There is something incredibly satisfying about watching the Washington Commanders’ resurgence and knowing that, somewhere, it’s got to be driving Dan Snyder nuts.
For almost a quarter of a century, that miserable, misogynistic and mean-spirited man owned one of the NFL’s crown jewels and for almost that entire time, the team was as awful as he was. Six playoff appearances in 24 years, and only one postseason win this century. Just two seasons with double-digit wins. Scandal after scandal after scandal after scandal.
Snyder finally sold the team in the summer of 2023 and, lo and behold! Two seasons later, the Snyder-less Commanders are back in the playoffs. With the fourth-best record in the NFC, no less.
“Thank you guys for everything,” current Commanders owner Josh Harris told his team after it clinched a playoff berth. “Playoffs!”
Having a winning team in Washington is good for the NFL, which has seen big ratings for Commanders games this year. It’s good for the long-suffering fans of the franchise, too, who endured one embarrassment after another from Snyder.
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Mostly, though, it’s good for all of us, who needed to believe that karma would eventually get its due. Who needed the reassurance of knowing you cannot get away with being a garbage human.
Sure, Snyder is still a very wealthy man, thanks to the $6 billion Harris and his fellow investors paid for the Commanders. He escaped appropriate punishment for a laundry list of wrongdoings, which included sexual harassment of employees and fostering a toxic and abusive workplace.
But the Commanders were Snyder’s lifelong love, his fandom dating back to when he was a kid and he’d go to games with his dad. Now that the Commanders are finally enjoying success, when they’re no longer among the NFL’s pariahs and pathetics, Snyder has no claim to it.
He can’t strut into the box reserved for the opposing team’s owner or hold court on the field ahead of Sunday’s wild-card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Should he turn up at Raymond James Stadium, his demand to be recognized as “Mr. Snyder” will be greeted with the eye roll it always deserved.
The Commanders are somebody else’s team now, and the glow of their accomplishments this season is reflecting on someone else. It’s schadenfreude that was long overdue.
Some might say it’s petty to revel in Snyder’s disappointment but … too bad. Team owners are, often, a pretty shameful bunch. In the NFL alone, Jimmy and Dee Haslam broke the bank to sign an unrepentant sexual predator, then tried to justify it by smearing the women. Houston Texans owner Cal McNair used a racist slur at a team golf outing. Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, Los Angeles Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis gave their loyal fans the middle finger when they left town to chase shiny new stadiums.
But Snyder was in a class by himself, the worst owner in all of sports.
He clung to his team’s former racist nickname for years, despite overwhelming sentiment against it. Only after sponsors started distancing themselves from the team did he finally relent. He couldn’t get a stadium deal done in Virginia, Maryland OR the District of Columbia.
He was ordered by the NFL to pay $60 million following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and financial improprieties against him. This is not to be confused with the $10 million fine the Commanders had to pay after a previous investigation found a toxic and misogynistic culture permeating the team.
And let’s not forget the Congressional investigations of both Snyder and his franchise!
“The Commanders can’t have it both ways,” U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said during the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s June 2022 hearing on allegations of a toxic workplace. “You can’t be constantly asking the public for subsidies and investment, and then not observing basic laws that govern the workplace.”
But Snyder had long acted as if he were above reproach, be it from the NFL, the fans or outside investigators. He didn’t care if he rubbed everyone the wrong way or that he was doing damage to both the franchise and league he claimed to love so much. Snyder was the owner of Washington’s football team, and he was going to do as he damned well pleased.
Except win. That he could never manage, and the Commanders’ quick turnaround under Harris is a further indictment of Snyder’s incompetence.
Getting back to the playoffs is a triumph for the Commanders. Doing it without Snyder gloating and getting the credit makes the resurgence that much sweeter.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.