The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

John Riggins:....And I think any time an older player criticizes or says anything about his former team, unless he's throwing Bon Mots at them, that all of a sudden you get a, 'What's he griping at?' type of thing. Maybe that's the case. But truthfully, I do have an ax to grind and I just realized I have been a little bit disingenuous. But this is a bad guy that owns this team. I'll just tell you that upfront. Bad guy. And if the Commissioner is worried about potential new owners and saying some of these guys shouldn't apply, he might want to police his own inside guys....

Brown: "Why is he a bad guy?"

Riggins: "Because his business practices, I think. I don't want to say they are unethical, but I don't think it's a place, a climate that is created there where people can be successful. It's driven all by his ego and everything has to come from him. And I just don't think you can be successful in those situations and when you are dealing with someone with the mindset of a child and yet owns a franchise in the NFL. I think you have some problems there."

Cris Collinsworth: "We are talking about Daniel Snyder . Are you saying in some way he is unethical? Because I have dealt with him in the past and I have never sensed anything close to that. Or are you saying he has made bad decisions on the football side as an owner? Or what is specifically the issue?"

Riggins: "I am saying that I don't think that this franchise can be successful where you have people saying, 'Oh, this person Dan Snyder wants to win. He wants to win.' It's all about priorities. 'What's my priorities? The priority is it's all about me. I have to have my needs met, then I want to make money, and those are one and two, and then I want to win. You can see by the decisions that are made....I don't know if you have agreed with anything I am saying so far, but at this point, I would think you would say, 'Yeah, I'll go along with that.' This person knows nothing about football, absolutely nothing. I don't think they have a clue how a football team comes together, how it works. And yet they are the ones that are basically calling all the shots through a puppet, which is Vinny Cerrato. That is my take on it....I speak for the fans because these are the people that paid my salary for all these years. They are the ones that need to know that this is a bad guy."

Collinsworth: "There is a fine line between being a bad guy and a bad GM, if you will. Are you saying a bad guy as in the NFL needs to take a look at this?"

Riggins: "Let me put it to you this way, Cris, this person's heart is dark."

RedskinsFreak wrote:I'm gonna say that yeah, that goes too far.

There's ignorance, arrogance, ego, greed and a whole bunch of other things Snyder is probably guilty of to some degree.

But that doesn't make him THAT.

I speak for the fans because these are the people that paid my salary for all these years. They are the ones that need to know that this is a bad guy."!

Riggins: "Let me put it to you this way, Cris, this person's heart is dark."

RedskinsFreak wrote:There's ignorance, arrogance, ego, greed and a whole bunch of other things Snyder is probably guilty of to some degree.

But that doesn't make him THAT.

RedskinTexan wrote:I think his comments were out of line and quite frankly crossed over to being too personal and mean spirited in nature. He obviously has anger towards Dan Snyder and his comments serve no purpose. As a matter of fact they make Snyder a little more sympathetic and more likely a victim.

RedskinTexan wrote:I think his comments were out of line and quite frankly crossed over to being too personal and mean spirited in nature. He obviously has anger towards Dan Snyder and his comments serve no purpose. As a matter of fact they make Snyder a little more sympathetic and more likely a victim.

HEROHAMO wrote:The more negative press the better.



There is a major problem within the Redskins "leadership" or front office!

That is the bottom line.


We need to drill it in Snyders head. Redskins fans want a man who knows football running the operations!

If Snyder can get it through his thick skull then all this pub is worth it.

Riggo has been around the orginization and knows Snyder better then any of us would know him on a personal level.


With the combination of fans, former players and the rest of the NFL speaking negatively maybe this time Snyder may listen? Maybe , maybe not?
We will see what happens this off season.

Redskins Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache


On John Riggins’ comments about Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder:

“This morning when I came in, I turned my computer on and I was looking at Pro Football Talk and I saw a comment that John Riggins had made about Mr. Snyder and it really bothered me the more I sat there at my desk because there has been a lot of criticism about him over the last few weeks. This is a man I’ve known for six years, since I’ve been here. And in the six years, I’ve never seen John Riggins here. I met him once at the Beach Blitz down in Virginia Beach – never seen him in the building. So, to hear such a vicious criticism of somebody I consider not just my employer, but a good friend, bothered me.

“As much as I hadn’t been talking to the media, I felt like this was something I needed to do. Somebody needed to stand up and set this record straight. The comment that was made was ‘a dark heart’ – that’s totally, totally untrue. The problem is the fans don’t get to know Mr. Snyder like we do. They get an impression from things that are written and from things that people say. Let me just tell you something, for a person that’s been here for six years, that’s gone to him for things that I needed in my family - there’s times he’s come to me when he’s heard about issues in my family and offered his assistance – is unsurpassed. He’s one of the most generous, kind individuals you’ll ever meet.

“My wife and I are involved in Hospice and there’ve been countless times he’s come and helped us with issues and stuff with Hospice. To see that and get the feeling that that’s what everyone on the outside is hearing about this person, I decided it was time to come and set the record straight. It’s enough. It really is. We’ve had criticisms from people outside the building saying who Dan Snyder is and who is isn’t. They don’t know Dan Snyder and that’s the problem. Trust me because he and I, we work together. I’m not going to tell you that this is a utopia. There are no utopias in football, and there are no utopias in life. At the same time, enough is enough. Every story, there is one person’s side, another person’s side, and then behind it all there is a third side and it’s the truth.

“I just felt like it was time for somebody to come and throw a little truth out there. We keep hearing these other sides, these other factions, and to be quite candid, the third side – the truth – is that this person, all he wants to do is win. That’s all he wants to do. He will spend his money, he will spend his time, he wants to win, he is here for the people, for the fans, for the Washington Redskins. Nobody pains more when we are unsuccessful than Dan Snyder. There is nobody that cares more about the fans than Dan Snyder. There is nobody that wants to win here, more than Dan Snyder. I just think that its time to put out there, for you guys to understand, that everything that is wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder.

“It’s so easy for people that have access to the microphone everyday to point fingers and shuffle it on somewhere else. At the same time, I’m in on a ton of those meetings when decisions are made. A lot of the things that are right here, you can’t go back and say its so-and-so’s fault. Just to set the record straight, I just think it was wrong. I wish the best for Mr. Riggins in all his endeavors and whatever that he does. For me, that was enough. For me to wash my face in the morning and to feel like a man, or to talk to my kids about doing the right thing, I needed to come here and make this comment today. I got no other interests in it. I have a contract for next year so it’s not like I’m trying to dig something up and if they send me home, the way coaches’ contracts are written, they have to pay me anyways. Quite honestly, this is unsolicited, but from the heart and something that I thought I needed to do.”

He will spend his money,

he will spend his time,

he wants to win, he is here for the people, for the fans, for the Washington Redskins.

Nobody pains more when we are unsuccessful than Dan Snyder.

There is nobody that cares more about the fans than Dan Snyder.

There is nobody that wants to win here, more than Dan Snyder.

I just think that its time to put out there, for you guys to understand, that everything that is wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder.

RedskinTexan wrote:I think his comments were out of line and quite frankly crossed over to being too personal and mean spirited in nature. He obviously has anger towards Dan Snyder and his comments serve no purpose. As a matter of fact they make Snyder a little more sympathetic and more likely a victim.

Skinsfan55 wrote:Greg Blache objects to the personal attacks on Dan Snyder, as should anyone with a brain in their heads. Snyder deserves blame for the poor product on the field, but that doesn't make him a bad person, or greedy, or evil or dark hearted.