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In full transparency, I’ve had this draft ready since April. That was when I first heard that Daniel Snyder was looking into selling the Washington Commanders. The title derived from Douglas Adams’s book of the same name was also in my brain. Instead of dolphins leaving me a note after they left planet Earth, the Daniel Snyder era has left me nothing but great contempt and exhaustion.
As I’m sure many long-time Commanders faithful fans like me who have watched this team continually underachieve (and occasionally make the playoffs) were delighted to hear the sale was finalized Thursday. The NFL finally approved a $6.05 billion deal that ended the Snyder reign of terror while ushering in the Josh Harris era. I’ve never wanted to say “out with the old, in with the new” as much as I do now.
What will Harris’ era entail? I don’t know. Another name change is on the horizon (Washington Football Team wasn’t too bad). I’m not expecting the 1991 Joe Gibbs, Posse, The Hogs, and the National Defense era to return immediately. But boy, it couldn’t be any worse than what we got in Daniel Snyder’s tenure. Let’s briefly go over the accomplishments of the 24 years of the Daniel Snyder Washington owner era, shall we?
- Washington has been to the playoffs just six times while notching a.427 winning percentage for the entirety of Snyder’s ownership.
- Twenty-seven different starting quarterbacks, including Danny Wuerffel, Jeff George, Carson Wentz, Donovan McNabb at the twilight of his career, and Mark Sanchez. The overall handling of Robert Griffith III’s injured knee was a reoccurring issue where Snyder loved to insert himself in personnel decisions.
- Ten different head coaches. This includes firing Marty Schottenheimer after the 2001 regular season, where he rallied the team from an 0-5 start only to go 8-3 and missing the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.
- The seven-year, $100 million contract to Albert Haynesworth.
- No NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl appearances during that time
- The overall tone def statements regarding changing the Redskins name and Snyder’s eventual about-face. (FedEx had to threaten to remove their signage).
- An inadequate memorial to former and late Commander's legend Sean Taylor.
- The D.C. Attorney General sued the team for allegedly cheating season ticket holders out of their deposits.
That’s not even counting the reports of a toxic workplace and sexual harassment, which Snyder allegedly allowed to prosper and was later directly implicated in. This is a laundry list of inadequacies, and Snyder’s entire tenure serves as a metaphor for the state of FedEx Field – worn, falling apart, and unattended to. Commanders fans deserve a new day, as they’ve seen the Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants ascend to some success. All three teams made the playoffs last year, while the Commanders played Sam Howell to see if he could be the man for this upcoming season.
With Daniel Snyder, it was less “Just win, baby” and more “Well, there’s always next year.” Instead of playoff watch parties, it was waiting for the next scandal to hit. All Josh Harris has to do is not be Daniel Snyder, and he wins. Speaking of parting gifts, Snyder gets more than $6 billion for failure because wealthy people tend to fail upward and sail off with a golden parachute.
Snyder did receive a $60 million fine after Mary Jo White’s extensive investigation. It feels like a slap on the wrist, but I’m sure fans, the overall workforce within the Washington franchise, and the league are delighted to see this sour era end. I know I am.