Is a hot mess of a franchise. I admit that I was fooled by RGIII's rookie success. It seems everyone was. This story about Shanahan being packed and ready to go at the end of last season is all the evidence we need to know just how bad things are in D.C. Let's break this down by the individuals involved as see where each went wrong.
Dan Snyder: Colin Cowherd is fond of saying that two things make guys stupid, beautiful women and sports. The later certainly applies to Synder. Jerry Jones is uncomfortable with the level of micromanaging Synder is allegedly engaged in. Seven coaches, four playoff appearances, and two playoff wins since he took over as owner 14 years ago. The problem with owners like Synder and Jones, and the late Al Davis, is that they are insane. They keep doing the same thing expecting a different result. It's actually mind boggling to witness how stupid these guys are when it comes to running their teams, especially given the examples of success they have around them. Building a good football team is not rocket science, it's not easy, but the formula is very straight forward.
Synder is too close, too buddy-buddy with RGIII according to recent accounts. The owner and star QB relationship has disrupted the structure of the team and undermined Shanahan's authority. Suddenly all of the press conferences about what's been going on inside the locker room make sense. Snyder has given RGIII an open invitation to the mic and Shanahan clearly doesn't have the clout to reign his QB in. Snyder got a taste of how much the fans loved RGIII so he figured he'd make his star QB even more visible and accessible in 2013. Dumb. Dumb because he doesn't know his team or the game well enough to know that his squad played way over their skis last year. Snyder is a head line chasing owner, not a championship chasing owner. He wants to win the PR battle more than he wants to win on Sundays. Or at least he thinks he can devote equal attention to both and have success. Owners like Dan Snyder remind us that life isn't fair, that incompetence can win over intelligence, and that rich humans are humans first. More on the implications of the Shanahan story in a bit.
Shanahan: Mike Shanahan is the guy who's been dating his partner for a while and after he/she does something truly crazy, he almost leaves, but then decides to stay. If you get to the point to where you seriously plan to leave any relationship then it's best to just do it and not look back. I'm not sure what Shanahan thought he was going to gain by staying in Washington and I'm disappointed that he didn't leave last year. Oh yeah, it would have been bad for him. The media and public would have destroyed him and he probably wouldn't have gotten another coaching job in the NFL. As it stands now though, things aren't that much better and now he has to answer questions about almost quitting last year. There's no coming back from this situation and now the real reason for this cluster&#@, Dan Snyder's incompetence, will be lost in Shanahan's flip flopping. Relationships rarely get less crazy once the crazy comes out. If the crazy is crazy enough to make you pack your things then you're only making it worse by convincing yourself that either you can handle the crazy or that the crazy will go away.
RGIII: He's young and unfortunately has walked into the real world with a delusional football moron holding his hand. RGIII's got to wise up quick or he's going to be out of the league in five years. RGIII has gotten too close to the owner and allowed himself to be alienated from his teammates and coaches. He's bought into his early success too much and allowed other people to control his inner scoreboard. I worry that he may not have a good inner scoreboard because of how poorly he's navigated this year. Griffin needs to drastically change his mode of operation for next year, but here's why RGIII's career is in serious jeopardy...
1) Dan Snyder is the worst owner in football because he is so far incapable of changing his management style in the face of his failure.
2) Snyder has driven away too many coaches to attract any good young talent. Shanahan is done after this year if not before unless Snyder begs him to stay. Shanahan should stay only if Snyder promises to be more like Robert Kraft and less like Al Davis. A young talented head coach would be stupid to work for Snyder unless he changes his ownership style because said coach will never have enough control over his team to win consistently. Snyder will never attract top coaching talent and he's probably too stupid to know that the reason is him.
3) RGIII needs a brilliant young coach and GM to be successful. He simply won't last in this league without a creative and disciplined coach, because RGIII's panic default is to run and he's simply too small to last as a runner in the NFL. This team also needs a GM to build the defense and manage the draft and free agency better. Good luck getting those two important pieces with an owner with a track record like Snyders.
I'm saddened by what I see in Washington because I think RGIII is a good young man and could be good for this league. He won't reach his potential because his boss is an idiot and he's so far too naive to see the consequences of his actions and the actions of others. Guys like Jones and Snyder make money and make the league money, but they are not good for the game of football. If I were a young star player I'd never sign a second contract with either team. The chance to really shine a bright light on ownership incompetence past when Shanahan decided to stay with his delusional, dumb as rocks, crazy-ass boss. Life is not fair, and it's often the young and less empowered that pay the price. RGIII's best year might have been his first.
