Another set of unfortunate news has hit the Washington Redskins team: their head coach shed tears as four of his star players made the decision to…
The Washington Commanders have been owned by Dan Snyder for more than 20 years. Additionally, since he acquired the team in 1999, mismanagement and ongoing public controversy have dogged the franchise.
Let’s review everything he has done for the Commanders, starting from the time he received the team’s keys and ending with the NFL owners’ unanimous approval of the team’s $6.05 billion sale to a group headed by Josh Harris, a private equity investor.
Dan Snyder made a lot of odd administrative choices while working with the Commanders. (Patrick Semansky, File/AP Photo)
Dan Snyder made a lot of odd administrative choices while working with the Commanders. (Patrick Semansky, File/AP Photo)
On May 25, 1999, Snyder, at that point 34 years old, paid $800 million, the highest amount ever spent for a sports team, to purchase the Commanders (later known as the Redskins).
The NFL’s youngest club owner, Snyder, was hailed as “the perfect person” by then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue to carry on the heritage of the franchise’s recently departed owner, Jack Kent Cooke. Snyder, who had made his money in marketing, had to sell his communications business in order to complete the deal.
He also had to obtain a loan from a French bank totaling more than $300 million and assume $155 million in debt from Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (now FedEx Field).
July 24, 1999
After rising through the ranks, general manager Charley Casserly has been with the organization for 23 years.
intern to executive, gives resignation consent. After acquiring all of the New Orleans Saints’ 1999 draft selections on draft day, Casserly was voted mid-year executive of the year by four different publications.
He led Washington to four Super Bowls, winning three of them, while serving as deputy general manager and then general manager. To replace him, Snyder enlisted his close buddy Vinny Cerrato, who was the player personnel director for the San Francisco 49ers for four years.
In around 18 months, Snyder would give Casserly a call to inform him that he had made a mistake in firing him. Cerrato would fight the idea that he was Snyder’s lapdog and that the only reason he had a job was because he was close to Snyder for the next ten years.
January 2000: Snyder’s initial eight months as the team advances to the playoffs seem to be a success for the club owner. It’s one of the rare occasions in Snyder and the Commanders’ more than 20 years as team owners that they would be regarded as successful, if not excellent. The franchise’s future is still up in the air at this point. Nobody anticipates that in the next 22 years, the team will only enter the playoffs five more times and get past the wild-card round once.
Dan Snyder’s first season as the team’s owner saw Washington win a postseason game. Fans should not have grown accustomed to that. (Reuters)
Dan Snyder’s first season as the team’s owner saw Washington win a postseason game. Fans should not have grown accustomed to that. (Reuters)
Snyder provided the other in July 2000.The Commanders are the first club to charge entry to training camp sessions, giving NFL team owners a new avenue to make extra money. In addition to parking, he charges $10 per person.
December 2000–January 2001
The official start of the renowned (or notorious) Washington coaching carousel. With three games remaining and a playoff berth in sight, Snyder fires Norv Turner, the head coach he kept after buying the team, despite the team’s 7-6 record.
After going 1-2, he appoints Terry Robiskie as the team’s acting head coach, and they are eliminated from the postseason. Marty Schottenheimer is officially appointed by Snyder as Turner’s replacement in January.
