The Kevin Sheehan Show - Introducing....Josh Harris!

Episode Date: July 22, 2023

Kevin solo today on the new ownership introductory press conference today at Fed Ex Field. You'll hear what owners Josh Harris, Magic Johnson, and Mitch Rales had to say. Additionally, there were several interesting comments including from Magic earlier in the day about the possibility of a name change. Dan and Tanya Snyder released a statement that Kevin discussed as well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Can't we just get that song back? How childish am I that I want that song back? I want the name back.

I want the jerseys back. I want that damn fight song back. I doubt we'll get any of that. But I do think this ownership group is serious about discussing a name and a brand change. I will get to all that was said early this morning on the Today Show, and then during the introductory press conference earlier this afternoon, a little bit later on in the program today.

I did hear that song sung loud and proud, probably two dozen times, and nobody forgot the words last night at the bullpen. quite the scene down there. What a great spot. Bo Blair does such a great job with all of his restaurants. And the bullpen's such a great spot. And it was the perfect spot to have the party that we had.

Josh Harris from Minneapolis bought everybody in the joint a beer. That is pretty smart. And he did the same thing for a bar, ox brewery in Ashbury. where Grant and Danny from 1067 the fan were doing a show. But last night, yesterday and last night, were actually surprising hours for me. And I'll explain why coming up here in a moment. But I wanted to start with just the introductory press conference

for our new ownership group earlier today. They killed it. The whole thing was everything I hoped it would be. It was short. It was to the point. you know, there was no reason to oversell anything. We've already bought the new ownership group. We bought a case of Josh Harris.

We bought a case of Mitchell Rails and Magic Johnson. We would have bought a case of Tillman Fertita or Steve Apostolopoulos. Maybe not Brian Davis. Anything that wasn't Dan, we were going to stand in line for. But to be fair to the new owners, they surpassed today the feeling of it's not Dan anymore. They were impressive, all of them. Josh Harris was impressive. Mitchell Rails was impressive. Magic was super impressive. Mitch may have been the most genuine and excited and impressive of all of them, Mitch Rails. But all of them were impressive. I really was

impressed with Josh Harris, and very excited, by the way, by Magic Johnson. You know, I was thinking about after this thing was over. And by the way, somebody accused me on Twitter as I tweeted how impressed I was, oh my God, Sheehan, all of a sudden, you're part of the harvest feast group. I think it was Harvest Fest. No, I am not a part of that group. I'm just calling balls and strikes as I see them. I thought about after they were done.

I don't think at any point during Dan Snyder's owner, And I want to go back to the very beginning when I had no clue, and I don't think many of you had any clue as to what Dan Snyder was as an owner or what he would become as an owner. I never said once, man, he's impressive. And the reason I never said that is because he wasn't. You know, again, long before we had any real clue as to what was coming, I don't think anybody ever listened to him or looked at him and said, man, that dude is impressive. He was always a bit slippery.

He was never a smooth communicator, never that articulate, never really exuded any kind of level of gravitas. Now, I'm not about to say that Josh Harris came off as flawlessly eloquent, but he came off as very honest and genuine. He did to me anyway. I'm going to get to some of his remarks here in a moment, some of Mitch Rails and some of Magic Johnson as well. But I want to just mention that, you know, I was at a place last night, the bullpen where there was a lot of excitement. And it was great to see so many of you there.

So many of you came up to me and said how much you enjoy the podcast and the radio show. But a lot of you love the podcast and love Tom. and I together and coolly when he's on. And I do too. You know, I've said this before. I love doing this podcast. And there were so many of you that I hadn't seen in a while. And it was great to see you guys.

And so many of you that I had never met. And it was a fun night. But even, you know, if I'd taken myself out of that, you know, joyous atmosphere and I had just been watching, you know, Josh Harris take the podium with Roger Goodell from home, I think I still would have felt what I felt, which was I felt like I was wrong. It didn't feel anticlimactic. And that's what I've been saying for a while. I've been saying that, you know, when this finally happened, I think it was going to feel a little bit anticlimactic. A friend of mine, one of my best friends, oldest, closest friends,

a buddy Ted who listens to this podcast all the time said, texted me the other day. And Ted was a season ticket holder for years and a diehard. And he's like, I don't even think most people know it's even going on on Thursday. And I said, nah, I don't think that's it. But I get what you're saying. Because I really did think that yesterday for me was going to be like, all right, well, let's, you know, at least we got a new owner now.

