John Riggins: "Snyder Is a Bad Guy...W/ a Dark Heart" - Dallas Cowboys Forum

Hostile · 11-04-2009

Riggins says Snyder is 'a bad guy'

There's been no harsher critic of the Redskins this fall than John Riggins, from his YouTube laceration of the Skins' front office to his hour-long skewering of the franchise on a WTOP town-hall program with Frank Herzog.

And yet just when you think he's brought all the ammunition he can muster, Riggo nudges the rhetoric up another notch or two. The Hall of Famer was a guest on Showtime's "Inside The NFL" this week, which first airs at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. The network sent out a release with some of the quotes, which I'm quoting from here.

James Brown: "John, you have been pretty doggone outspoken on the Washington Redskins and what is not working. Maybe it is an obvious question, but why so passionate? Why so intense in terms of your critique or criticism of the Redskins?"

John Riggins: "First of all, it's what I do, JB. I have been in broadcasting for the last 15 to 20 years, so it is sort of my job. And the other part is, and I've been asked this question a lot, when they say do you have an ax to grind? And I think any time an older player criticizes or says anything about his former team, unless he's throwing Bon Mots at them, that all of a sudden you get a, 'What's he griping at?' type of thing. Maybe that's the case. But truthfully, I do have an ax to grind and I just realized I have been a little bit disingenuous. But this is a bad guy that owns this team. I'll just tell you that upfront. Bad guy. And if the Commissioner is worried about potential new owners and saying some of these guys shouldn't apply, he might want to police his own inside guys...."

Brown: "Why is he a bad guy?"

Riggins: "Because his business practices, I think. I don't want to say they are unethical, but I don't think it's a place, a climate that is created there where people can be successful. It's driven all by his ego and everything has to come from him. And I just don't think you can be successful in those situations and when you are dealing with someone with the mindset of a child and yet owns a franchise in the NFL. I think you have some problems there."

Cris Collinsworth: "We are talking about Daniel Snyder . Are you saying in some way he is unethical? Because I have dealt with him in the past and I have never sensed anything close to that. Or are you saying he has made bad decisions on the football side as an owner? Or what is specifically the issue?"

Riggins: "I am saying that I don't think that this franchise can be successful where you have people saying, 'Oh, this person Dan Snyder wants to win. He wants to win.' It's all about priorities. 'What's my priorities? The priority is it's all about me. I have to have my needs met, then I want to make money, and those are one and two, and then I want to win. You can see by the decisions that are made....I don't know if you have agreed with anything I am saying so far, but at this point, I would think you would say, 'Yeah, I'll go along with that.' This person knows nothing about football, absolutely nothing. I don't think they have a clue how a football team comes together, how it works. And yet they are the ones that are basically calling all the shots through a puppet, which is Vinny Cerrato. That is my take on it....I speak for the fans because these are the people that paid my salary for all these years. They are the ones that need to know that this is a bad guy."

Collinsworth: "There is a fine line between being a bad guy and a bad GM, if you will. Are you saying a bad guy as in the NFL needs to take a look at this?"

Riggins: "Let me put it to you this way, Cris, this person's heart is dark."

Collinsworth: "Fix the Redskins. They make you the general manager tomorrow, who are you hiring as a coach?"

Riggins: "I can't answer your question realistically, because I couldn't be the General Manager with that ownership in place. I said I had an ax to grind. The ax to grind is that people need to know if you are going to go to these games and support this team, that money goes in this person's pocket. And you know what? Bad guys shouldn't be enriched."

The Redskins, through a team spokesman, declined to respond to Riggins' comments.

Danny White · 11-04-2009

I wonder if Snyder will try to take action against him?

Maybe remove him from their Ring of Honor?

theebs · 11-04-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny White

I wonder if Snyder will try to take action against him?

Maybe remove him from their Ring of Honor?

he is going to make an announcement that riggins championships dont count!!

to be honest though, his answer to snyder being unethical made no sense.

its ok though, as long as this continues I am happy.

SaltwaterServr · 11-05-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by theebs

he is going to make an announcement that riggins championships dont count!!

to be honest though, his answer to snyder being unethical made no sense.

its ok though, as long as this continues I am happy.

The man sued his fanbase who couldn't afford their season tickets in a rough economic time, then resold the tickets that the aforementioned fanbase couldn't afford. If you have to defend such a practice as "it's just business" then your position is indefensible from a ethics standpoint.

Aikbach · 11-05-2009

Six Flags is in trouble, he mismanaged that formerly booming park system as well it seems.

Daudr · 11-05-2009

Did anyone else watch John Riggins on "Inside the NFL" on Showtime last night? Wow, I cannot believe how much disdain he has for Snyder. He called him a "bad man" and really laid into how the man has handled the Redskins franchise. He is obviously upset at the state of the Redskins.

It made me a happy camper to see how bad it's gotten for the skins.

CowboyFan74 · 11-05-2009

I miss that show..

malbis030347 · 11-05-2009

Riggo really blew everyones head last night when he said Snyder was a 'bad man'....you could see that Collingsworth, JB and Simms were trying to say something to save face as that came out of nowhere......but they should have known he was subject to say anything after what he said about Zorn not ever being able to coach a high school team.....

theebs · 11-05-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaltwaterServr

The man sued his fanbase who couldn't afford their season tickets in a rough economic time, then resold the tickets that the aforementioned fanbase couldn't afford. If you have to defend such a practice as "it's just business" then your position is indefensible from a ethics standpoint.

thats a good point and I know snyder is a scumbag, but riggins responses to the question offered nothing of substance.

Bach · 11-05-2009

If we had a poster on here like Riggins, I'm sure he'd be labeled a hater and a fake fan.

Daudr · 11-05-2009

Here is a link to the article by The Post on the ticket scandal.

ArmyCowboy · 11-05-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bach

If we had a poster on here like Riggins, I'm sure he'd be labeled a hater and a fake fan.

Not if we were going through what the Redskins are going through.

You see this place after one loss, the way some fans are getting on Jerry Jones, and we still have a winning record.

If we were going through the Redskins season, Riggins comments would be mild compared to many in here.

bbgun · 11-05-2009

This has really gotta hurt Danny because, unlike Jerry and the guys who played for Landry, Snyder grew up idolizing guys like Riggo and Joe T. Even wore a Redskins belt buckle as a kid. When your boyhood heroes spit in your face, that can't be a good feeling.

fredp22 · 11-05-2009

Quote:

It made me a happy camper to see how bad it's gotten for the skins.

I think was better when we were both good and fighting over who had the better team than now with who has the worse owner. Jones really isn't much better than Synder.

DaBoys4Life · 11-05-2009

Is he talking about Snyder or Jerry Jones?