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A lot of fans of the Washington Redskins have never paid much attention to the front office staff much beyond owner Dan Snyder, team president Bruce Allen and perhaps Sr. V.P. of Football Operations/General Counsel, Eric Schaffer. Besides the coaches and players, there is usually more consideration given to the personnel executives like Doug Williams (Sr. V.P. of Player Personnel), Alex Santos (Director of Pro Personnel) and Kyle Smith (Director of College Scouting/Personnel); whose decisions directly affect the product on the field. But when the report surfaced that some recently hired executives had been let go, the backlash from fans was intense and loud.
Washington’s front office confused and angered some loyal followers when it let Brian Lafemina (President of Business Operations and Chief Operating Officer), Steve Ziff (Chief Marketing Officer), Jake Bye (Senior VP of Consumer Sales and Marketing) and Todd Kline (Chief Commercial Officer) go just seven months after bringing all four on board to help reverse the franchise’s deteriorating fan experience.
This all wouldn’t be such big news had the four not been brought into the organization with such fanfare. When they were hired this past May, not only was there a press release issued, a special reception was held for the media to get to know them.
All the execs are highly respected in the NFL and when talking to any one of the four (something all went out of their way to make easy to do), they appeared sincere and earnest in what they came to Washington to accomplish.
“Brian is coming to Washington with fresh thinking and big ideas to implement,” Snyder was quoted in the initial press release, “And I have full confidence that with Brian’s addition and with Bruce Allen continuing as team President, the Redskins’ success will continue to grow, both on and off the field.”
Lafemina and his group had already begun to implement changes in the organization, giving military discounts, dispelling the long-held story that there was always a season-ticket waiting list, adding stadium perks and generally trying to improve fan-team relations. There was a white board in the former NFL executive’s office on which was written: “We have to do the right thing for 1,000 days and people are going to believe us.”
The four men didn’t even get half of that before they were escorted out the door. And this all has happened a few days before the players take the field for an important Week 17 game against an NFC East division foe, the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s significant because not only can they spoil a division opponent’s chances for the playoffs, the Redskins would beat last year’s Super Bowl winners and end 2018 with an 8-8 record.
Technically, losing Lafemina & Co. should not affect the play on the field. And in the big scheme of things, news of the business of front offices and/or personnel department hirings and firings aren’t given another thought. But even some of the players were surprised and confused by the move and, to a man, each spoken to held Lafemina, especially, in high regard and approved wholly of what he was sent here to do.
These reason these execs lost their jobs so suddenly (and soon after being hired) is complicated and might be for several things. Certainly the recent moves of the team made it difficult for them to carry out their responsibilities (like the signing of recently-arrested Reuben Foster which many fans hated) and some have intimated that they were getting too much credit (more than Allen) for making things better for fans. Regardless, many fans feel another public relations disaster has been added to a Redskins checklist that they feel can’t stop expanding.
There are folks out there dying to love this team and many will say there’s one move in particular that would cure much of their overall dissatisfaction. But moves like the organization’s latest keep the Burgundy and gold faithful from being able to trust that their best interests are not high on the front office’s list of priorities.
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