From the stories that we have heard over the years, we all know that John Riggins will speak his mind. It is good to finally hear someone who will say what they want to say, when they want to say, but will also give people their due respect when it is appropriate. I will listen to the The Diesel before I will listen to Skip Bayless. Riggo at least put on some pads and has some experience on the gridiron. But, I think the Diesel may have gone a bit too far. There is something to what he says about the disconnect between former Redskins players, and the organization, but to say Daniel Snyder has a dark heart was a bit comical and over the top.
I am glad that Riggo pointed out the fact that there is something wrong with ownership. I mean I have been wondering for years, why is it that Joe Theismann, Darrell Green, Art Monk, Monte Coleman, Jeff Bostic, Brian Mitchell, Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm or even Mark May along with a list of others, are not in high positions with Washington Redskins Inc.. We all know that Daniel Snyder is not a football guy. We all know that Vinny Cerrato is not popular with the fans. We all know that Dan Snyder is the one responsible for Vinny Cerrato’s decisions. But to say that this man is a bad person takes this entire situation beyond football. If you do not like Dan Snyder I can respect that. But before you make a comment about a man, make sure you know that man. Riggo has no personal stories that will back up his claim. To a man, it is alright to go off of your gut feeling, but once you open your mouth you had better know what you are talking about. I love John Riggins to death as a former Redskins player, but this claim is mistimed and misplaced.
The one thing that I will give Riggo is that he has been consistent with his disdain for Dan Snyder. I understand that he believes Dan Snyder has driven the Redskins organization into the ground. I mean the Redskins have a 78-89 record during Snyder's regime. We (the Redskins) are also 52-66 since Cerrato's second tenure began in 2002 and Coach Jim Zorn is the fifth head coach since 2000. The organization has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on players and coaches in the last decade and has three playoff berths (1999, 2005 and 2007), and two wild-card playoff victories (1999 and 2005) to show for it. But call Dan Snyder a failure as an owner. Call him a sorry excuse for an owner. Call Dan Snyder an egomaniac, but do not call him a dark hearted person.
A dark heart is the D.C. Sniper from 2002. A dark heart is anyone who is willing to kill themselves and others because of religious beliefs. A dark heart walks into a building and starts shooting people just because of their ethnicity, religion, or skin color. Dan Snyder is not a dark heart. I am sorry I have to defend him in this respect. I do not agree with a lot of moves that he has made, but no one can say that he has not tried to win. No one can say that he has not tried to take a different approach to trying to put out the best product on the field. He may not have done it correctly, but he has tried. I do not know what happened with Coach Joe Gibbs and Greg Williams. We all know that something went on behind closed doors that is not being discussed. We all know that it was for personal reasons why Greg Williams was not Joe Gibbs’ successors. It could not have been for performance reason. We had a Top 5 Defense, three of the four years that Williams was here. But this has nothing to do with Dan Snyder being a dark hart.
I understand that we are all frustrated. I understand that we all want to win the Super Bowl this year. But we all need to calm down. I remember in 2005, the Pittsburgh Steelers were 7-5 and left for dead. People wrote them off and basically had the Steelers playing for a high draft pick. Well Pittsburgh rolled off 4 straight wins, locked up the #5 seed in the AFC Playoffs, and played three road games before landing in the Super Bowl against the Seahawks. By the way, Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl that year, 21-10 and had a very young Ben Roethlisberger at Quarterback. I also remember a 5-7 Redskins team from 2007 that rolled off four games and made the playoffs. What about the 5-6 Redskins team from 2005 that rolled off five straight wins and made the playoffs? My point being, you just do not know when the ship gets righted. You do not know when things are going start to clicking. People do not like hearing it, but Vinny Cerrato did put together a Playoff teams, but injuries, and lack of experience at Wide Reciever, as well as knowledge and trust of the West Coast Offense, have ravaged what should have been the NFC East Champs. We actually have the talent to go 11-5, but we are just not there yet. Blame that on whoever you like, but to question a mans heart is fighting words. And of all of the things that I have heard people say about Dan Snyder, this one crossed the line. Sorry Riggo I love you to pieces, but you went overboard.
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