The Bombshell

[Boone]

Having a single owner definitely makes a future team sale much easier to accomplish. For the NFL to approve this while Snyder is under investigation is morally suspect and wrong. But that doesn’t mean I think it is beneath them.

Id love to believe you’re right Derek.

 

[SilentThreat]

Owners meetings are next week so a lot will happen there.


It still feels to me like the ultimate goal in all of this was to have him end up a sole owner and his hand get forced because he cant afford it. Don't be surprised if those same sponsors that started pulling out over the name change start pulling out because Snyder treats women so poorly.

 

[SilentThreat]

Holy CRAP this is like a look into the past. There are references, a lot of them, to the old board we were mostly all on.

Dan Snyder, Accused Of Wielding Twitter Bot Army, Has A Pathetic History Of Astroturfing | Defector

The denial would carry more weight if only Snyder hadn’t already been caught employing sham media campaigns so often in the past. As bad as Snyder is as a team owner or boss, he’s worse at handling his own PR.

defector.com

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Holy CRAP this is like a look into the past. There are references, a lot of them, to the old board we were mostly all on.

Dan Snyder, Accused Of Wielding Twitter Bot Army, Has A Pathetic History Of Astroturfing | Defector

The denial would carry more weight if only Snyder hadn’t already been caught employing sham media campaigns so often in the past. As bad as Snyder is as a team owner or boss, he’s worse at handling his own PR.

defector.com

I must be a glutton for punishment since I read that whole thing. It was mostly a walk down memory lane of Snyder’s ridiculous and failed attempts at marketing. I wasn’t as involved in the other site when all that stuff referenced went on, so I don’t remember the details. I did laugh at the “I wouldn’t pee on him if he was on fire” line. That’s pretty standard and very tame for message board posts. Anyone taking that seriously probably needs a reality check. And I’m not defending the guys who said it or his tactics or the coordination they say happened. Just that a phrase like that is normally hyperbole and you can find millions of similar posts on message boards, Facebook, and Twitter every day. So that one gave me a chuckle.

As for the current charges of him creating bots to support him, I read a similar story a few weeks ago. I wanted to see if this one had any more information, but it did not. It’s just speculation with no connecting of the dots. It’s a just something we all expect he would do. None of this changes my opinion on Snyder and I wonder at this point whose opinion they think they need to change with a piece like this. Most fans know who he is and what he has done. But similar to the other stories, show the proof that it involves him. Not that proof in this instance will do anything other than show he’s still the same prick he’s always been. His reputation can’t get any worse, so speculating that Snyder might do what Snyder has done in the past, isn’t changing his poor reputation. At this point, it will take actionable evidence to get him out.

 

[Boone]

Dave McKenna wrote many a hit piece, many of which were filled with falsehoods, back in the day. He would routinely charge that Snyder and the Redskins would force ES staff to ban folks who made negative posts about Snyder or the team, among other charges that I can assure you never happened. Not even once. The team never talked to us. About ANYTHING. They took on Extremeskins as property but couldn’t have cared less about it, and that’s likely true today. If the goal was to usurp traditionally hostile media by owning a fan forum where they could bypass them, that strategy was about as successful as the teams free agency efforts back then.

I won’t argue that Snyder’s Front Office leadership wasn’t dysfunctional or defend how they treated people or carried out their business. But it was certainly no worse than the Washington Post and City Papers open vendetta against Snyder and the overall organization. As far as how the Extremeskins leadership got treated back then, we were dealt with professionally and with courtesy. Everything the team had agreed to, they more or less lived up to.

As for Andyman, 3 of us here were personally involved in the ‘acquisition’ and know exactly what’s what on that topic. I’ll just say, if you throw enough **** at the wall something is bound to stick at some point

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Thanks for that recap Boone. I’m always hesitant when responding to these types of things because with Snyder, there really isn’t much to defend. And I certainly don’t want to defend him and be on his side when we know how terrible he is. But as you say, someone acting in the same manner to go after Snyder is just as bad as the behavior they are criticizing.

I heard all those charges about the message board. I heard the same ones about the radio station. I know the hosts on the radio would routinely rip the team, the front office, everything. Yet people would still say “The Redskins owned radio station” as if this was state controlled media of a dictatorship. I don’t know what was done behind the scenes, but I know there were multiple hosts on that station that had very low opinions of the organization and Snyder specifically and they made them known. As for the message board, all someone had to do is take a look at it and see it was far from a propaganda arm of the team. Yes, there were always some posters that made you wonder if they really believed what they were posting. But some people are overly optimistic just as some are overly pessimistic about the team. The reality is on a message board or any social media site, you can find an opinion that confirms your opinion of some site without too much effort.

 

[Om]

McKenna lives!

Can’t believe that guy is still getting paid to write.

That said ... Defector?

 

[Shi no Tenshi]

McKenna lives!

Can’t believe that guy is still getting paid to write.

That said ... Defector?

All the ex-deadspin people.

 

[Win4us]

Was Andyman a legit insider?

 

[Boone]

You might say that

 

[Bulldog]

NDAs are not enforceable when the subject of the potential disclosure relates to the commission of a criminal offense or is contrary to public laws.

I am amused when I read some comments from internet posters that are talking about a rumored rape allegation and they say ‘but it’s covered in the team’s employment NDA' so the player or team official is protected from others coming forward.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

I just remember that after the purchase some of the admins started getting really powermad. I was one of the original members and got banned for saying the move to a 3-4 defence would go down as one of the all time poor decisions. one of the admins got pissypants and argued with me and cited some nonsense stats that didn't make his case so I blasted his argument. next thing I know I get told I am permanently banned from the site. what really bothered me was I supported that site from its inception, I knew one of the founders and was one of the first 40 members lol, and suddenly I was banned. to be blunt the site had become pretty lame anyway, they started getting all PC and whiny. someone told me about this place and it was much better, all the best posters ended up here anyway.

