Why on earth do people constantly throw Vinny Cerrato under the bus as what ‘ails this franchise?’
Before you go off the deep end about that question, let me say that this isn’t AT ALL about defending Cerrato – the guy’s track record here in Washington speaks for itself. What I want to know is why people somehow don’t see what he is.
The guy is a puppet, and the organization is full of them – they are Dan Snyder’s henchmen and nothing else.
You can’t hold Vinny accountable because he is a pawn – nothing more. He does as he is told to by his boss. If anyone thinks that firing Vinny will somehow solve any problems whatsoever, then you have to honestly believe that Cerrato is actually running this team.
He isn’t.
Unfortunately, Vinny isn’t anything more than a cheque collector, and that means that getting rid of Vinny won’t likely solve a thing. The only way that firing Vinny will have any positive effect on the Redskins is if Dan Snyder gives the NEXT guy real organizational control.
That means making ALL of the personnel decisions.
That means letting a GM not only make those personnel decisions, but coaching decisions and SYSTEM decisions as well.
If anyone is expected to come in and fix all that ails the Redskins, they have to be given the ability and the stroke to do so.
Like Larry Michael, Cerrato is just part of the propaganda wheel that has grown into a monster in Washington. They serve their purpose and they serve it well – to stand at the forefront and deflect, while Dan Snyder plays fantasy football with the franchise that we love and cherish.
Why am I picking this scab?
Because as long as you see Cerrato as the problem, you are validating his very existence. He is in place to be a scapegoat. He is in place so that when Snyder’s fantasy teams fall flat on their face, Snyder still has someone to point to and ‘hold accountable,’ without accepting an iota of blame himself. Think of Cerrato as a buffer.
Please give pause and think about the possibility that what I am writing here is accurate.
Because if the fan base doesn’t figure it out and find a way to hold the owner of the franchise responsible for the state of things, then we’re just going to dump the current regime, never actually address the problem, and start the cycle all over again.
Stop pointing to Vinny as being the Redskins main problem – nobody in the organization is doing their job as well as Cerrato is.
After all, he’s ONLY there to make you forget that Snyder is the one calling all of the shots.
That was beautiful. :tear:
What’s that old saying, “If you truly love something, let it free?” Dan grew up a fan. All of us would love to be in his position that he could own a team that he’s loved his entire life. But sometimes, you’re blinding love gets in the way of reality. Danny is hurting this team more than he is helping it. He is holding this team back from being a franchise that has shown that it can succeed. Get out of the way Danny. You may enjoy the game much more if you don’t have a vested interest outside of just being a fan.
Do you truly believe it’s dan snyder? Really?
Guess I haven’t seen Snyder calling the plays in to the quarterback and the OL.
Personally, I would inactivate all the starters that aren’t playing up to their potential – and play the practice squad. You CAN beat the contractual agreement between the players to their agents to the management of the Redskins…..NOT doing their job to the potential is in all players contracts.
Then we will see the practice squad, and perhaps some players that WANT to play for the NFL getting their just reward; for I don’t see “some” of the starters doing much for this team or for the morale of the team, franchise and fans.
I remember the day when the strike happened and the “scabs” played – and they played very well – for pennies compared to the contracts of today on some of our “Starters”.
So, is it Vinnie? Is it Snyder?………
Very well put, BH. Vinny is the public face of what ails this team.
He holds two main roles within the operation — facilitator and protector. He does Danny’s bidding and takes Danny’s bullets. As Andy Pollin accurately pointed out on this mornings MMQB show (paraphrasing):
“Snyder has been impatient with everyone and everything EXCEPT Cerrato. Why? Because Vinny is his HAZMAT suit.”
As you wrote: “After all, he’s ONLY there to make you forget that Snyder is the one calling all of the shots.”
In other words, Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Thanks Boss,
It has been clear to me that the Danny makes every important decision. I am not sure that Vinnie has not made some “contributions” of his own to compound the problem. But I agree with the fundamental premises of the article:
1. Vinnie is the clown puppet hired to take the heat; and
2. Removing Vinnie is only a partial solution (if any).
I have maintained in this board that the real need is to hire a competent General Manager with the authority and independence to design and put in place a new management structure in which the owner becomes another spectator, with a better view perhaps but a spectator nevertheless. He would even make more money that way.
Hail,
RiC
Snyder has had this toy (the Redskins) and has played with it so much he broke it. Put it back on the shelf, let it mend and admire it from a distance.
Good read Boss.
There’s some truth in that Frank, but it’s not like Danny isn’t making money hand-over-fist while he ‘stands in the way.’
I tried for years to give DS the benefit of the doubt, but its been a decade of excuses and apologies and the ONLY constant is Snyder. That isn’t a coincidence IMO.
Right… so putting in the players that are on the practice squad will solve the fact that we run a West Coast offense, with no tools to do so.
We don’t even have a decent offensive line back-up and you want to just keep going deeper into that talent-starved bench?
Your prerogative.
Snyder picked the guy that calls in those plays to the QB, and likely picked the QB that they’re getting called into – but he isn’t culpable?
