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After reading these articles and watching a repeat of 'The Two Bills', it reminded me of how important stable and competent ownership is to the success of a National Football League team.
Reuben Foster’s arrival sparked business-side changes in Washington
This article recounts the hiring and inevitable firing after Allen signed Reuben Foster - with interesting speculation on why Dan Snyder may have hired Lafemina in the first place.
Redskins’ ‘do the right thing’ era was doomed from the start
Reuben Foster’s arrival sparked business-side changes in Washington
Allen’s skills as a football executive have consistently resided in a vat of ambiguity; his abilities as a politician are unquestioned. Allen plays to an audience of one, and he plays it well enough to continue to hold his position even as everything about the team crumbles. No playoffs since a one-and-out in 2015, dramatically reduced attendance (Lafemina’s biggest accomplishment may have been ending the chronic lie about a season-ticket waiting list), and a growing sense of apathy in D.C. and irrelevance beyond.
So Allen has now managed to fend off perceived or actual threats in the form of Scot McCloughan and Brian Lafemina. It’s currently believed that Allen will remain in place for at least another year and, as a practical matter, for as long as he can maintain whatever spell he has spun on the one man in D.C. with the power to send Allen packing.
So Allen has now managed to fend off perceived or actual threats in the form of Scot McCloughan and Brian Lafemina. It’s currently believed that Allen will remain in place for at least another year and, as a practical matter, for as long as he can maintain whatever spell he has spun on the one man in D.C. with the power to send Allen packing.
This article recounts the hiring and inevitable firing after Allen signed Reuben Foster - with interesting speculation on why Dan Snyder may have hired Lafemina in the first place.
Redskins’ ‘do the right thing’ era was doomed from the start
Type the words “Redskins” and “embarrassment” into Google, and nearly 300,000 results come up. Shame is nearly a synonym for Redskins.
Lafemina and his business cronies were brought in to change that. To do so would have required years of work, probably more than the 1,000 days that Lafemina had latched on to as a slogan, and even then, it would have required a miracle — like Snyder undergoing some sort of dramatic personality change.
Lafemina is a smart guy, and he had to see the landscape coming in, as did the others — which makes me wonder what role, if any, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who was Lafemina’s former boss, had in the arrival of the new business warriors at Redskins Park?
In other words, whose idea was it to bring in Lafemina, Ziff, Bye and Kline — the most dramatic change at Redskins Park since Snyder bought the team.
Yes, there was the hiring of coaches like Joe Gibbs and Marty Schottenheimer and other personnel moves that were important and dramatic.
But to make such a drastic change on the business side goes right to the heart of what Snyder was supposedly bringing to the table all these years. Sure, he’s not a football guy, we were told. But he is a smart, successful businessman.
Hiring Lafemina and company essentially called all that into question.
Bringing in Lafemina’s A-Team said something else. It said maybe Snyder has buried this franchise up to axle and needs help digging it out.
Lafemina and his business cronies were brought in to change that. To do so would have required years of work, probably more than the 1,000 days that Lafemina had latched on to as a slogan, and even then, it would have required a miracle — like Snyder undergoing some sort of dramatic personality change.
Lafemina is a smart guy, and he had to see the landscape coming in, as did the others — which makes me wonder what role, if any, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who was Lafemina’s former boss, had in the arrival of the new business warriors at Redskins Park?
In other words, whose idea was it to bring in Lafemina, Ziff, Bye and Kline — the most dramatic change at Redskins Park since Snyder bought the team.
Yes, there was the hiring of coaches like Joe Gibbs and Marty Schottenheimer and other personnel moves that were important and dramatic.
But to make such a drastic change on the business side goes right to the heart of what Snyder was supposedly bringing to the table all these years. Sure, he’s not a football guy, we were told. But he is a smart, successful businessman.
Hiring Lafemina and company essentially called all that into question.
Bringing in Lafemina’s A-Team said something else. It said maybe Snyder has buried this franchise up to axle and needs help digging it out.
