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The other day, Commanders star defensive tackle Jonathan Allen came on social media with the following question:
With a big opener week one, what’s one thing I can do to get the fans excited to come out? “I’ll do the most popular idea”!
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallen93_) May 20, 2022
As fans, we all understand that this team was not what it once was. Even the players see it. Allen, as a team leader, was asking what he (and presumably other teammates), could do to get fans to pack the stadium once again.
Well, the easy answer to this is just WIN! Another easy answer with a much harder end goal is to get rid of Dan Snyder!
Since purchasing the team in 1999, Snyder has been involved in a myriad of controversy - most recently the toxic workplace environment he is accused of promoting. There is absolutely NO QUESTION that the franchise has suffered directly because of him!
Last night, Rick Snider asked for two minutes to give his take on a story form USA Today citing the NFL owners are looking at a possibility of forcing out Dan Snyder. Please, give this a listen...
Rick Snider’s Washington says a USA Today report of NFL owners considering Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder’s ouster is worth watching. Gimme two minutes. pic.twitter.com/A0ca2Uxzoo
— Rick Snider's Washington (@Snide_Remarks) May 22, 2022
Here are the key takeaways I took from Rick’s two minutes:
From Rick Snider (on Dan Snyder possibly being forced to sell):
— Mark Tyler(Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) May 22, 2022
- "This is the time to start REALLY watching"
- "There is a LOT going on about this"
- "There is some real smoke behind this one; it's not a broken mirror"
*Rick is not one to throw shi! against the wall... pic.twitter.com/z5e1m4w8Ft
Now, let me just say, I respect Rick a lot, and he’s really not one to say stuff without having some knowledge of 1) where that information came from; and 2) there being a chance it could happen.
Yesterday, KyleSmithforGM wrote THIS highlighting Washington winning worst in several key off-field categories. One that stuck out to me was this tweet by Emory Marketing Professor Mike Lewis, ranking the NFL fanbases from first to worst.
We begin our rankings of NFL fanbases from the bottom with the Washington Commanders.
— Fanalytics with Mike Lewis (@FanalyticsMike) May 19, 2022
Check out the full rankings and details behind Emory Marketing Professor Mike Lewis's statistical ranking model here: https://t.co/fSdg5GdVp6 pic.twitter.com/ShEar9GBO7
Now many will ask, who in the heck is Mike Lewis - and that is a fair question, but if you read the details behind his analysis, they do hold some merit. We have to understand perception is reality here. Again, there is one area where the finger can be pointed...DAN SNYDER!
With the NFL owner meetings taking place this week, and a lot of smoke behind the owners possibly grouping together to get the 24 of 31 votes needed to force the diminutive tyrant to sell the team, this could be a VERY interesting week for Commander fans.
One can only hope and pray that a room of 31 billionaires (Snyder will supposedly not be attending), at minimum 24 will have the stones to make his ousting a reality, and help turn this once-proud franchise back towards the path of respectability.