Sorry, I just couldn’t disagree more. The guy who calls in the plays is totally to blame… but not the guy who PICKED the guy with not a lick of play-calling experience to coach this team?
Hey keep thinking that way – Snyder is counting on it. :up:
When Snyder fires Cerrato and hires a GM and next year we have a new starting QB, and we still suck……
are you going to suggest it Snyder’s fault that we fail to be a cohesive football team then?
It is ridiculous the number of injuries that continue to mount on the offensive line in recent seasons, and yet Cerrato & Zorn (the West Coast kids) salivate over receivers like gimpy Malcolm Kelly & one-hit wonder Devin Thomas and expect success.
Jansen was not a starter anymore. He had to go. Randy Thomas can’t stay healthy and his career is probably over.
Pete Kendall couldn’t practice bc of arthritic knees just to make it by game day last season.
I want to know where the gameplan is from top to bottom.
What the hell do these guys practice each week?
How not to score touchdowns in the redzone.
It is shameful that the most important position on the field is being stymied by an unimaginative, scared head coach.
Zorn must open up his bag of tricks & start testing his own players’ heart.
Like Sheryl Crow sang so swiftly. “A change will do you good.”
For the sake of everyone’s sanity in DC please change your philosophy and let Jason loose.
If you’re gonna go down, go down swinging.
You want the coach to open a playbook when the o-line can’t get the quarterback protected for as long as it takes him to complete his drop? That isn’t possible. You can’t ‘open a playbook’ when you can’t protect. It’s even harder to open a West Coast playbook up, when you don’t have the personnel to do so, and have very little team speed.
If the coach is an ‘unimaginative, scared head coach,’ then how is the guy who picked him not responsible for that? It’s hardly shocking that a guy who had never called a game in his life hasn’t stepped right in and made a mediocre, overpaid team into a contender. And until Snyder actually LETS a GM run a franchise instead of trying to run it himself (with a puppet out in front) – it IS his fault – and yes I will blame him, because he’s the man making all of the decisions.
And we won’t have a cohesive team REGARDLESS, because we’ll be starting with all new parts…
… again.
If Snyder actually hired a GM and let him do his thing… and the Redskins sucked next year… I wouldn’t be the least bit upset… I mean, it’s not like as a Redskin fan I haven’t seen our fair share of losing. I could take it if it looked like we were at least moving in the right direction. Right now, not only do we stink… we’re regressing in nearly every facet… our talent is getting older, our salary numbers are so bloated that we have to re-write a half dozen contracts each year JUST to allow us to field a team, we run a West Coast system with no WC type players, and the entire fan base is beat to a pulp.
If you want to put that solely at the feet of Zorn, go ahead, but that seems silly to me.
In that exact same Sheryl Crow song, she sings, “Chasing dragons with plastic swords,” and that would seem to be more apropos of the state of the Redskins…
Ok so your point is that Snyder is a meddling, tyrant who employs “puppets” like Cerrato & Zorn to do the dirty work.
Danny Boy is not blameless by any means.
I wonder if Casserly would consider working for the Redskins.
Snyder admitted that he shouldn’t have chosen Norv Turner over Casserly when those two were at each other’s throats.
The offensive line issues are really troubling Boss.
You can’t ignore the fact that when you lose Randy Thomas & now Chris Samuels (at least two weeks I would guess) your team would be in trouble.
There is so much wrong with this current team, to single out just one person is being unrealistic.
GM’s with NFL experience & the cajones to deal with Snyder’s perceived interference aren’t readily available.
If they were every team would be in line throwing money at him.
Sorry state of affairs in Camp Washington. 🙁
Boss & Jenn,
Great back and forth. That was good reading and I’m sure we all more or less feel the same way with most. Keep it coming.
I don’t disagree at all about the o-line Jen – check what I wrote in Scott’s o-line blog today. You’re right – its troubling, and its troubling because it has been neglected for SO long that it is tough to fix quickly. You really have to have a plan to get better next year, and then get better still the next year after that… the problems run deep enough that it might be tough to address fully in one off-season… we need 4 or 5 guys to get where we should be depth wise.
But unfortunately the problems run a lot deeper than the offensive line or any position for that matter – not only do we not have all of the pieces of the puzzle – we don’t even have a picture of the finished puzzle to work with.
I guess you could call Snyder a tyrant, many would agree; but my point is just that he’s not a general manager (and Vinny is just a defacto one) and as long as Snyder runs this franchise like a fantasy football team, we will realize the same success that we have in the last decade… NONE.
IMO, the ONLY change that will fix the problem, as opposed to band-aiding the situation and starting the same shtein-cycle again, is if the owner gives up his stranglehold on running this team. 2 cents
danny needs to take a back seat,no matter fact he dont even deserve a seat. i love the skins and it would be great to own them, now i obviously dont know how to run a football team so i wouldnt. its too bad old danny boy to feel the the same way. this team has been disapointing year after year for a number of years now, and the only thing that they havent changed is daniels control. until then us loyal fans will continue to suffer and be disapointed.
Yeah yeah…but even in Fantasy Football, the GOAL is to Win. Danny is JUST NOT A WINNER when in comes to Football…. Daniel is a Weiner….