If the sale of the Washington Commanders is approved by NFL owners to the Josh Harris group — and it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t be, unless the financing is CVS receipts — Dan Snyder has published his last profile in the team media guide.
Each year, sports teams produce media guides — a book, or today, a digital publication — that consists of biographies of team officials and players, statistics, history and other information.
The Commanders produce one every year, and every year since 1999, Snyder’s profile has opened the guide, the first thing you turn to.
It is typically published the summer before the start of the season. Snyder’s first profile appeared a few months after he was approved by owners at the end of May in 1999. I would expect for the 2023 season, if Harris is approved by owners at the end of the month — even if by some double-secret probation conditional approval — he and his group will lead the 2023 Commanders media guide.
With at least 17 partners in the Harris ownership group — one of them being Magic Johnson — the owner section is going to take up a lot more space.
Make no mistake, these owner profiles are love letters to themselves. I don’t know who wrote Snyder’s over the years. His first one, though, was easy. Everyone was excited about Snyder taking over:
“Mr. Snyder assumed control of the Redskins in Spring 1999 after a unanimous vote of approval from the owners of other National Football League teams. After the unanimous vote, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue described him as ‘the perfect owner.’
“Mr. Snyder’s goal for the Redskins is simple — ‘Win the Super Bowl.’”
Tagliabue was a lifelong Redskins fan, as was his successor, Roger Goodell. These are friends Washington fans could have done without.
This is how Snyder opened his first media guide profile: “Dan Snyder went to his first Redskins game when he was seven and can trace his devotion to the team to that day. ‘Who knows why something connects deeply. All I know is that on that day, at a game between the Redskins and the Giants, I became a fan for life.’”
Then he spent the next 23 years running this franchise like a seven-year-old.
Snyder hadn’t damaged anything yet, having only been owner for several months, so the rest of his profile described his business world successes and his philanthropic efforts. But the 2000 press guide was a testament to his football accomplishments — the 10-6 NFC East champions and their lone home playoff victory this century — all of which Snyder had little to do with.
“Since assuming ownership of the Washington Redskins in 1999, Daniel M. Snyder has installed a renewed sense of urgency and purpose to the storied franchise. In his first year with the team, he helped guide the team to its first NFC Eastern Conference Championship since 1991 and Sport magazine named him the 1999 NFL ‘Owner of the Year.’
Sport magazine was out of business a few months later.
“’During the 1999 season we continuously evaluated our strengths and weaknesses and planned to enhance the former while eliminating the latter,’ Snyder said. “We think we made the moves required for a potential championship.’”
Turns out their weakness was the presence of Snyder.
He was off and running then. His 2008 media guide: “Daniel M. Snyder’s life has been consumed by an enduring love for the Washington Redskins. Growing up in the D.C. area, his youth and young adulthood were shaped and inspired by his devotion to the team. Now entering his tenth season as owner, Snyder has put his passion into action, guiding the Redskins toward victory, on and off the field. He has consistently led the franchise to new prominence in the community, the business world, and the National Football League. Under his leadership, the team has raised millions of dollars for charities, maintained its place in the top-tier of the most valuable franchises, and visited the NFL playoffs three times.”
“Visited” was a nice way to put it. His record to that point was 68-74.
By then there was an ownership group page that included his mother Arlette, his sister Michele and three of his closest friends — Robert Rothman, Dwight C. Schar and Frederick W. Smith.
You won’t find any of those friends in the 2022 media guide.
Like in the beginning and throughout these publications, he kept beating the drum about a young boy and his love for the football team.
“Daniel Snyder is Co-owner and Co-CEO of the Washington Commanders. A self-made man and entrepreneur at heart, Dan Snyder’s life is marked by an enduring passion for the people, the team and the community he loves.”
We heard about that passion during the 2022 congressional hearing about the toxic workplace Snyder created.
“He has been a key member of the leadership team since he and his wife Tanya Snyder acquired the team in 1999. A D.C. area native, Dan Snyder is a lifelong Washington fan who grew up attending Washington Commanders — then Redskins — games with his father Gerald. His childhood and adolescence were shaped and inspired by his devotion to the team.”
Much of the rest of his 2022 story was filled with his charitable endeavors. But good deeds are not a deodorant. Al Capone ran soup kitchens during the Depression.
New owner Harris, like Snyder, has said he grew up as a Redskins fan. I wouldn’t be surprised if his first profile in the new, 2024 media guide plucks some of the same heartstrings the pieces on his predecessor did.
Let’s just hope Harris eventually gets a happier ending.
⦁ You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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