Both Snyder (l) and Allen's leadership has come under heavy scrutiny this season for myriad reasonsgetty images
The Redskins' acquisition of LB Reuben Foster off waivers following an arrest on a domestic violence charge was the "tipping point that sped up the exit of the group of imported executives brought in last summer to save this franchise from a dwindling and angry fan base," according to Thom Loverro of the WASHINGTON TIMES. Sources said that former Redskins President of Business Operations & COO Brian Lafemina went to Owner Dan Snyder and President Bruce Allen with "direct feedback from corporate ticketholders upset with the Foster signing." But Lafemina and his team "lost that battle -- and the war." The Redskins "can't bring in a small army of executives ... to change the image and perception of this troubled franchise and then bring an accused woman beater." The Foster decision was one that "insulted and ignored the attempts by Lafemina and company to try to 'do the right thing' every day." Shame is "nearly a synonym for Redskins," and Lafemina and his team were "brought in to change that." Lafemina is a "smart guy, and he had to see the landscape coming in, as did the others," which begs the question of "what role, if any, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was Lafemina's former boss, had in the arrival" of he and others at Redskins Park. To make such a "drastic change on the business side goes right to the heart of what Snyder was supposedly bringing to the table all these years." Loverro: "Did Goodell and the league gently, or not so gently, recommend that Snyder bring Lafemina and his colleagues on board because the NFL was concerned about how low one of their once-premiere franchises had sunk?" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 12/28).
TRENDING DOWNWARD: In N.Y., Kevin Draper writes the federal government is "perhaps the rare entity in the nation's capital that is more dysfunctional" than the Redskins. The team after starting the season 6-3 will "miss the playoffs for the 15th time in the 20 seasons" since Snyder bought it. The outlook on the field next year "isn't any rosier," but it is also the "constant self-inflicted, off-the-field controversies and indignities that have drained many fans in Washington of any enthusiasm they once had for the team." In May, a front-page N.Y. Times story reported on the "increasingly risque and uncomfortable work environment" for Redskins cheerleaders. Then came the Foster news last month, with the Redskins "reportedly the only team to put in a waiver claim for him." The team "offered shifting explanations to an exasperated fan base about how much due diligence it had done on Foster." This month, S Montae Nicholson was arrested and "charged with assault" after video surfaced that "seemed to show Nicholson knocking a man out cold." At this point, Redskins fans are "nostalgic for a time free of the tumult of bad headlines and constant embarrassments" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/28).
