John Riggins: “First of all, it’s what I do, JB. I have been in broadcasting for the last 15 to 20 years, so it is sort of my job. And the other part is, and I’ve been asked this question a lot, when they say do you have an ax to grind? And I think any time an older player criticizes or says anything about his former team, unless he’s throwing Bon Mots at them, that all of a sudden you get a, ‘What’s he griping at?’ type of thing. Maybe that’s the case. But truthfully, I do have an ax to grind and I just realized I have been a little bit disingenuous. But this is a bad guy that owns this team. I’ll just tell you that upfront. Bad guy. And if the Commissioner is worried about potential new owners and saying some of these guys shouldn’t apply, he might want to police his own inside guys….”
Brown: “Why is he a bad guy?”
Riggins: “Because his business practices, I think. I don’t want to say they are unethical, but I don’t think it’s a place, a climate that is created there where people can be successful. It’s driven all by his ego and everything has to come from him. And I just don’t think you can be successful in those situations and when you are dealing with someone with the mindset of a child and yet owns a franchise in the NFL. I think you have some problems there.”
Cris Collinsworth: “We are talking about Daniel Snyder . Are you saying in some way he is unethical? Because I have dealt with him in the past and I have never sensed anything close to that. Or are you saying he has made bad decisions on the football side as an owner? Or what is specifically the issue?”
Riggins: “I am saying that I don’t think that this franchise can be successful where you have people saying, ‘Oh, this person Dan Snyder wants to win. He wants to win.’ It’s all about priorities. ‘What’s my priorities? The priority is it’s all about me. I have to have my needs met, then I want to make money, and those are one and two, and then I want to win. You can see by the decisions that are made….I don’t know if you have agreed with anything I am saying so far, but at this point, I would think you would say, ‘Yeah, I’ll go along with that.’ This person knows nothing about football, absolutely nothing. I don’t think they have a clue how a football team comes together, how it works. And yet they are the ones that are basically calling all the shots through a puppet, which is Vinny Cerrato. That is my take on it….I speak for the fans because these are the people that paid my salary for all these years. They are the ones that need to know that this is a bad guy.”
Collinsworth: “There is a fine line between being a bad guy and a bad GM, if you will. Are you saying a bad guy as in the NFL needs to take a look at this?”
Riggins: “Let me put it to you this way, Cris, this person’s heart is dark.”
Wow, tell us how you really feel, John.
I think Collinsworth brings up a good point in that there is a fine line between being a bad guy and a bad GM or owner. Just because someone doesn’t know how to run a football team (which Snyder clearly does not), doesn’t make him a bad person. So I wonder if Riggins is just venting his frustrations and that it came out wrong.
That said, if you come out and say that a person’s heart is “dark” then I’m willing to bet you know exactly what you’re saying.
Here’s how I see things 1-32 in the NFL after eight weeks in the books:
1. New Orleans Saints (7-0)
The Saints have the most balanced offensive attack in the NFL, have been a more aggressive and opportunistic defense under new coordinator Gregg Williams and are off to their best start in franchise history. There is a lot of season left, but this team has a Super Bowl-feeling about them.
2. Indianapolis Colts (7-0)
I don’t know if the 49ers necessarily laid out a blueprint on how to stop Peyton Manning and the Colts, but they at least showed how to contain the potent Indy offense for four quarters.
3. Minnesota Vikings (7-1)
I bet Brett Favre and Jared Allen wish they could play the Packers every week, because they’ve owned Green Bay in two games this season.
4. Denver Broncos (6-1)
Teams always learn more from losses than they do wins, so it’ll be interesting to see how Josh McDaniels and his coaching staff adjusts heading into Monday night against the Steelers.
5. New England Patriots (5-2)
We’ll see what kind of team the Pats are over their next five games: vs. Miami, at Indy, vs. the Jets and at New Orleans. Is Tom Brady back to his usual self or did he just benefit from putting up outrageous numbers against two bad teams in the Titans and Bucs the past two games?
6. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2)
The Bengals should be fresh coming off their bye, but they face two opponents in the Ravens and Steelers in the next two weeks that are looking to avenge losses to Cincinnati earlier in the season. Can the Bengals at least earn a split to stay atop the AFC North?
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)
The Steelers are feeling good after beating the Vikings two weeks ago and then getting Week 8 off. But they travel to Denver and then host Cincinnati the next two weeks, so we’ll see whether or not their record isn’t just a byproduct of facing bad teams like the Titans, Lions, Browns and the ever-inconsistent Chargers.
8. Dallas Cowboys (6-2)
Wade Phillips’ defense is starting to do a better job of creating turnovers and getting pressure on the quarterback. In the Cowboys’ last two games, they’ve racked up five takeaways and seven sacks. It’s no surprise that Dallas won both of those games and they’ll need more of the same when they travel to Philadelphia on Sunday night.
