Dan Snyder did an interview with "The LaVar Arrington Show With Chad Dukes" on 106.7 The Fan, and it can only be described as a missed opportunity. The idea was that he would discuss his lawsuit with the Washington City Paper with a radio outlet that describes itself as "independent," but instead, most of the interview was devoted to a reconciliation between Snyder and Arrington, who have long had their differences. Here is audio of the interview.
The first six minutes of the interview had nothing to do with the lawsuit. Arrington thanked Snyder for bringing him to D.C., and the whole thing led to Arrington, Snyder and Mike Wise telling stories about Arrington's career. At the six-minute mark, Dukes jumped in to ask how Snyder views 106.7 as a station, to which Snyder said he didn't listen to them. Then, Wise asked about Snyder's reformed image, which prompted Snyder to reiterate that senior vice president Tony Wyllie suggested he sue the Washington City Paper. Wise then followed up by saying he didn't think the sections where the article allegedly made fun of Tania Snyder's breast cancer was damming, to which Snyder said "you'll have to ask breast cancer survivors about that."
Then, Dukes asked Snyder about the hypocrisy of Snyder saying the article's front-page photo was anti-Semitic while the team is named the "Redskins," which many feel is a derogatory slur against Native Americans. This is where it gets interesting.
Snyder seemed very miffed at the question.
"Obviously, you have not read some of the history of the Redskins and the name of the team and what it means," he said.
"I've seen a lot of lawsuits, though," Dukes responded.
"You've seen a lot of lawsuit victories from the Redskins overcoming those suits," Snyder said. "What's most important is that what the Redskins are all about is the tradition of the Redskins, fighting for old D.C., victory. The terminology of the Redskins is not meant to be offensive, and to compare that is silly. I'm sure it makes for good copy here and there, but you're talking about two different things."
"But let's be honest," Wise interjected. "You wouldn't name the team the Black Skins because African-American players would not play for you, and a lot of American Indians around this country don't like that term. I know there's only two million of them left ..."
And then Arrington cut him off, shocking almost everyone listening. Saying "I'm going to have a selfish moment here," Arrington cut Wise off and said "this moment, to me, is more than an interview to get information."
"For me, this is more of a personal moment," Arrington said. "This is actually the first moment where we are face-to-face since everything has taken place ... and I don't want that to be lost."
This insertion drove everyone mad on Twitter and angered listeners. Dan Steinberg summed it up best.
@lavararrington you know i love you but kiss and make up off the air. you have so few chances to ask this man real questions.
Arrington, for his part, defended his actions thustly.
listen i did not let him off the hook the interview wouldve been over just as quickly as it started theres a time and place for everything im not even going to start blocking all the people making these comments i can understand frustration but if you thought that torching him the 1st chance we get is not wise and if u dont understand that then so be now im done with it on to the next
So what happened? It remains unclear, but there's a possibility, based on Dukes' Twitter account, that the Redskins may have paraded Snyder off the set after Dukes' question and Wise's response. Here's Dukes' tweet:
He was dragged off right after that question. They did not like it. That was INSANE.
chad dukes
chaddukes
The alternative is that Arrington was worried about making the station's first interaction with Snyder a bad one and cut off Wise for that reason. No matter the cause, it was still a missed opportunity for 106.7 The Fan to truly ask Snyder some tough questions.