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

I remember sending the team an email offering to set them up with some actual indians who are redskins fans. I even offered to make some videos showing actual indians on reserves, wearing skins gear to show we are actually fans. but instead they hired some faucahontas indian guy who claimed to be a chief who turned out to be a wannabe. I had people from all over indian country from several tribes who would have spoken up to defend the name, but the team never even answered my email.

 

[Boone]

We likely all have strong feelings about any web-based communities we spend or have spent a lot of time on. My only response to your comments Rymanofthenorth is that, whatever post-acquisition changes happened at ES, they had nothing to do with the Front Office or the team. In any event, it's not worth wasting precious life energy and time on.

 

[Boone]

SilentThreat - you were talking about the projections for the salary cap ceiling rising exponentially in the next few years in the NFL thread. This is where I think your theory on Snyder getting bought out falls apart. You talked a lot about his financial status and how he is an untenable position, so much so that he'll be 'forced' to sell. But the reason that the salary cap ceiling may explode is because future revenues also explode. The TV deal numbers alone are going to enrich the NFL owners at a level we haven't seen before. Add into that returning to a more normal model where fans are actually attending games, and a re-brand launch that, no matter what the name, is going to spark the biggest period of apparel and swag sales in Snyder's tenure.... he is going to have more money at his disposal than anyone imagines. If the team arc continues upwards in terms of it's quality, ability to compete, and meaningful wins, Fed Ex (or 5 Guys Stadium - whatever it may become), is going to be standing room only again.

He has a ton of reasons to expect that he is on the cusp of vastly increased revenues that are going to far exceed any of his current debt. And the NFL would clearly be aware of what's coming.

For me, that's just as logical a reason for them to have approved his debt waiver and allow him to move to become sole owner, vs. what we hope is the reason.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I think you are right in why they approved that waiver. I think other teams could be going through that even without the scandal that exists here. I think the NFL will do whatever it takes to help the teams through this year. To me, I think where Snyder will fall short is in the area related to this particular scandal. He needs to make a financial investment into improving the front office culture and atmosphere. My impression of Snyder is that he wouldn't spend money on the things that he didn't think provided a direct return financially. It's why the scouting department was gutted. It's why the practice facility was outdated for a long time. It's why some of the features of the stadium were lacking. It's why the HR department was minimal. And that last one could have helped solve the issues related to the harassment and the overall work culture. So regardless of how much more money he gets and if he can keep the team afloat or not, he still has to make the necessary investment into creating a better culture in the front office where people feel safe.

 

[SilentThreat]

SilentThreat - you were talking about the projections for the salary cap ceiling rising exponentially in the next few years in the NFL thread. This is where I think your theory on Snyder getting bought out falls apart. You talked a lot about his financial status and how he is an untenable position, so much so that he'll be 'forced' to sell. But the reason that the salary cap ceiling may explode is because future revenues also explode. The TV deal numbers alone are going to enrich the NFL owners at a level we haven't seen before. Add into that returning to a more normal model where fans are actually attending games, and a re-brand launch that, no matter what the name, is going to spark the biggest period of apparel and swag sales in Snyder's tenure.... he is going to have more money at his disposal than anyone imagines. If the team arc continues upwards in terms of it's quality, ability to compete, and meaningful wins, Fed Ex (or 5 Guys Stadium - whatever it may become), is going to be standing room only again.

He has a ton of reasons to expect that he is on the cusp of vastly increased revenues that are going to far exceed any of his current debt. And the NFL would clearly be aware of what's coming.

For me, that's just as logical a reason for them to have approved his debt waiver and allow him to move to become sole owner, vs. what we hope is the reason.

This absolutely could poke a hole in my theory. The only 'argument' I could have is that the NFL has been signing massive TV deals while the team has been selling swag and tickets, but Snyder's reported net worth has not ascended beyond a small % more than his ownership stake in the team.... I may be misinterpreting what is defined as Net Worth, but I would assume that his ownership 'value' is included in that number.

 

[Boone]

Since you laid out your theory on it, my initial thoughts haven't changed. It's possible, not discounting that. But the history of how the NFL has handled things (and how Dan Snyder has operated) is for them to ride this out and bet on the outrage dimming as time goes on. I know they forced Richardson out as an owner, but he was an old man probably looking for an exit strategy already. And they forced the name change, but Snyder only acquiesced to that in order to RETAIN ownership... that's quite a different thing from giving it all up.

Thing is, who the hell is Dan Snyder if he's not the owner of an NFL franchise? I think his whole identity is wrapped up in being in control and holding power over that organization. If he loses that, he's just a rich guy that no one has any respect for.

If you are right, and it is possible the NFL has finally had enough or as Canadian Hog talked about, the modern era and cultural expectations have finally caught to the NFL, you will have bragging rights forever. I hope you are.

 

[SilentThreat]

 

[Bulldog]

Snyder won't be forced out. The owners are circling the wagons and they are going to protect him not because they love him but because a number of them have been involved or allegedly involved in questionable behavior and any one could become the subject of a lawsuit or media exposure for those acts.

It's also about business. The NFL was never really comfortable with the Raiders structure where Davis only owned a small portion of the team at one point and had a number of silent partners.

They like the chain of ownership and management to be clear from a financial perspective.

Besides, if Snyder owns 100% of the WTF and goes into deeper debt to make it happen then that's less in his pocket when he sells.

Nobody in the league cares about that.