17 hours Ago
Most of the time, the best team owners in the NFL, and sports in general, tend to be the ones who take a hands-off approach. On the other end of the spectrum, the worst owners tend to be ones who are too involved in day-to-day operations. Meddling, one could say.
Unfortunately, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider knows what it's like to work with one of those bad owners all too well. When asked about how he'd handle an owner who meddles in draft decisions , Schneider joked about how his past experience has prepared him for anything . "I worked for the Washington Redskins for a year," Schneider said on Seattle Sports radio.
Of course, Schneider is referring to former Washington owner Dan Snyder, widely considered one of the worst owners in NFL history, if not the worst. Indeed, he did meddle in the team's personnel decisions, but that was only a small portion of what made him such a horrible owner. From his resistance to changing the team's name for years to creating an unbelievably toxic workplace environment (and even that's an understatement) and dozens of other controversies, Snyder was a stain on the league for his entire 25-year tenure.
Make no mistake, the day he sold the team to Josh Harris and co. in 2023 was a great day for the NFL as a whole. Schneider worked for Washington as the vice president of player personnel in 2001.
That was only Snyder's third year running the team, before most of the controversies began. However, it seems he was just as meddling as always in his early days. Fortunately for Schneider, the Seahawks don't have that problem.
Jody Allen - who took control of the team after her older brother, Paul Allen, passed away in 2018 - may not be one of the leavue's very best owners, but she generally lets Schneider and co. handle football operations. Needless to say, that's been for the best.
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