Now let's see what happens. But the day was surreal. It was surreal to see Josh Harris up there with Roger Goodell and realize that Dan Snyder doesn't own our team anymore. He doesn't. I remember on 2222 when the name was rolled out so smoothly by Jason Wright and Doug Williams and John Allen and Craig Melvin from NBC. see. I remember saying before that day, I said, I think that that day when there's actually a name rather than a placeholder, it's going to hit a lot of people hard. And Cooley was the first one who called me and said, oh my God, I can't believe what I'm looking at. Commanders and the

jerseys, he's like, I feel like it's not the team that I played for anymore. Riggins on his YouTube show, you know, went off on how surprised he was, that he felt so, you know, detached from what he was seeing with the unveiling of the new name. And yesterday is somewhat analogous in that I really didn't think I would feel what I felt, which was Dan's gone. And all of a sudden, for the first time, you know, in, you know, almost half my life. We're talking about the football team having legitimate hope that we now can embrace the football team with legitimate hope. You know, we don't have to suspend reality anymore, as Tommy and I have discussed over the years. You know, the suspension of the reality that the team would ever be good under Dan Snyder was a reality.

We had to suspend it to have those conversations that we would have about, you know, two-point conversions and penalties and fourth down calls by the coach and slot corners and slot receivers. To have all those conversations, we had to do them with reality suspended. We knew that those things really didn't matter because we knew that they could never win with Dan as the owner. so we just suspended that reality so we can talk about football and have a podcast. I was thinking also that it's going to take a little while for us to get out of this thing that we've been in, this dysfunctional state that we've been in, this haze of discussing them as the most dysfunctional organization in sports. I'm going to have to have a lot of help for many of you to probably, coach Tommy up a little bit. I think there are going to be some times here in the next few months.

I'm going to say, Tommy, no, no, no, no. Don't go with aura of dysfunction. Dan's gone. We may need some therapy, all of us. It's going to take a while. We've been, I hate this analogy, but I will use it because I think all of you are mature enough to understand the way in which I'm using it. But there is, there was a little, you know, spousal abuse. over the years. And, you know, there are lingering effects from that. But look, the football team in this city now may actually win. It's not impossible anymore.

And we have Josh Harris to thank for that. We have Josh Harris and Mitchell Rails and Magic Johnson and all of the limited partners to thank for that. Because as I've said many times over the last few months, they were the only ones. There was not overwhelming demand for this. franchise, not for the price. You know, this was buying a tear down.

This was not buying the Denver Broncos a year ago. And they paid a lot more than the Walton Penner Group paid for the Broncos. They bought, you know, a team in disrepair and in total need of a refurb. Two-thirds of the fans gone, a stadium crumbling, you know, the need. to build a new stadium, which was going to be a huge expense. And they stepped up and they did it. And today, I thought they were very, very impressive. Now, I had mentioned yesterday, if you listened to yesterday's show,

I had kind of the suggested introductory remarks. They did not use them, but still, I liked what Josh Harris, you know, how he handled it. He never mentioned the Snyders, which is a recommendation I've made for, several weeks now. He has not mentioned, nobody has mentioned the Snyders at all. Not that I've seen or heard. None of the owners have. I think that's sharp. I think that's the right move. And it was short, and it was shortened to the point. And, you know, he didn't necessarily go to where I would have liked to have seen him gone with respect to the name. But, and I'll play for it a little bit in a bit. You know, this is something that's going to be discussed and explored.

It's not a priority today because it can't be. You know, it can't be a priority today. They can't change the name today. They can't change the name in two weeks. We're on the verge of a season beginning. But I think we learned enough today. And I think I've learned enough over the last month or so, as I've shared with you on this podcast, that this is an issue for many in the ownership.

group. By the way, with respect to not mentioning the Snyders at all, they didn't. But let me start with this particular soundbite because it was interesting. Josh Harris was talking about culture. And I thought this was kind of the one reference, if you will. Now, yesterday and even today, he did mention that being a fan doesn't make you a good owner. I'm paraphrasing there. But this was one line that was, for me, very memorable from the very short introductory remarks that Josh Harris made, by the way, right around five minutes. The whole press conference was 20 minutes with Q&A. It was well done by the Washington PR group. That was exactly the way today should have gone, in my opinion. But this is what he said with

respect to what I was discussing, I think this was a slight dig at Dan and the past regime. He was talking about culture right here. Yeah, look, a lot of stuff happened right that was unfortunate. We're focused on changing the culture. I think a lot of it's hopefully been done. I mean, that's what we think. But we got to get in there. And obviously, it's about creating a management team where everyone doesn't look the same.

and it's about zero tolerance on, you know, ethically challenged behaviors. Like when you own a sports team in a city, everyone looks at what you do. It's the old adage that my mom and dad used to say, which is like, you know, behave as if whatever you do is going to be written about on the front page of the Washington Post. Josh Harris knows we all know how many times

the actions of Dan Snyder landed on the front page of the Washington. post. So that would be kind of the one slight towards, you know, the past regime. Look, overall, I just was impressed with Josh Harris. I was impressed with Mitchell Rails. I was impressed with Magic Johnson. My first impression of Harris, and I actually had it yesterday watching the brief remarks that he made with Roger Goodell. He is really honest right now. And I just have this sense, gut feel, that's who he is. I mean, yesterday he mentioned, you know, he said, I'm sweating this. He said that again today.

