Things look a lot different around the Washington Commanders these days. Although things may not have gone according to plan during the second season under general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn, fans remain extremely hopeful for the future.
And there is one silver lining amid the doom and gloom. That, of course, is that Dan Snyder is no longer the team's owner.
This is no more evident than in watching the Seattle Seahawks surge to the NFC Championship and a long-awaited return to the Super Bowl. It's been a remarkable campaign for the club, driven by exceptional roster construction from general manager John Schneider and expert leadership from head coach Mike Macdonald.
Commanders insider highlights Dan Snyder's incompetence after Seahawks clinch NFC title
Seattle's success led one respected Commanders insider to wonder what might have been. John Keim of ESPN blasted Snyder for not only removing Marty Schottenheimer from the equation, but also Schneider, who was in Washington's front office at the time and fell victim to the billionaire tyrant's ruthless sword.
"Dan Snyder made a TON of mistakes during his tenure. The biggest (football division): firing Marty Schottenheimer. Along with Marty, he fired a young exec: John Schneider. He’s done all right in Seattle."John Keim
It's a painful memory, but it merely confirms what Commanders fans already knew.
Snyder was an incompetent control freak who had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He dragged one of the league's most storied franchises into the proverbial abyss over his two-decade spell as owner. Nobody wanted to touch the organization, and accusations of a toxic workplace environment were the final straw for the NFL.
Schneider worked under Schottenheimer as the vice president of player personnel in 2001. He was held in the highest regard around the league, but Snyder held a different opinion. He wanted to bully his way into becoming a leading voice on personnel matters, which sparked Washington's rapid descent to rock bottom and beyond.
Would things have been different had Snyder not gotten rid of some extremely gifted talent evaluators for the sake of his own egotistical desires? Probably, but it was clear from a long way out that Washington's football franchise was going to be his own personal weapon for destruction.
Now, the tide is turning.
There is work to do, but Josh Harris' ownership group has made tremendous strides away from the gridiron. Facilities have improved for the players. A new venue at the old RFK Stadium site has made significant progress. Washington will host the NFL Draft in the coming years, and the team's reputation has been restored.
More importantly, the dark cloud created by Snyder is now a distant memory. Even if the scar tissue remains for now.