A year ago this week, on the eve of the Redskins' 2009 training camp, the AP published a story based on an interview with Daniel Snyder. Three times in the story, Snyder talked about what he had learned through his first decade of NFL ownership. Here's one of the quotes:
"It's been a learning experience for me, and it's been great," he said. "I started off awfully young. I feel like I'm finally coming into my own."
That story was published, of course, just before one of the worst seasons in Redskins history, during which Snyder was criticized as never before. Now we're on the eve of another training camp, and many of the introductory stories will surely focus yet again on what Snyder has learned: hiring a general manager and a strong coach, backing away from personnel decisions, cutting his friendly ties with players, and so on. For example, from Fox Sports this summer:
"I learned - and I think this has to do with Joe Gibbs - the most important thing for me personally is to have a head coach who is extremely competent," Snyder said. "That's what I've got with Mike. It creates an opportunity for me to be extremely hands off and not have to worry."
And some of Snyder's friends, like Joe Theismann, have already suggested that the owner's legacy begins now.
"Have any of us entered a new field or a new era of our life and said that I have it all figured out, I know exactly how it's supposed to work, I've got the formula?" Theismann asked last month on SIRIUS NFL Radio. "No. And that's what Dan has done. Dan has been able to now go through the 10 years, to understand exactly what he needs to as an owner and what he needs to have to have his football team have a chance to be successful."
But -- without being a total crank -- it seems worth pointing out that this year isn't the first time people will talk about what Snyder has learned, and last year wasn't, either. A brief history:
May, 1999: Snyder purchases the Redskins and attends owners meetings.
"I'm learning," he said.
September, 2000: Snyder appears at Northwestern with Mark Cuban.
"Some of the criticism is warranted," Snyder said. "I've made mistakes, but I'm learning."
June, 2001: Snyder tells reporters that he's learning.
"In the past season," Snyder told Adam Schefter, "I've learned humility."
"There has been some tremendous humility," Snyder told Knight-Ridder. "I'm learning how to be more and more humble every day. It comes with the turf. It comes with learning. I'm looking forward to getting things going in the right direction....You live and learn every day. You try to move on and make things better and better. But if you look at my experience with Marty Schottenheimer, it's just like I've done with every business. You let your best people do their stuff."
October, 2001: Snyder speaks at the National Press Club:
"One of the things I want to talk about and mention is I think my skill sets that I have learned," Snyder said. "I always pride myself -- some of my clients used to make jokes and say, 'This guy just learns and sponges all the information, keeps learning and learning and learning.' I will learn over the time in football how to get things right, and I think you'll find that over the many, many years and over the decades we are going to have some great, great results."
January, 2002: Redskins hire Steve Spurrier.
"I think too much power, in football, in hindsight -- having learned this now -- can be a difficult thing, a difficult challenge," Snyder said. "The amount of work is just too much for one person to do everything. I don't think it's healthy for one person to do everything. I think the devotion of time from the head coach should be toward coaching the team, and that alone is an incredible responsibility.
April, 2002: Redskins prepare for NFL draft.
"I'm a new owner in the NFL....It's almost three years that I've owned the club, and I'm learning," Snyder said. "Part of learning is figuring out which areas I can help in with my involvement. One thing I think I'm helpful on is, we're working hard to develop more and more relationships with the agents, the negotiating side of getting these free agents and getting players signed up. We don't want [rookies] holding out after the draft."
March, 2003: Redskins sign non-flashy free agents:
"I'm learning, OK?" Snyder said. "The first time I tried to swing for the fences and do it quickly. Now we're going to build it."
July, 2003: Redskins begin preseason.
"I've always been involved from the day I bought the team. But I've learned," Snyder said, via The Post, which continued:
He says he's learned that spending big doesn't mean big success, that hiring superstars doesn't always mean victories, and with training camp kicking off today, Snyder is at a crossroads -- his latest, detractors might add....
"In [2000], when he went and got Deion and Bruce and Jeff George, Dan was a fan with a lot of money," Theismann said. "He wanted every big-name free agent he could get. The way he's grown is that he now knows what it takes to be a winner in the National Football League. It isn't just big-name players."
Preseason, 2004: Snyder talks to HBO's Inside the NFL.
"Joe [Gibbs] has final say on everything. Period," Snyder said. "I've taken my lumps. I've come a long way. I think I've got incredible patience and understand things now that I didn't have when I first came into the league. I've learned a whole bunch."
September, 2005: Snyder does a chat with Extreme Skins.
"I've learned that a great deal of patience is required," Snyder wrote. "I've learned that you're going to make some mistakes, but to make fewer and fewer while making the right decisions. I've learned a great deal from Joe Gibbs."
January, 2008: Joe Gibbs retires.
"Joe's done a great job of stabilizing a situation that became unstable before, quite frankly, and really took hold," Snyder said. "He's taught me a lot. I've learned a tremendous amount from him and just enjoyed it."
February, 2008: Snyder announces the hiring of Jim Zorn.
"I said we'd be thorough and we'd conduct a full process and we did," Snyder said. "We did just what we said we'd do. What we were looking for was a coach with characteristics. And our characteristics were starting with character, a character person. Joe [Gibbs] has such character and I've learned so much not only about him, but about what I and the Redskins want in the future."
November, 2008: Snyder talks to Ed Werder:
"I've made plenty of mistakes, but I've learned from my mistakes as a good entrepreneur, a good CEO, would do," Snyder said. "I've matured. I wasn't patient enough in certain areas early on. I didn't understand the game the way I do now. I didn't understand the agents, the contractual relationship with the salary cap, the importance of the age of players. Now, it's easy for me."
March, 2009: Redskins sign Albert Haynesworth.
"We've learned our lesson," Snyder said. "This is not the old ways at all. This is what I should have done a long time ago. He's a very young man. I've learned that you don't do a seven-year contract with a player that's 33. You do it when he's 27. That's the big difference."
By Dan Steinberg DC Sports Blog -- Washington Post
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