9. Philadelphia Eagles (5-2)
What an impressive win last Sunday as the Eagles thumped the Giants in every facet of the game. Can they do it again this week in another big divisional test?
10. New York Giants (5-3)
I don’t know what to make of this team – are they suffering from injuries or have the last three weeks been the norm? To date, the G-Men only have one win against a winning team, which came in Week 2 against the Cowboys. Their four other victories came against the Redskins, Bucs, Chiefs and Raiders. Yikes.
In a rare, in-season interview with reporters, Snyder said at a charity event that the team is embarrassed by its 2-5 start and hopes to turn things around soon.
Snyder has been the subject of much ire from some fans. Signs critical of the owner have been confiscated at recent home games as part of the team’s new crackdown on all signs and banners at the stadium.
Snyder was asked about the sign ban but did not address the issue. Regarding the fans, he said: “We’ve let everyone down, including ourselves, and we know that and we’re just apologetic.”
The Redskins are like a recipe that has gotten out of hand. Over the years, Snyder has simply added his favorite ingredients to the pot without regard to how the final product will taste. And what he has now isn’t even editable.
Snyder better take a long, hard look in the mirror once this season is over and re-evaluate the approach he has taken with running his team into the ground. His free-spending ways don’t work and it’s painstakingly clear that they’ll never work. He needs to do a better job of allowing the people he hires to run the football operations…to actually run the football operations.
He created this mess and now it’s up to him to figure out how to get the Skins back on the right track. Everything starts at the top.
The Washington Redskins have had some issues reaching the end zone this season. In their latest ‘toon, Bang! Cartoons displays the frustrations owner Daniel Snyder currently has with head coach Jim Zorn and quarterback Jason Campbell.
“Shanahan told the franchise there was little he could do in the middle of the season for them and that changing coaches during the season in the NFL rarely works,” a Redskins management source told FanHouse. “Several people that Dan Snyder trusts have suggested, if he makes a move, he should turn it over to secondary coach Jerry Gray. That could still happen.
“We are trying to give Jim every chance to turn it around. The move to [bring in offensive consultant Sherm] Lewis is to take more off Jim’s plate, especially the play-calling, because it is not working, and that is where Jim is spending much of his time. Now he can coach the entire team. Let’s see where that gets us.”
This is just another example of Daniel Snyder’s ineptitude as an owner. He makes rash decisions without fully thinking them through and looks for quick fixes instead of building from the ground up.
What would be the point of hiring Shanahan now? He would immediately be at a disadvantage with the players who liked Zorn and he would have no time to implement the changes he wants. It would have been a stupid move and quite frankly, Snyder is lucky Shanahan turned him down.
This reminds me of when Snyder flirted with signing Byron Leftwich in the offseason. Leftwich would have been a horrendous fit for the West Coast Offense, yet since he was the best quarterback on the free agent market, Snyder had to have him. In the end, Leftwich wasn’t signed but the ordeal hurt Jason Campbell’s confidence and left him questioning his future in Washington.
If Snyder really wants to help his team, he should work with his coaching staff on building a new offensive line, which is arguably a bigger issue than Zorn’s inabilities as a playcaller. Even if Snyder hires Shanahan in the offseason, the Redskins have a long way to go to get back to respectability.
According to a report by the Washington Examiner, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder wants Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden to be his next head coach.
Sources close to Snyder say he began considering options to replace coach Jim Zorn after losing to Detroit on Sept. 27; a victory that ended the Lions’ 19-game losing streak. The Redskins loss to Carolina on Sunday was its second in three games to a winless team. It followed a turbulent week when Snyder hired an “offensive consultant” to give Zorn another “fresh set of eyes” on a beleaguered offense.
Snyder has not contacted Gruden, say sources, but he believes the former Oakland-Tampa Bay coach might be the best fit among five Super Bowl winning coaches without jobs. Gruden currently is a Monday Night Football commentator who arrives in Washington for the Redskins-Philadelphia Eagles game on Oct. 26. Snyder and Gruden could meet during routine pregame research for the MNF program.
On the surface, this seems like a great fit. Gruden felt as though the Glazer family didn’t try to compete in Tampa, namely because they didn’t spend. The Buccaneers finished $45 million under the cap last year, which was Gruden’s final season in Tampa.
With Snyder’s free-spending ways and the NFL approaching an uncapped season in 2010, Gruden could construct the roster he wants right from the start. The key would be whether or not he could get the Redskins to play as a cohesive team, which is something Jim Zorn has struggled with.
This will be an interesting storyline to follow this season. That said, don’t be surprised if Snyder goes after some of the other big name head coaches that will be available in the offseason, including Bill Cowher and Mike Shanahan.
When it comes to examining the Washington Redskins, let’s take our foot off Jim Zorn’s neck for a second, shall we?