I'm sweating this. I'm stressed. You know, I've had sleepless nights. That's really honest. You know, he has a lot of pressure on him. Remember this, that it's not just the pressure to deliver something to the fans into this city, which he talked a lot about. he's got investors that are in for roughly four and a half to five billion or four billion of the six billion, whatever it is.

And all of these people are accredited investors, they're able to make this investment without losing their shirt. But still, they didn't make this investment to be a part of something that was going to be schlock. You know, he's feeling the pressure. And he didn't know all these people. Josh Harris didn't know all of these people very well. He raised a lot of money. He's got a lot of limited partners in this deal. That's a lot of pressure for, you know, somebody who took money and invested that kind of money.

Look, you'd be sweating it. I'd be sweating it over a lot less of an investment. It's a $6 billion investment. That's a lot even for Josh Harris. But for me, I sense that he genuinely feels like a responsibility to get this right, a responsibility to his shareholders, to his limited partners, you know, a responsibility to this city, a responsibility to the other owners, a responsibility to all of us. And I like that.

And, you know, he's not going to coast in on this, you know, honeymoon period, which he's going to have the longest in the history of any owner of a sports. team, you know, in recent memory. It's not the way he's viewing it, and I love that. You know, I, there were several things he said, you know, he talked about, you know, the job's not going to be easy. You know, he didn't oversell anything. You know, he talked about the culture, you know, one person at a time. You know, he talked about priorities in the name, and I'm going to save that for the next segment. You know, I'm projecting here a little bit, and I tweeted this out earlier. But in watching Josh Harris today, I saw, you know, what you see in a lot of successful entrepreneurs,

you see a guy that is where he is right now because he's smart, of course. But more than that, he's scrappy. You know, he is a hard worker. He talked about that multiple times. he can sell. You know, you don't get to a point where he is without having the ability to sell, you know, to communicate. And he loves what he does. And it means a lot to him. And this particular purchase, I think, means a lot more than the other things that he owns. I got that feeling today in listening to him and listening to Mitchell Rails. I just felt like this is a guy that, you know,

This is his jewel of everything that he owns. And if I were a Sixers or a Devils fan, you know, I might be a little bit concerned. But, you know, the one thing that we certainly know by his previous ownership experience is that he hires people and gets out of the way. You know, even his detractors say the one thing you can't criticize him about is he doesn't meddle. So, you know, in the case of the Devils and the Sixers, they have people running those. organizations, even if this ends up being his preferred organization. I don't know, I just liked a lot of what he talked about in the way he handled himself up there. He just seemed very genuine, very honest, very excited, but also feels, you know, feels the pressure.

And that's good for us. You know, we don't want somebody coming in here just thinking, eh, I'm not Dan. This is easy. You know, this job's a job. joke, as DeAngelo Vickers said in the office, Will Ferrell playing DeAngelo Vickers for a few episodes. There was something else from Josh Harris, and I'll save this stuff on the name for the next segment. But Scott Abraham from Channel 7 asked him about the current state of the football team and, you know, how close to winning Josh Harris thinks the team is. This is what set. Josh, Scott Abraham, ABC 7 here in D.C.

Congratulations. Thank you and your family. Thank you very much. Obviously, you're used to building up a franchise, and you went through the process in Philly. Do you see this as a process here in Washington, and maybe you've been watching from afar? How close do you think this football team, this franchise, is to winning? Yeah, look, we're just getting here.

