Lots of people have said it before me and better than me, but as I was working on putting together the Daily Slop the other day, I couldn\u2019t help but sit in stupefied amazement at how things have changed for the NFL franchise in Washington.<\/p>\n
The bad old days of 2020 \u2014 could it be just 5 years ago? \u2014 are still vivid in some ways, but also fading like a hard-to-remember bad dream in the morning light.<\/p>\n
I remember, in mid-July of 2020, reading a bombshell story about sexual harassment and a toxic workplace in the Washington Post and co-writing a blog piece about it with Bryan Stabbe<\/a> at a furious pace (I was writing story text in Bangkok as he simultaneously added quotes and links to the story from his home in the US) because it felt like it couldn\u2019t \u2014 as most blogs articles can \u2014 wait until the next day to get published.<\/p>\n Back then, we freshly-minted Washington Football Team fans collectively wondered aloud whether this could finally be the \u2018beginning of the end\u2019 of the toxic ownership that had destroyed the franchise and held us all hostage for over two decades, but none of us really seemed to believe it could happen because of the cockroach-like ability the owner had demonstrated to survive anything.<\/p>\n It turned out to be exactly what we all had hoped for \u2014 a giant step forward in a long process of fumigating the infestation of our once proud franchise.<\/p>\n Thirty-six months later, the sale of the team to Josh Harris & Co. was finalized.<\/p>\n In the 22 months since the sale of the team, a sea-change has taken place! Even just hitting on a short list of the biggest highlights is an exercise in amazement.<\/p>\n Immediate investment in the fan experience I think it\u2019s fair to say that only the Philadelphia Eagles fans can argue that they\u2019ve had a better run since January 2024 than Commanders fans.<\/p>\n As I was looking through the headlines across the various NFL media platforms to put together the Daily Slop today, I saw stories about the \u201827 Draft coming to DC, about the new stadium, Power Rankings for \u201825 that listed the Commanders among the expected playoff teams, positive reviews of Washington\u2019s recent draft, and highlights of Jayden Daniels\u2019 rookie season. What I didn\u2019t see was anything about fraud, sexual harassment, incompetence, roster mistakes, \u201cdamned good culture\u201d, or failures in the effort to locate and build a new stadium. I couldn\u2019t help but pause for a moment and remember how, for years here on Hogs Haven, I would cringe every time I wrote something positive in an article because it was inevitable that one of the first comments would be, \u201cAs long as the current owner is here, nothing will matter and nothing good can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Man, the change from the days of Congressional investigations to Oval Office announcements is pretty damned stark!<\/p>\n Josh Harris is proving to be everything his predecessor was not. Harris invests in the team. He has a strategic vision. He hires capable professionals and then empowers them to do their jobs. He provides the resources \u2014 money, manpower & facilities \u2014 to achieve excellence. He understands finance, business, power and politics and how to develop a winning culture.<\/p>\n
\nExpansion of the analytics department
\nOwnership getting in front of the cameras and behind the mics to explain the vision
\nAdam Peters
\nDan Quinn
\nJayden Daniels
\nAn exciting brand of football
\nA 12-win season
\nA pair of playoff wins and an appearance in the NFC Championship game
\nA series of wins in the effort to build a new stadium at the RFK site in DC
\nAnnouncement in the oval office (Josh Harris\u2019 2nd on-camera appearance there this year) that the 2027 NFL Draft is coming to DC<\/p>\n