Redskins president Bruce Allen speaks with media at Senior Bowl

Redskins president Bruce Allen spoke to the media for the first time in a long time, making an appearance at the Senior Bowl.

The Washington Redskins have a team to fix, and a fragmented relationship with the fanbase to mend, and so far this offseason, they’ve kept their moves out of the spotlight. Rumors have run rampant in the nation’s capital, and speculation has spiraled into a furor.

For a time, it seemed as if the Redskins front office would only thicken its shell, keeping it concealed from the outside world. But earlier today, team president Bruce Allen made a surprise appearance at the 2019 Reeses Senior Bowl, speaking with local media while practice carried on in the background. The video of Allen speaking is below. Jay Gruden was not in Mobile at the time; Allen said that Gruden was at Redskins Park, interviewing assistant coaching candidates.

With it being years since Allen’s last appearance in front of the media, did Allen show change? Was he older? Wiser? Perhaps that is up to interpretation. But Allen seemed to be in fairly good spirits, and easily more comfortable with the media than he’s been in the past. A number of quotes stand out from Allen’s session, pertaining to the staff changes, the team’s direction, and his status with the fanbase.

When asked about his franchise’s relations with the fans, Allen spoke of his similar passion for the Redskins, dismissing the #FireBruceAllen movement as simple passion to win. Allen subsequently expressed his like-minded desire to win, and when pressed on the team’s image, Allen mentioned new hires in the business side, stating “I think the people we’ve hired are going to bring a great enthusiasm for the market that the fans will appreciate.”

In that regard, it’s hard to imagine someone bringing more enthusiasm than Brian Lafemina, who dubbed Washington D.C. as a “sleeping giant” of a market, and openly pursued healthy relations with the fan base. But Allen appeared optimistic that the changes made will benefit the team. He declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Lafemina’s ousting.

Allen also touched on the front office structure on the personnel side, often deferring to other names when discussing decision making. He explained that he has “a lot of confidence in Doug [Williams], Alex [Santos] running the pro department, and Kyle [Smith] running the college scouting department.” He also said that Eric Schaffer has already begun negotiations with impending free agents, such as Preston Smith. These factoids from Allen make clear that while Allen received a promotion from Dan Snyder, the input of others will not be minimized, at least not from an outside perspective.

Finally, Allen talked about the team itself, and in these quotes, he showed little change. Allen asserted that, no matter the circumstances, the Redskins were only two games out of the playoffs. And while he stated that injuries were not an excuse, he expressed a strong belief that the Redskins are “close to being better” and close to contending in the playoffs, even though the success they had in 2018 was not sustainable.

This has been perhaps one of the biggest pitfalls of Allen’s tenure in Washington; operating as if the team is always one or two players away, when in reality, more patience is required to build the winner that fans long for. Allen hasn’t displayed such patience, and in his media session, he failed to capitalize on the opportunity to do so. The franchise could very well be closer to full rebuild than true contention, but if so, Allen remains in denial.

Ultimately, fans can decide how they want to react to Allen’s statements. They can buy the optimism he shows, if they are willing. But it doesn’t change the fact that Allen is, and has always, been a bit removed from reality with the Redskins. The fans are passionate, but not for a perennial loser, run by executives who refuse to change their unsuccessful ways. Allen assumed that the fans only began to fade at the end of the season, when the team was too thin to compete. But in reality, fan attendance was down all year, and that can be attributed to their fading faith.

The team has bright spots on the roster, but needs more time and more direction to ever get over the proverbial hump. Simply trying for a first-round exit in the playoffs every year isn’t the way to build a winner. And with every passing season, the Redskins lose value from blue-chip players like Trent Williams and Ryan Kerrigan.

Allen presented himself as genuine, and he very well could be. But take any statement made public with a grain of salt. Snyder’s Redskins have always favored an iceberg-like structure, keeping the bulk of the base submerged in dark waters. And he and Bruce Allen have always favored a cushion of denial over acceptance of the truth. Believe in better times if you want to. But Allen’s promises are empty for now.