I mean, obviously, we've witnessed as fans, right, from the outside what Coach Rivera and his staff and the front office and the team has done over the last few years. And it's improving. You know, this is a big season. And we look forward to learning and watching and seeing what happens. And I'm very excited to be spending time with Coach Rivera and his staff and players and understanding what's going on. And I'm very supportive right now of what they're doing. That's the right answer. I mean, there's nothing that they can do right now with anybody involved in the football operation. And with Ron sitting up there on stage, and he was, and Ron had remarks, too, they were

very, very brief. Jason Wright, by the way, I don't think I've mentioned. He sort of presided over this thing, and his remarks were super brief. All of these people, I think, were coached up well to keep this thing short and sweet. The whole thing lasted, I think, 23 minutes with three introductions. remark speakers, you know, in Josh Harris, Mitchell, Rails, and Magic Johnson. Well, Thor, I'm forgetting Ron Rivera. He was kind of forgettable up there today. There wasn't a lot that he said. But that's the right answer with Josh Harris. There's nothing

they can do with the football operation. And, you know, they've got a season to sit back and watch. Now, what would happen if they lost to Arizona and then lost to Denver? Buffalo and Philadelphia and were 0 and 4? I don't know. I hope for Josh's sake that he's not put into that situation here in his first year of ownership. I really do. Look, Dan got lucky. You know, they didn't undo the Brad Johnson trade and he had a team that was competitive and went to the playoffs after winning the division in the first year that he owned the team. So there were no big decisions that he had to make, you know, in that season. And, you know, so anyway, I just hope in his first season as an owner, he's not put into that position like a month into the season or a month and a half into the season where everybody's calling for Ron Rivera to be fired.

For his sake, you know, even if it isn't a great season, something normal, you know, seven and ten, eight and nine, you know, somewhere around there where, you know, they can learn. and they talked a lot about today that they just got here, you know, and they haven't had the access to the organization, and they're just, you know, beginning to learn everything about where this organization is. Anyway, I wanted to play Mitchell Rails. Mitchell Rails is the second largest shareholder. Mitchell Rails, we've heard Howard Gutman on this show many times. He's a big fan of Mitch Rails.

Mitch Rails and his brother Stephen Rails founded W-T-E-M-980. That was on 570 when it started back in May of 1992, but they started sports talk radio in this town. No, I don't know him. And yes, I know he went to Whitman, where I went, but I've never met Mitchell Rails. I joined the radio station long after they had sold the station. And even though I live near both of the station,

of them. I don't know and have never met either one of them, but, you know, I trust Howard, and I trust others who have told me the same thing about both of the Rails brothers. But this was the first time I've ever heard him speak publicly. And I'm going to play the whole Mitchell Rails introductory remarks for you right now, because I actually thought it was the highlight of the day. And I was impressed by Josh Harrison. I was impressed by Magic Johnson. But I actually thought this was kind of the highlight of the press conference because it really was off the cuff and really from the heart. This was Mitch Rails. It's not that long. It's just a couple of minutes. This is incredibly humbling. I mean, I wish my parents were here to see this day. They moved me

to the Washington area when I was 10 years old, and fortunately I gave up the Steelers for the then Redskins. I got on the bus at Friendship Heights with my three brothers, and we made our way down to RFK, and we never missed a game. So to see the legends standing here in front of me now, the people that I aspired to be like as I was growing up was just unbelievable. But what's really unbelievable is the group that's been assembled here today. When I tell you, we share the same values and vision about what we want this organization to be

and the opportunity in the days, months, weeks, years ahead, is unprecedented. Josh, I mean, I don't know how to say it. We've only met four or five years ago, but I feel like he's a brother. You know, Mark E. Mark, a brother, Irvin, you know, a brother, Blitz. you know, I've just gotten a no blitz going to a few 76ers games. I mean, it was unbelievable. So why do we exist? We are here to ignite and aspire all the communities we serve by winning championships.

We have got to ignite the fan base. We got to ignite the player base. We got to ignite the legends base. And we got to unite all the commander associates. space. There's a lot of people here who can help. And that's what I do. I was telling the legends of story, you know, downstairs. I tried to be a football player. And I made it to the, to the Maryland State All-Star game coming out of high school. I was one of the last guys to be fighting for a scholarship at the University of Maryland. And I was up against a guy who was

blocking me because I was a linebacker on a full ride to Penn State, 6-6-280, and ran a 4-8-40. and I came off the field. My dad said, why is the uniform? All dirty in the back, but clean on the front. I quickly understood that I would rather be a business builder than a football player. So I respect what you guys are doing. It's incredible. So we're here to really build this again from the bottom up, the right way,

by engaging everybody in a passionate, inspiring way, and we're going to need the help from everybody here. not just us. We can't do it on our own. We're going to work our butts off, but we need everybody to rally to the occasion. I remember what it was like, and I want to see those days here again, more for the community building of our fans and our other communities than even myself. So thank you, and I look forward to working with all of you in the time to come. Three of the best minutes from that introductory press conference today, Mitch Rails. And then there was Magic Johnson. God, it's exciting. exciting to have Magic Johnson in this organization.

