OPINION:
Dan Snyder is on the hit list again. This time, it’s the cancel culture’s Time’s Up who has drawn a bull’s-eye on his back.
The organization, whose supporters include Hollywood bigwigs Shonda Rhimes and Mark Walhberg, say the owner of the NFL’s Washington Football Team is making a power grab.
What’s he done?
Chased a young starlet out of her lingerie?
Nope.
Tried to knock Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones out of his highly perched major league sports spot?
No.
Mr. Snyder respects Mr. Jones and Mr. Jones respects Mr. Snyder. They’re on the same team — kinda. That is to say, both want their team to win on and off the field.
And if the Time’s Up gang thinks that’s why Mr. Snyder made his power grab, well, they’re probably right.
So what did Mr. Snyder do?
He told the other 31 NFL owners that he wants to own the WFT outright. He wants to buy out minority owners Fred Smith, Robert Rothman and Dwight Schar, who bought into the team in 2003.
The cost: $875 million.
The size of the portfolio: 40.5%.
The dotted line: Permission from the NFL.
Now, this might not be such a huge deal, except Mr. Snyder has been taking beatings since he bought the team from Jack Kent Cooke’s family in 1999.
Washington’s media fish bowl never made Mr. Snyder feel at home, although he grew up and was weaned on the former Redskins’ chief rivals — the Cowboys.
The team’s cheerleaders never measured up those popular Cowgirls in Dallas.
Even the Pittsburgh Steelers’ terrible towels and Lambeau Field’s leaps were better crowd pleasers than most of Washington’s plays on the home field.
And the team’s nickname? Suffice it to say the fight was long, as the nickname followed the team here from Boston in 1937.
As for Washingtonians’ non-support of the home team, they jumped on the Cowboys’ wagon because they beat D.C. to the punch when hiring Black players.
After all that comes the sexism.
The team has been accused of sexual innuendos and Mr. Snyder has, too. Oy vey.
This is not to debunk the allegations or condone Mr. Snyder or any handyman on the team. It’s just that it’s time to reckon with the truth.
People don’t like Dan Snyder. Fine. But if he’s denied ownership, watch out.
New things, new people stop glistening before long. Like the new stadium the Cooke family built for the team in 1997.
The D.C.-Maryland-Virginia TV market is a moneymaker, and the Washington Football Team is looking for a winning team, a new nickname, a new logo — and a new home.
The lease in the incredibly shrinking fishbowl in Maryland expires in 2027. Hmm.
Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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