250 years ago, the first know appearance of the term "redskin" appeared in the papers of Sir William Johnson. The Oxford English Dictionary says the word is "frequently considered offensive." Efforts to re-examine and change Indian-based nicknames for sports teams begin in the late 60's The movement gained pace in the 90's, and even the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidated the trademark on the team's name as disparaging. Danny Snyder fought his way through the courts in order to hang onto the team name-- even as the voices against the offensive term grew louder. Schools and sports teams across the nation phase out Indian-related nicknames and many newspapers and reporters publicly refused to speak the name out loud.
Such obstinance is a team tradition, unfortunately. Original team owner George Preston Marshall stubbornly refused to integrate the team and was the last team in the NFL to hire African American players. Little Danny Snyder is refusing to acknowledge the growing sentiment of the sports fans and in the face of recent protests against bigotry said nothing on the issue until FedEx publicly asked to have the team name changed. Pepsi followed suit and even Nike dropped the teams' merchandise from its website-- but Snyder would still only say that the team is "undergoing a thorough review of the team name" This should come as no surprise, as Snyder is the tone-deaf owner who said just five years ago, ”We’ll never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use all caps.” Snyder has long been known as incompetent and despicable during the 21 years he has owned the Washington team.
in 2000, Snyder told ESPN that Norv Turner, who had just coached the Redskins to an NFC East title, would be with the team for "a long time.” Danny fired Turner with three games left in the season, despite the Redskins’ winning record.
Snyder exploited the 9/11 attacks for profit, quickly adding a $4 "security surcharge' to ticket prices soon after the 2001 attacks occurred.
In 2005, Snyder began issuing the "Redskins Extra Points Mastercards" and informed fans that it would be the only credit card he would accept for season tickets He withdrew the entire scheme after ticketholders threatened to revolt and MasterCard unilaterally cancelled the program.
Snyder's company was fined $3 million dollar by the City of New Orleans for breaking the lease on its Six Flags property after Katrina.
Conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute summed up Snyder’s football operation as a “leading exemplar of this tendency toward irrationality” in a 2006 report. Kevin Hassett, director of economic policy studies at AEI, cited Snyder for running a “seriously mismanaged” operation.
in 2006, Snyder was caught selling one-year-old expired peanuts from a bankrupt airline in order to save money.
For two years, Snyder tried to flout Maryland laws banning indoor smoking in the stadium. The state was able to obtain the evidence they needed to win in court from promotional videos filmed by the Redskins themselves.
Snyder was forced to make restitution to a former nanny in 2006 and ticket office employees in 2008 for failing to follow labor laws and pay them what he owed them.
After the real estate crash in 2008, a 72-year-old grandmother (who was a long-time season ticket holder) requested to be let out of her season ticket contract. Snyder responded by suing her for $66,000. She could not afford a lawyer, and Snyder won the judgment by default. He was lambasted by fans and sportswriters alike.
In 2009, the team denied that beer was being sold inside the stadium bathrooms. It wasn't too long until videos of the unsanitary practice began popping up on Youtube.
Snyder was tossed off the board of directors of Six Flags, after his disastrous marketing effort saw the company's shares tank and one of the company's institutional investors sued to have Snyder removed from the company for fiduciary irresponsibility. In 2009, Snyder's theme park operations filed for bankruptcy.
For years, Snyder claimed to have "more than 200,000" names on the waiting list for Redskins tickets. Snyder was caught in a lie after the team was reduced to putting tickets ads on the side of local buses and the sight of large swaths of empty seats began appearing on TV broadcasts of games.
For years, Snyder-- who was mocked for the low-tech replay screens at FedEx field-- tried to claim that the stadium was wired for analog and wouldn't accommodate digital screens. In 2009, Snyder was finally caught in another lie, when Paul McCartney and U2 both performed concerts at stadium, bringing their hi-def screens that somehow worked when plugged in.
Snyder got bamboozled by Broncos owner Pay Bowlen into hiring Mike Shanahan after Bowlen gave Syder a "ringing endorsement" of Shanahan after they parted ways. It was later disclosed that Bowlen fired Shanahan and that Bowlen got off the hook for $7 million after Shanahan was hired by the Redskins.
In 2010 when there was no salary cap in effect, Snyder tried to manipulated a few contracts while no one was looking. It's a bit ridiculous for anyone to think that an operation on the scale of the NFL would ever not be looking-- and unfortunately for Snyder, they were. The NFL responded by penalizing the team a total of $36 million in salary cap space. The team — already crippled by a lack of draft picks — suffered further as a result.
Snyder was accused of improper influence of senior U.S. Park Service officials after the Park Service violated its own policies and approved Snyder's request to clear-cut 50,000 square feet of mature trees in the C&O Canal national park that were obstructing views of the Potomac River from Snyder's residence. Snyder screwed up yet again, though-- he forgot to pay off someone in Montgomery County, which later fined him $37,000 and forced him to replant the trees.
Snyder also badly misplayed all his contract negotiations with Kirk Cousins, failing to either commit fully to Cousins and secure his services for the long term, or to acquire a veteran or drafted quarterback to replace him. Eventually, the clock ran out after two franchise tags, and Cousins left in free agency, feeling unwanted by the team.
In 2018, reports surfaced that Redskin officials had coerced Redskin cheerleaders into posing topless for a calendar shoot in Costa Rica in front of a paid audience of sponsors and stadium suite-holders and later being required to accompany strange men to fraternity party-like bacchanals.
In terms of football, Danny Snyder has been an abject failure. Every coach hired by Snyder has left the organization without a winning record. Jay Gruden was fired during the 2019 season after posting a 6-year tally of 35 wins and 49 losses. Bill Callahan could only manage 3 wins and 8 losses. Mike Shanahan left after a cumulative record of 28-52. Jim Zorn was 12-20. Joe Gibbs was 30-34. Steve Spurrier went 12-20. Marty Schottenheimer finished 8-8 in his only season on the job.
Even as he tried to usher in a new era last year, Snyder wasted no time in demonstrating why he is regarded as one of, if not the most clueless owners in the NFL when he began the January press conference to introduce Ron Rivera by wishing the gathered press corps a “Happy Thanksgiving.” As he stood at the podium prepared to instroduce himself the franchise’s head coach, Rivera was surprised to find there was no jersey up there with him. Just about every press conference announcing a new head coach in the NFL features a custom jersey, but Snyder didn't deliver on this one.
Now come reports that three people representing 40% ownership of the team are tired of Little Danny Snyder's dragging his feet and dragging the team down with him-- and are now trying to sell their share of the team. The new head coach, Ron Rivera, tells sources that team officials settled on two new names several weeks ago-- despite Snyder's claim that he is only studying the issue. So yes-- little Danny knows no shame or embarrassment and stubbornly persists in the bigoted tradition of George Preston Marshall..
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