This was Magic, first discussing kind of his first conversation with Josh Harris about this opportunity. When Josh and I talked, the first thing I said was, do you want to win? And he said, yes. I said, I'm in. Because I don't invest in sports teams to just for ego. I invest to win. And we want to change everything that has happened to this franchise. We see the winners in the front row.

Not only did they win Super Bowls, they also made the community great. And we want to invite the community to be a part of what we're building here. That's going to be a part of my role, is to get out into the community. and help them understand what we're doing, how we're doing it. And also we want to give back. We want to make an impact on this great community that we're doing business in.

You heard Magic say that his responsibilities will include getting out into the community. I think Magic's going to be a big part of the stadium effort. Magic is influential. Magic can really persuade. Magic is probably the most successful post-career athlete we have ever seen in business. He's certainly up there on the list. Everything Magic's touched, post-NBA career, has turned to gold. This was Magic, by the way, talking about interesting ties with Washington.

And then I got to tell you two stories how I'm tied to this. city, and that's probably why I end up why God bless me with this opportunity. Abe Poland, who used to own the Wizards, was one of my mentors. And then I go back to one of the owners that used to

own this team. Jack Kent Cook had to make the deal with me to then sell the Lakers to Dr. Bus to buy the Washington Redskins.

Isn't that something? So I'm supposed to be here. So the ties to D.C. that Magic speaks about are things that maybe some of you don't know about. And actually the first thing, the tie to Abe Poland, I'll get to here in a moment, I'm not super familiar with that either, but I looked up some information. But the part about Jack Kent Cook selling the Lakers to Jerry Buss, as he then bought out, you know, the rest of the shareholders at all. Edward Bennett Williams included to take over the Redskins.

In that show on HBO winning time, the rise of the Lakers dynasty, by the way, I think season two is coming up next month. Very early in the show, there is the episode where Jack Kent Cook is selling the Lakers to Jerry Buss. It's happening at the same time that the draft is about to take place, and Magic is going to be the number one pick in the draft. And the Bulls and the Lakers had a draw or a coin flip to determine who would have the number one pick in the draft. And Jack Kent Cook is being told by the basketball people not to take Magic.

Jerry West apparently was not a massive fan of drafting Magic Johnson because he just couldn't see a six-foot-nine-inch man playing guard. And he thought he'd get run out of the league physically if he were to play down on the post. but Jerry Buss believes that Magic is the future of the franchise, and he's in the process of buying the Lakers. I mean, he's begging, borrowing from everybody to try to get enough and eventually has to give away the Chrysler building, which he didn't even own at that point, but he bought so that that could be included in the deal that Jack Kent Cook got as part of the sale to Jerry Buss.

But they're at lunch together. Jerry Buss, Jack Cancook, and Magic Johnson before the draft. And Jack Cancook being, you know, prim and proper and stodgy, he orders fish for the table. And Magic Johnson speaks up and says, Mr. Cook, if it's okay, I'd like a burger and fries. Now, the show makes cookout to be a total a-hole and looks, and he looks off put by the request. And Jerry Buss steps in and says, of course, you know. and Bus, you know, has a better relationship with Magic. But apparently, you know, if you read about it, it didn't necessarily go that way.

Jack Kent Cook was fine and they ordered Magic a burger and fries. Jerry West apparently, you know, told Magic at some point that could not believe that a 19-year-old stood up to Mr. Cook like that. But ultimately, Jerry Bus got Jack Cancook to draft Magic Johnson right before the Lakers were sold to Jerry. bus. So that was that part of the story. The other part of the story I've heard before, and somebody, and I think it was Wilbon, may have discussed this with me a while back. And I don't remember the details, but I looked up some of it. I think Wilbon had told me at some point that Abe Poland was a mentor to Magic Johnson in business over the years before Abe passed away. And I found this story from Len Shapiro in the Washington Post. We had Len on the podcast the other day. It was written in

1992, September of 1992. And it was a story about Magic's return to the NBA. And there was an interview by Len Shapiro with Abe Poland. And Abe Poland said, quote, I'm a great admirer of Magic Johnsons. He's a fantastic athlete, a fantastic human being. I admire his courage. I admire everything about the man. It's nothing but a positive for the league. Poland never had a relationship with Johnson until the summer of 1991.

When Magic brought a pickup team of NBA players to the Capitol Center for a charity game for the I Have a Dream Foundation. Johnson sat next to Abe Poland

at a dinner the night before, roast West's unseld. And the story describes that the two men, Abe and Magic, spent most of the night getting to know each other. And Poland said, we're roasting Wes, and Magic wasn't on the program as a roaster. Late in the dinner, Magic said to me, hey, Mr. Poland, can't I say something too? Then he got up and was just terrific off the cuff. After the game was over, I came by and gave all the players a little TV. as a gift, a TV as a gift. I gave it to him, Magic, and he said, hey, Mr. Poland, can we come back next year? Just a terrific guy, Abe Poland said. So that was the beginning of their relationship.

