Smoke Signals: The Wrath of Cooke

Interviewed at length by The Washington Post, former Redskins owner John Kent Cooke [the second part of Raljon] didn’t hold back on what he thinks of the state of the Redskins now. Among the tidbits revealed:

– John Cooke says it was he who convinced his father Jack Kent Cooke not to fire Joe Gibbs in 1981 after the team got off to an 0-5 start. Jack, his son says, wanted to replace Gibbs with former Skins coach George Allen.

– Cooke had never met or heard of Dan Snyder, then 34, before Jack Kent Cooke died and the team went up for sale.

– Their first meeting went poorly, with both men claiming they wanted majority control of the team and to pass it down to their heirs. Cooke’s decision after that meeting: “I don’t want to have anything to do with that guy.”

– Cooke is contemptuous of the way Snyder runs the franchise. ”Dan Snyder destroyed the reputation of this franchise,” Cooke said. “I sure as hell don’t like the way he gutted the organization after we left. And he commercialized the Redskins like my father would have never commercialized the Redskins. People brought cushions and pennants to the games. You know how they got those? My father gave them out at fan appreciation days.”

Cooke also took issue with recent controversy over tickets. “Suing season ticket holders?” he said, incredulously. “My God, it’s embarrassing. We would have never done such a thing.”

– Of this week’s decision to hand over play-calling duties to Sherman Lewis, who was hired as an offensive consultant, Cooke added: “Total madness. You’ve now undermined the authority of your coach. You don’t have to say you’d never fire him. But just for the sake of stability, I would give Jim Zorn a vote of confidence and then say, ‘Let’s see how well he does.’ It’s a shame they continue to operate so recklessly.”

– Former Redskins GM Bobby Beathard has high praise for John Kent Cooke and how he would have run the Redskins the past 10 years. Sonny Jurgensen, who is very close to Dan Snyder, is dismissive of Cooke.

Read it.

The Redskins will start Jason Campbell at QB against the Eagles on Monday night. That seems like the smart decision to me, though I rather doubt any quarterback is enough to save the Skins at this point. Read it.

Jason Campbell admits he went into last Sunday’s game forcing throws early because he believed his offensive line would play much worse than it did. Read it.

As we mentioned here yesterday [read it] the Redskins cut RB Marcus Mason and RB Anthony Aldridge and signed OT Levi Jones and RB Quinton Ganther.

John Riggins has some advice for Redskins fans keen to protest the decline of this once-great franchise: Don’t go to the games. Don’t pay Dan Snyder for a ticket and don’t buy his over-priced concessions or parking. Stay away, don’t go. He’s completely correct, of course. I gave up my tickets and so should you. Read it.

Another analysis of how the Redskins got where they are today:

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Jim Zorn, talking to Chick Hernandez on his weekly CSN TV show, was at a loss attempting to explain how he went from head coach, offense coordinator and quarterback coach back to head coach — for now — and the man who will signal in the plays called by Sherman Lewis, who will be sitting in the press box. Zorn told Hernandez, “It is what it is.”

Local media has put the Redskins in the middle of a 24-hour spin cycle of analysis. In some cases they are questioning the ownership’s grip on a fan base, ready — perhaps for the first time in history — to walk away from the Burgundy and Gold.

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Read it.

Read the rest at

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2009/10/21/smoke-signals-the-wrath-of-cooke.html