Dan Snyder: Colin Cowherd is fond of saying that two things make guys stupid, beautiful women and sports. The later certainly applies to Synder. Jerry Jones is uncomfortable with the level of micromanaging Synder is allegedly engaged in. Seven coaches, four playoff appearances, and two playoff wins since he took over as owner 14 years ago. The problem with owners like Synder and Jones, and the late Al Davis, is that they are insane. They keep doing the same thing expecting a different result. It's actually mind boggling to witness how stupid these guys are when it comes to running their teams, especially given the examples of success they have around them. Building a good football team is not rocket science, it's not easy, but the formula is very straight forward.
Synder is too close, too buddy-buddy with RGIII according to recent accounts. The owner and star QB relationship has disrupted the structure of the team and undermined Shanahan's authority. Suddenly all of the press conferences about what's been going on inside the locker room make sense. Snyder has given RGIII an open invitation to the mic and Shanahan clearly doesn't have the clout to reign his QB in. Snyder got a taste of how much the fans loved RGIII so he figured he'd make his star QB even more visible and accessible in 2013. Dumb. Dumb because he doesn't know his team or the game well enough to know that his squad played way over their skis last year. Snyder is a head line chasing owner, not a championship chasing owner. He wants to win the PR battle more than he wants to win on Sundays. Or at least he thinks he can devote equal attention to both and have success. Owners like Dan Snyder remind us that life isn't fair, that incompetence can win over intelligence, and that rich humans are humans first. More on the implications of the Shanahan story in a bit.
Shanahan: Mike Shanahan is the guy who's been dating his partner for a while and after he/she does something truly crazy, he almost leaves, but then decides to stay. If you get to the point to where you seriously plan to leave any relationship then it's best to just do it and not look back. I'm not sure what Shanahan thought he was going to gain by staying in Washington and I'm disappointed that he didn't leave last year. Oh yeah, it would have been bad for him. The media and public would have destroyed him and he probably wouldn't have gotten another coaching job in the NFL. As it stands now though, things aren't that much better and now he has to answer questions about almost quitting last year. There's no coming back from this situation and now the real reason for this cluster&#@, Dan Snyder's incompetence, will be lost in Shanahan's flip flopping. Relationships rarely get less crazy once the crazy comes out. If the crazy is crazy enough to make you pack your things then you're only making it worse by convincing yourself that either you can handle the crazy or that the crazy will go away.
RGIII: He's young and unfortunately has walked into the real world with a delusional football moron holding his hand. RGIII's got to wise up quick or he's going to be out of the league in five years. RGIII has gotten too close to the owner and allowed himself to be alienated from his teammates and coaches. He's bought into his early success too much and allowed other people to control his inner scoreboard. I worry that he may not have a good inner scoreboard because of how poorly he's navigated this year. Griffin needs to drastically change his mode of operation for next year, but here's why RGIII's career is in serious jeopardy...
1) Dan Snyder is the worst owner in football because he is so far incapable of changing his management style in the face of his failure.
2) Snyder has driven away too many coaches to attract any good young talent. Shanahan is done after this year if not before unless Snyder begs him to stay. Shanahan should stay only if Snyder promises to be more like Robert Kraft and less like Al Davis. A young talented head coach would be stupid to work for Snyder unless he changes his ownership style because said coach will never have enough control over his team to win consistently. Snyder will never attract top coaching talent and he's probably too stupid to know that the reason is him.
3) RGIII needs a brilliant young coach and GM to be successful. He simply won't last in this league without a creative and disciplined coach, because RGIII's panic default is to run and he's simply too small to last as a runner in the NFL. This team also needs a GM to build the defense and manage the draft and free agency better. Good luck getting those two important pieces with an owner with a track record like Snyders.
I'm saddened by what I see in Washington because I think RGIII is a good young man and could be good for this league. He won't reach his potential because his boss is an idiot and he's so far too naive to see the consequences of his actions and the actions of others. Guys like Jones and Snyder make money and make the league money, but they are not good for the game of football. If I were a young star player I'd never sign a second contract with either team. The chance to really shine a bright light on ownership incompetence past when Shanahan decided to stay with his delusional, dumb as rocks, crazy-ass boss. Life is not fair, and it's often the young and less empowered that pay the price. RGIII's best year might have been his first.
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