And then Magic, after meeting Abe Poland, reached out in the future when he retired from basketball and had Abe Poland as a business mentor. Abe Poland gave him a bunch of advice over the years. So Magic back in D.C. without A. Poland and without Jack Ken Cook. But because of A. Poland, perhaps, the Jack Ken Cook thing is a little bit more murky. It was Jerry Buss that really wanted Magic Johnson. All right. That is it for this opening segment. Up next, I will talk about what Josh Harris said about the name and what Magic Johnson said. about the name and the brand on the Today Show earlier this morning. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. After years of protests, the team finally changes this name. They become the Washington commanders, almost immediately. A lot of folks express their displeasure with the name choice, shall we say.

Is that something that might be reviewed by the new owner? changing the name from the commanders or something else? I think Craig everything's on the table, right? Especially after this year. Magic Johnson this morning on the Today Show with Craig Melvin. Everything is on the table, but not until after next year. Well, of course, it won't be until after this upcoming season. They can't do anything about the name and the brand right now.

They are less than two months away from the opening of the regular season and three weeks away from the preseason. They're locked in to commanders in those uniforms for 2023. But I hope you heard what I heard and what I watched Magic Johnson say and how he handled it this morning on the Today Show. Magic Johnson understood the significance of the question. He understood the importance of his answer. You heard in the Craig Melvin wind up with the question,

Magic Johnson laughing. He was smiling. He understood. He was prepped for this. They know that Josh Harris group knows that this is a big issue with a significant percentage of their fan base. They know that. And Magic Johnson said everything is on the table. If I were an odds maker and sometimes I think I am, I would make a name and total rebrand, I would make it a favorite right now. I would make it like a minus 115 favorite. I would bet on it a year from now. Now, look, it's possible, right? It's possible that they go 12 and 5 and go to the Super Bowl

and nobody wants the name changed. It's also possible, as I've suggested in the past, that they do a deep dive into this, and they just decide it's not worth it. That's possible too. but they understand the seriousness and the importance of this issue with their now new fan base. I mean, wouldn't you have to be a bit naive to suggest, as some have over the last several weeks to months, that this isn't even a topic among the Josh Harris group?

I mean, come on. Most of the limited partners are from here. You don't think they've had a conversation about this? Now, maybe they haven't brought in a branding expert. Maybe they haven't held meetings about it. But come on, limited partners that are from here, they understand. They've asked each other, what do you think about the name? What do you think about the fan reaction to the name?

Josh Harris knows. Mitch Rails knows. Don Van Nata Jr., Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter. I had Don on the show last week because he wrote that big piece on the radio show. He wrote that big piece about the John Gruden emails. Yesterday on the Rich Eisen podcast, he said, there's a pretty good chance the new ownership in Washington will change the franchise name and have a complete rebranding of the team. That wasn't a fan blog. That was Don Van Natta, Jr. I put Don Van Natta Jr. and Magic's comments together, and I would bet a year

from now that there is a name change and a total complete, as Don Vanatta Jr. said, rebranding of the team. I would bet on it now. I don't think the odds are overwhelming. I think a lot of things can happen, but I think it's the slight favorite. I do. Now, Josh Harris was asked twice during his press conference today about the name change. John Kimes started it off by asking you know, where the name issue sort of resides on the immediate priority list. I think John first asked, what do you make of the reaction of the fans of the last, you know, 24 to 48 hours? And then John said, and also with respect to the name, where does it reside on the immediate priority list? Josh answered that.

And then later in the press conference, Matt Paris from the Washington Times asked a follow-up question. I'm going to play both of those and both answers for you right now. Yeah, so Washington fans are passionate. I knew that because I grew up here. The reaction has been overwhelming. We're so appreciative of how welcome we are. We also know, because we've done this before in Philly, that we got to deliver.

So I'm also, the fans should be aware and you should be aware. There's a lot of sleepless nights. This is an amazing day for me, but I'm stressed. So we got a training camp is, you know, the next week and first game is six weeks away. Look, I think that we're going to be focusing. We got a lot to do. We got to get the team ready to win football games. We got to get out in the community and start to pay it forward, you know, as Magic said.

