Washington Owner Dan Snyder Ruined His Own Quarterback Star

It's difficult to fault Robert Griffin III for being egomaniacal when his own egomaniacal owner pushed him to be egomaniacal.

We always suspected that Washington owner Dan Snyder had enabled Griffin. We now know, thanks to an excellently reported piece from The Undefeated's Jason Reid, that "enabled" is the wrong word. What happened was much more problematic. Snyder basically gave Griffin superpowers, despite him being nowhere near mature or grounded enough to possess them.

Griffin became like an alternate-universe Superman. He tore the roof off the Washington team complex, grabbed former Washington head coach Mike Shanahan by the collar and flung him into low orbit. He did this because Snyder let him. He did this because he could.

The lessons from Griffin's fall, detailed by Reid, apply not just to Washington but across the entire league. Giving too much power to any man not emotionally equipped to handle it can destroy a franchise. 

In Denver, Peyton Manning was the clear leader, but he wielded that power responsibly. In Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers can be demanding and tough on teammates, but he is demanding and tough on himself, and because of that he is highly respected. In Carolina, Cam Newton is studious and professional and works well with coaches, never flaunting the power he has with them. In New England, Tom Brady is the best quarterback in history, and teammates and coaches genuinely love him.

Snyder gifted Griffin power, failing to realize that power has to be earned—and respect given.

According to Reid, Griffin called a meeting with Shanahan, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur in February 2013 and told them to let him speak without interruption.

Steve Helber/Associated Press

First, let's stop there. I've never heard of a quarterback speaking that way to his coaches. Not once. Ever. Quarterbacks and coaches argue all the time. Curse at one another, even. Former New York Giants head coach Bill Parcells and quarterback Phil Simms used to get into some heated sideline debates. Jay Cutler once cursed out former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Brady will curse out a coach or two. Those things happen sometimes in the heat of a game.

But that level of disrespect—"sit down, fellas, and shut up while I talk"—is unheard of. The best quarterbacks of all time didn't act that way to their coaches. Ken Stabler, Dan Marino, John Unitas, Steve Young—none of them spoke to their coaches that way.

Can you imagine Joe Montana saying to Bill Walsh: "Hey Bill, sit down, dude, and don't say a damn word until I'm finished. Got it, homey?" Walsh would have Odor'd him.

I'm not a huge Shanahan fan, but he won Super Bowls with John Elway. He deserved respect, and Elway—50 trillion times the quarterback that Griffin will ever be—never spoke to him like that.

Griffin then informed the coaches there were 19 plays in Washington's offense that he would no longer run because he believed he needed to be treated like a pocket passer, not a running quarterback, according to Reid.

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Shanahan told Reid he could tell by the way Griffin was talking that he had previously discussed all of this with Snyder:

"

When Robert is standing there going through all of that, I know it's coming from Dan. When Robert talked about "unacceptable," that was a word Dan used all the time. He was using phrases Dan used all the time. There's only one way a guy who's going into his second year would do something like this: If he sat down with the owner and the owner believed that this is the way he should be used.

He had to have the full support of the owner and, in my opinion, the general manager to even have a conversation like that.

"

Again, we suspected all of this. I had heard bits and pieces of it, but now we know for sure. Snyder ruined one of the few good things he did with his own organization.

There are so many lessons here—cautionary tales. Many teams today can learn from them. Few teams have owners as arrogant and self-destructive as Snyder, so the chances of this happening elsewhere are slim.

Still, it shows just how much owners need to stay the hell out of the way. Make your money. Do your photo ops. Give a press conference or two. Just stay the hell out of the way. Let the football people, you know, be football-y.

This philosophy has mostly worked with the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones. He is still obviously the man in charge, but he has increasingly let the football minds take the lead, particularly his son. Snyder has not done this recently, but his handling of Griffin was so clunky and poorly managed it may have set the organization back years. Remember, Griffin is a player Washington traded three first-round picks and one second-round pick to draft.

Is Griffin to blame for some of this? Yes, of course. But go back in time to that moment. Griffin was a star, a player the city saw not just as a great football player but as a transformative figure in its sports history. He made the Pro Bowl. He was viewed as the leading edge of the next generation of passers.

Year	W-L	Cmp-Att	Yards	TD-INT	Rating
2012*	9-6	258-393	3,200	20-5	102.4
2013	3-10	274-456	3,203	16-12	82.2
2014	2-5	147-214	1,694	4-6	86.9
2015			DNP

Suddenly, the billionaire owner says: "Here are the keys to the team. Take them." He's a 20-something. There are a lot of people who would act just as boorish.

I've been told by someone in the Washington organization that Snyder regrets how he handled the situation with Griffin and Shanahan. I can't say for certain if that's true since Snyder is Howard Hughes and doesn't say much publicly.

The Washington source said the organization has moved on "and so should everyone else." The problem is what happened was such a masterful screwup, it's difficult to forget.

This organization is moving on a solid track. It has a good quarterback, a smart coach, and for the first time since, well, Griffin became Griffin, it has promise.

Now all Snyder has to do is stay the hell out of the way.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.