The Commanders’ unforeseen playoff run has softened memories of the franchise’s struggles the last couple decades.
But the Dan Snyder years will never be totally forgotten, even though they produced as many playoff wins in 24 years (two) as Josh Harris’s team has this month. On Saturday, ESPN published a lengthy feature that detailed, among other things, how Snyder tried to blow up the sale of the team to Harris in the hours after NFL owners unanimously approved the record $6.05 billion transaction in July 2023. Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs and others reportedly had to talk Snyder down.
And Snyder apparently isn’t enjoying the franchise’s rebirth ahead of Sunday’s NFC title game against the Eagles.
“He fucking hates it,” a source told ESPN.
Snyder has made London his home for the last two years, but those who live in the Washington, D.C., area certainly don’t share the same opinion. The Commanders brand—one that was selected three years ago while Snyder was still in charge—has even become popular for the first time as Commanders merchandise has set records this month after playoff victories over the Buccaneers and Lions.
Jason Wright, the first Black team president in NFL history, got plenty of a blowback for the rebrand after it was announced in February 2022. As Commanders president, Wright was in charge of business operations for Snyder’s last three seasons and the first under Harris. The Commanders hired Campbell’s CEO and president Mark Clouse as Wright’s replacement in December, and Wright stepped into an advisory role.
“When the new ownership took over, the engine we had built on the business side really took off,” Wright told Front Office Sports. “It feels so good to see the fruits of our work and all that we had fixed.”
While the football side of the Commanders was outside his purview, Wright recalled the reactions to the hire of head coach Dan Quinn a year ago.
“When he was hired by [general manager] Adam [Peters] and Josh, I got tons of texts from people who thought I had something to do with it because they didn’t understand my job,” said Wright, who played seven years in the NFL with the Falcons, Browns, and Cardinals. “Nonetheless, it was interesting to get all those responses from former players who I played with and current players around the league. They were universally positive when they talked about him as a leader and as a human.
“I had never seen that with a white head coach. With a white coach, there’s usually somebody that has something to say about how they were treated. Saying ‘invited to the cookout’ doesn’t even capture it.”
After Quinn’s hire came the other major piece of the Commanders’ success: quarterback Jayden Daniels, the second overall pick in April’s draft.
“He’s a unique and generational talent,” Wright said.
While Wright’s stint as a team advisor came to an end recently, he’s a Commanders fan for life and he will be cheering Sunday from afar—unlike (allegedly) Snyder.
“I literally gave my life to this franchise for the last four and a half years,” Wright said. “It beat me up and gave me the most joy I ever felt professionally at the same time.”