And we got to, you know, change the stadium, right, and change the fan experience. Sorry, the fan experience. We've got to change the fan experience. And right now, that's going to be things like ingress and egress and food. And there's not that much we can do. And so our three priorities are those. And that's what we're focused on right now. Growing up as a Red Teens fan, I'm just curious how you felt about the name change

and how you feel about the name commanders. Is it something you've warmed up to over the years? Yeah, so it's not about how I feel. It's about how the city feels about all this stuff. And like I said, our priorities are we've got to get ready for a football. football season. We got to improve the existing fan experience. Then we got to get at it in the community and get out there. We're going to look at everything and see where we are, but those are our three priorities right now. So you heard Josh Harris, you know, answer John Kimes' question first,

and then Matt Parris's question. Second. And I did love, you know, and I mentioned it earlier, you know, about him with the sleepless nights and with the stress. That's just real honesty about how he's feeling right now. But with respect to the name issue, you know, because John asked the question as to, you know, whether or not it's on the priority list or not, you heard him say, look, we're going to be focusing. We've got a lot to do. We've got to get the team ready to win football games. We've got to get out into the community.

we have got to change the stadium and the fan experience. We've got to change things like ingress and egress and food, and there's not that much we can do. So those are our three priorities right now. That's what we're focused on right now. Matt Paris asked the question, and he said, it's not about how I feel. It's about how the city feels about

all of this stuff. And like I said, our priorities are we've got to get ready for the football season. We've got to improve the existing fan experience and we've got to get out into the community. But, you know, he said, we're going to look at everything and see where we are. But those are our three priorities right now. So the good news for those of you that would like to see something happen is that it wasn't blown off. It wasn't blown off by Magic Johnson. It wasn't blown off by Josh Harris, that would have been the wrong thing to do. And they're able right now, because they're not able to do anything about the brand right now, they're able to answer the question with, look, you know, it's not about how I feel, it's about how the city feels about all of that stuff.

You know, we've got the priorities right now that we have to address because those are the things that they can begin to control right away. I do believe that when, you're going to control right away. I do believe that when this season ends, this will be something that they will have already started the process of looking into it. And I would bet that it happens. Now, I don't know the league rules specifically. I would imagine the league is going to bend a little bit to what this fan base wants and what the owners decide is in the best interest of this fan base. base. But we shall see. Long way to go on any kind of conclusion to this. But I'll tell you what, they've known for a while that it was an issue, and they got an earful for sure over the last

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There were 5,000 fans estimated at FedEx Field today. You know, that kind of goes hand in hand with, you know, responses last night to the party that we were at, the party out in Ashburn. Yeah, people are excited about this. They really are excited about it. The stage was set for out in front of all of these fans, and Josh Harris was slapping five and signing autographs and other owners were doing the same thing. Magic walked out to a big ovation. It was really cool. Two players were there of note. Terry McClure and John Allen were both there. You know, the two significant leaders and captains on the team were there. And that was a big deal as well.

And there were a lot of former players. And Joe Gibbs, of course, was there as well. Terry McClureen said there's an enthusiasm around here. There's a lot of optimism for the future. You try. truly don't understand the weight of everything. Even I couldn't appreciate the weight. But when you get the questions, obviously the things you see in the media and things like that, it weighs on you. Now it's like a clean slate for everyone. Everyone gets to get back to focusing on what's on the field instead of worrying about

what could be going on off the field. And then John Allen was there as well. He seemed excited. He certainly seemed to understand that this is a new day. You know, the players, and I've noticed this over the years, especially the star players who were treated very well by Dan Snyder, but the players as a whole, they're focused on their job. They're focused on the next practice, the next game.

And, yeah, it is a distraction to a certain degree when they're asked about a lot of things that are going on off the field. but, you know, as Coley's told us before, it's not that much of a distraction. And a lot of times they really aren't following these situations, these investigations, these stories in great detail. They've got a job to do. But there's no doubt. It's going to be different.

They're not going to be asked about a lot of things that don't have to do with football as much as they used to. And that will be a good thing for them. Now, Dan Snyder and Tanya Snyder put out a release congratulating Josh Harris in the group, and I will read it to you. This, by the way, is from both Dan and Tanya Snyder. We congratulate the Harris Ownership Group on yesterday's unanimous league approval of their purchase of the Washington Commanders. By the way, it was a 32-0-0 vote.

