Redskins: Inside Dan Snyder’s tragic quest to be a hero

A manipulatory hierarchical structure

Snyder has always preferred a heavy hand in the Redskins affairs, across all departments. But an NFL owner can not manipulate the many cogs of a franchise by himself. This fact gives the normal owner an inclination to put together a trustworthy staff, one that he can rely on to make decisions he might not have as much insight into. It might convince a normal owner to create a team with open-minded thinkers, tireless workers, and people who can elevate those around them in a healthy working environment.

Dan Snyder is not a normal NFL owner. With a severely misplaced superiority complex, his desire is not to supplement his team with sensible decision makers who might assault his ego, but to instead magnify his own influence by using a stooge to do his work without leaving his fingerprints. That stooge is team president Bruce Allen.

Since being hired as the team president after Vinny Cerrato’s ousting, Allen has amassed a record of 59-87-1. Taking out division winning seasons in 2012 and 2015, which both proved to be flukes, Allen is 40-74-1. Over that span, the losses have been compounded by countless embarrassing public relations episodes, and football moves that lack consistency, and show no real evidence for any direction.

Allen’s resume suggests that he should have been fired a long time ago, as part of Snyder’s hero games. But even with thousands of fans calling for his ouster directly to the Redskins Twitter account with the hashtag #FireBruceAllen, and with thousands more actively protesting by refusing to attend home games anymore, Allen still stays. In fact, he thrives.

Despite his record, which would be improved by annual 7-9 performances, a glowing quote from Snyder rests on Bruce Allen’s team bio page, on Redskins.com: “Bruce Allen is the personification of an NFL winner. Our fans know his heritage; we know his abilities. He is the right person to lead our club.”

This quote reeks of denial, in its purest and most destructive state. What kind of make-believe world does Snyder live in, you ask? In what kind of world can Snyder say that Bruce Allen is a winner? In what kind of world can Dan Snyder, of all people, speak for the fans who so forcefully oppose his words directly, on a platform for all to see? The fans who are ignored, neglected, and monetarily leeched by Snyder every year?

In a world where Snyder is the hero.

Bruce Allen is not the personification of an NFL winner. He is the personification of Dan Snyder’s will. With Allen’s hand, Snyder plays a crucial role in the Redskins’ decision-making. This was made particularly clear when Brian Lafemina was fired, as he threatened Snyder’s manipulatory power structure. And it was made clear when Snyder recently promoted Bruce Allen to oversee both business and football operations, against the cries of fans who have watched their franchise rot from the inside out for twenty years. Snyder can’t fire Allen. Allen is too valuable to Snyder’s artificial structure.

With Allen by his side, Dan Snyder is the hero. He surreptitiously works through another human being to achieve his personal goals, manipulates subordinates to keep his perfect system in tact, and fires genuine people to label them as scapegoats for his failure, and by extension, keep his hero archetype alive.

Dan Snyder must be the hero. At the cost of all the noble traits heroes are meant to possess.