We already noted that Dan Snyder gave two sitdown interviews to NBC and FOX on Thursday afternoon (but not CBS, something Brett Haber isn't too pleased about), and we already noted his comments about Dave McKenna and the Washington City Paper lawsuit. But Redskins fans may be more interested in his comments about the role Snyder plays in the day-to-day operations of his club.
Right off the bat, Snyder told NBC that the one thing he he learned in 12 years was the importance of letting his employees do their jobs.
"I've learned to get the right people and let them do their thing," Snyder said. "When you've got them, encourage them, love them up and that's what we're doing."
He then praised Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen while sort of condemning the men he replaced.
Snyder was asked about the perception that he meddles with his team, and did his best to shoot that down.
"There's a little bit of a misperception here," he said. "When Joe Gibbs was here for over four seasons, nobody came to talk to me about football. It's the same thing now. It was very similar between Mike Shanahan and Joe Gibbs. They take command of the football team and I love that."
That's all well and good, but what followed was a shot at Vinny Cerrato, the former personnel man, that came a bit out of left field (emphasis mine).
"For me it's easy. I don't want to be involved," he said. "I enjoyed this draft probably more than any draft we had, because these guys worked so hard at preparation. It's very different than Vinny Cerrato, their structure. "I can tell you that I thought the trades and the moves that Bruce made to accomplish what he accomplished was really remarkable. It was a great Redskin day, and I think people two or three years from now are going to love this draft."
Well then. Cerrato goes from being the loyal employee to the class clown. Later, Snyder talked more about the mistakes he made before hiring Shanahan and Allen, saying if he could take one thing back, it would be "a couple hirings."
"A few years ago, I'd make a change," he said. "I wish Mike Shanahan was available back then. He wasn't, and we're thrilled to have him now."
Dan Hellie asked whether he was specifically talking about Jim Zorn. Snyder smiled, paused, and responded as follows.
"No," he said. "I'm referring to how I'm really pleased with Mike and Bruce."
One last note: Snyder was asked about Albert Haynesworth, and had the line of the interview at the end.
"Sometimes," he said, "when you spend a lot of money, disappointment would be an understatement."