Since Daniel Snyder purchased the Redskins in May of 1999, they’ve had a winning record only three times in those 10 years (1999, 2005, 2007). In each of those winning seasons, they went to the playoffs but advanced no further than the first round. (And in 2007, they didn’t even make it past the first round.)
During Snyder’s reign as owner in Washington, the Redskins have been aggressive in free agency, inking notable names Bruce Smith, Jeff George, Deion Sanders, Jeremiah Trotter, Jessie Armstead, Randy Thomas, Lavernous Coles, John Hall, Phillip Daniels, Marvin Washington, Shawn Springs, Antwaan Randle El, Adam Archuleta, Andre Carter, London Fletcher, Fred Smoot, Jason Fabini, Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall.
But where has it gotten them?
This past offseason, Snyder made Haynesworth the richest defensive player in NFL history and so far, the Skins have an ugly win against the Rams and a loss to the previously 0-19 Lions to show for it. Granted, it’s still early and Washington can turn things around, but a team doesn’t lose to the Lions without having massive internal bleeding.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter via his Twitter page, Redskins head coach Jim Zorn’s job is safe for now. Schefter says that Zorn calls the plays, works well with Jason Campbell and would be too much to replace in the middle of the season.
Zorn’s ability to win in the NFL was already questioned last year after the Skins lost six of their last eight games. But a 1-2 start this season with an ugly home win over the Rams in Week 2 and an embarrassing loss to the Lions on Sunday has put his job on life support.
There’s really no excuse for Washington to be 1-2 when two of the three opponents on their schedule to start the season were the Rams and the Lions. Ironically, the only game in which they looked halfway decent was against the undefeated Giants in Week 1.
The Skins host the 0-3 Bucs in Week 4, travel to Carolina to play the Panthers in Week 5 and then host the Chiefs in Week 6. Those are three winnable games for Washington and if they aren’t at least competitive, one would imagine that Daniel Snyder wouldn’t hesitate to make a midseason move by firing Zorn.
But as Schefter reports, the problem is that Snyder would not only be replacing a head coach, but an offensive play caller as well. Chances are that even if he wanted to replace Zorn, he doesn’t have all the pieces to pull off a move like that right now.
This next three weeks are going to be crucial for Zorn and it’ll be interesting to see if he can save his job.
According to a report by the Washington Post, the Redskins made a “quick and unanimous” decision to pass on signing suspended quarterback Michael Vick if he were released by the Falcons (which is inevitable).
Some figured that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder would consider making a move for Vick because well, Snyder usually makes decisions without completely thinking them through and signing the troubled QB would certainly play into his consistently clueless thought process. But Vick would have been a horrible fit for Washington for a couple of reasons.
Outside of the obvious reasons not to pursue Vick (i.e. he could be suspended by the league, he’s nowhere near in NFL game shape, and the little fact that he used to breed dogs in order to fight them in his spare time), he simply isn’t a good fit for the West Coast Offense.
When he became head coach of the Falcons in 2004, Jim Mora naively hired buddy Greg Knapp as offensive coordinator because he thought Knapp could teach Vick the WCO. The problem was, Vick’s main struggles surrounded around his inability to set his feet properly, making quick reads and getting the ball out of his hand in a timely manner – skill sets that are imperative for a quarterback to have in order to be successful in the WCO.
Vick not being an ideal fit to run the WCO would have been reason enough for the Redskins not to pursue him – pissing off Jason Campbell would have been another. Snyder has done a horrible job instilling confidence in Campbell this past offseason and if Washington actively pursued Vick, it might have sent Campbell off the deep end. I realize Campbell doesn’t have massive upside, but he does have potential and with a little support, he might even become a reliable QB for the Skins in the near future.
Either way, don’t look for the Skins to pursue Vick – Snyder be damned. It just doesn’t seem like an ideal fit when you look at the situation realistically.
The deal is a good one for Miami, as Taylor will earn just $1.1 million in base salary, with incentives that could bring him another $400,000. He had been contracted to earn more than $8 million with Washington this season.
Rumors have linked Taylor to Miami since he was let go by Washington earlier this year, but the Dolphins seemed to be unwilling to go that route as they attempted to build their roster through the draft and younger free agents.
But coach Tony Sparano told Joe Rose on 560-AM on Tuesday that, with the draft complete and still lingering needs on defense, the front office would be taking another look at the Taylor situation this week.
“My heart has always been in Miami,” Taylor said in a statement. “I’m truly motivated to call myself a Dolphin again.
This is just another example of Bill Parcells getting the best of a situation. Taylor pissed Parcells off last year when he skipped the Dolphins’ voluntary off-season workouts and stated how he wanted out of Miami. So Parcells found a dope in Daniel Snyder and shipped Taylor to Washington for a second round pick in 2009 and a sixth round pick in 2010. And look how everything turned out – Taylor is back in Miami at a drastically discounted price, the Dolphins drafted Pat White with that second round pick, they still have the sixth rounder in their back pocket for next year and the Redskins are left with nothing.
