then again... OOOOO LA LA!!! THAT'S A SPICY MEATA BALL!! Uhhhm excuse me, I gotta go shave my hand and bury another kitten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyskinsfan Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 :cool: yes save the kittens and save that in a special vault, (the Art Link Letter ) :laugh: Thanks Art and it rescued us weary, non-corretly message conveying fans! (man the dude's golden) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsfanbu Posted May 11, 2002 Share Posted May 11, 2002 LOL,LOL, LOL, LOL I'm sitting here laughing so loud that I woke my beautiful bride up from a Saturday nap. WR, I await your posts with baited breath. HTTR, Maybe we can get the Monkey to sing HTTR! Or ride a Cat...or lay next to a dead Kitten...or shave his hand, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinhead Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 Art, Sometimes you amaze me, one minute you are harassing a fan for his lack of knowledge and ignorance of the game and I really don’t care to read your posts. Then you come up with these gut wrenching feelings of a true fan that really put things into perspective. Keep up the later that was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mike Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 My $$ says Snyder reads these posts, everyday. My$$$ says Wack Ralph *IS* Dan Snyder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted May 12, 2002 Author Share Posted May 12, 2002 Skinhead, I generally only beat up ignorant fans of opposing teams, so, that doesn't count . Ralph, You are a funny, funny man . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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