As published in The County Times (countytimes.somd.com)
By Ronald N. Guy Jr.
Sports fans, the real junkies, chronicle major events
like the general population documents lived history; the details - where we
were, who we were with, the time of day – are stored in our brains and protected
with a level of personal encryption that codes them as “Nat King Cole memories”
(i.e. “Unforgettable”).
Here’s one of mine.
Twenty-eight years ago, I traveled down a two-lane
highway lined with white sands and palm trees and surrounded by sparkling blue
water in all directions. The radio
played contemporary alternative rock and my hangover faded with each
aggressively struck guitar chord.
Breaking sports news interrupted the tunes; Jimmy
Johnson, fresh off consecutive Super Bowl titles, was resigning as head coach
of the Dallas Cowboys. As a then
passionate fan of Washington’s football team, and sworn Dallas hater, I was
smitten; Johnson’s departure would likely trigger the breakdown of a Dallas
dynasty that appeared poised to become the NFL’s greatest. That the reason was self-inflicted – Texas
wasn’t big enough for owner Jerry Jones’s and Johnson’s egos to coexist – only increased
my pleasure.
Hangover? What
hangover? I was cured – The Dallas
Miracle! - and looking forward to a celebratory beer…or six.
While Dallas would win one additional Super Bowl with
Barry Switzer as head coach, the Cowboys were never the same after Johnson’s exit. The Jones-Johnson divorce, to this day, is
one of the NFL’s great “what ifs” – and thankfully so.
Now it gets weird.
Nearly thirty years later, I’m back in that same place – white sands,
palm trees, little latitudes. A
smartphone replaced the radio with more planet-shifting sports news.
My buddy’s text: “Snyder is selling the team!”
Me: “Stop. Are
you serious?”
His reply: “It’s legit. I wouldn’t set you up like
that.”
No, he wouldn’t.
Not as a fellow long-suffering Washington Commanders fan. If any Commanders fan stumbled on a genie in
a bottle offering three football wishes, only one would be needed: a new owner. The end of Dan Snyder’s ownership would be
nothing short of football salvation…and salvation just might be in the offing.
Details soon followed our text exchange: Snyder,
entangled in multiple lawsuits, congressional investigations, boycotted by
Taylor Swift and universally hated by his team’s fan base, had hired Bank of
America to explore selling the team. The
process will be lengthy, and a new owner is not guaranteed, but this marked Snyder’s
first indication of a willingness to sell.
Hope replaces hopelessness.
Whatever the end, books will be written about Snyder’s
regime. An ESPN 30 for 30 is
inevitable. Business schools will study
it as a great cautionary tale. So, my words
here can’t do the horror of Snyder’s ownership justice. Suffice to say, he has ruined one of the
great brands in sports. He oversaw a predatory
work environment. He has disenchanted sponsors
and alienated former players. Three
governments – Maryland, Virginia and D.C. – have little interest in his want for
a new stadium. His minority owners have
fled. Congress has taken him to
task. Even his fellow NFL owners – many
of them bandits themselves - have been shamed into speaking out against
him. Snyder is increasingly isolated
and, if appearances are any judge, miserable – frankly, I hope he is.
What would new ownership mean? Could the Commanders again be a source of
civic pride, an entity capable of beautifully uniting the great demographic
diversity that exists across the DMV region?
That seems a premature, nostalgic dream.
For now, Snyder’s predicament and potential downfall is the story. He represents the consequence of hubris, of
entitlement, of an insular world of skewed truth, of self-proclaimed martyrdom
and failure to take responsibility, of ethical corruption and of, ultimately,
the failure to treat people with decency and respect.
As with Johnson’s departure from the Cowboys three decades ago, time will tell what Snyder’s potential divestment of the Commanders means. I can only hope it has as much positive impact on D.C. football as Johnson’s departure detracted from the Cowboys. Like many Commanders fans, I cling to a simple dream. I just want my team back. The one I loved, win or lose. The one that existed before Dan Snyder.
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