I'll just interject. Let me start over here again. I wanted to make sure everybody knew that it was a unanimous vote on Josh Harris, and all 32 ownership groups voted. So there wasn't a holdout like Mark Davis abstaining. It was all 32 that voted yes to Josh Harris. So here's the Dan and Tanya statement today. We congratulate the Harris Ownership Group on yesterday's unanimous league approval

of their purchase of the Washington commanders. We are proud to have built the most diverse leadership group of any NFL team, including having the highest representation of women, underrepresented groups, and the first full-time black female coach in league history. So here they go again, you know, patting themselves on the back for having the most diverse organization in the NFL. By the way, let me just add, because it just occurred to me.

there is no mention of the first full-time black male team president in league history. Is that an obvious omission? Seems to me like it is. Also, I would just add, where was Julie Donaldson today? Julie's the head of media, or she's got a big media title, and Julie's usually on the stage and the host of these kinds of things. I didn't see her on any of the press conference. I didn't see her on any of the press conference stuff.

Anyway, all right. Next paragraph from Dan and Tanya Snyder. We are immensely grateful to the best fans in football, the commander's faithful, for the passion and unwavering support they have shown for this team, and those who represented it on and off the field. From the players who battled every week for that extra inch to those who worked behind the scenes to enhance every facet of,

of the organization, we thank you for your hard work dedication and commitment to our team, fans, pursuit of excellence, and most importantly, to each other. Being stewards of this historic organization for the last quarter century has been the privilege of a lifetime. When we purchased the team nearly 25 years ago, Dan was quoted as saying, I'm a fan, a huge fan, it's that simple. That is as true today as it was then. During our next chapter, we are looking forward to spending time with family and

devoting our energy to the causes that matter very much to us, including furthering our longstanding support of breast cancer research. That was the statement from Dan and Tanya Snyder today, pouting them, patting themselves on the back, touting the most diverse organization in the NFL, but not mentioning Jason Wright. Interesting. What will the Snyder's,

do. Well, I mean, they kind of told you what they were going to do. I've heard people say, is Dan going to buy the Nats? No, he's not going to buy the nationals. Come on. He's, they're not going to be here. I don't think ever. You know, this is the part, honestly, of the conversation that kind of bothers me because they're human beings and they have grown children and, you know, they've had it tough. That family has had it tough for the last many years. You know, they have been pariahs in their own hometown. You know, it took them a while to realize it because they seem to be so sheltered from a lot of it. But the kids had to feel it for all of those years. I would imagine that they're done in Washington. Look, Josh Harris says he's moving back to Washington. I think Dan's

got a couple of houses that are still on the market. But, you know, we are at the point now where it's now about the Josh Harris Group and the football franchise and what they do to build a competitive product on the field and something we can be proud of off of it. And judging that, although my judging is going to be pretty lenient. They are on a grading curve right now because this is honeymoon period. They have acquired a tear down, as we have mentioned many times in the past. And this is going to be a challenge. It is. But yesterday was a surreal day. It was kind of cool. I'm not telling you guys that all of a sudden I'm back to my passion level of, you know, 2016, 2017, before it really was really,

started to kind of tail off. But I did like what I heard today. And I really enjoyed yesterday and last night being with, you know, a lot of people that were genuine in their excitement. And I'm not talking about the people that always show up at these events. Last night was different. You know, there were a lot of people that I knew down there. You know, all age groups as well. And I I think for the first time in a long time, we can at least now believe that this football franchise has a chance because they do now. All right, that's it for the day. I will be back on Monday, and I will read through that Mary Joe White investigation, I guess. I am curious about that.

Look, Tommy, let's be fair to Tommy here. Tommy's the one that said this is going to lead to something pretty significant. Now, some are really trying to minimize the $60 million fine. It's 1%. It basically comes out before the sale was finalized. But $60 million, $60 million. I understand the percentage of it and the lack of this being a real hard hit to Dan necessarily with this sale price. but the bottom line is that Mary Joe White basically said,

Dan, you did this to Tiffany Johnston, and oh, by the way, you ripped the league off. I didn't think we would get that. But I'm going to read through it, and I'll have more on that on Monday. And then Tommy will be in next week for two days, and then he begins his summer, or his August in Spain. All right, wild week.

Have a great weekend back on Monday. This franchise is a part of who I, am and who I became. It's part of my DNA, but I appreciate that it's not just about being a fan. I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to this city to win championships, to create a positive impact on the community, and create great experiences and memories for future fans just like I had growing up as a kid. I've done this before, and I believe that we are up to this task. In order to win, we're going to need the best, most committed people. Starting today, we will attract those people with a culture defined

by excellence, dignity, respect, and inclusivity. I look forward to working with Jason and Ron to create great experiences, to create that culture, and create memories for our fans. I know we'll accomplish it. And we all need to work together to make sure that this team is a force that unites people in an otherwise divided world and brings them together. To the commanders fans, our promise to you is straightforward.

We will work tirelessly to make you play I'm proud once again of this franchise like my family was when I grew up here. This is not going to be easy. My job is to deliver an organization that can win. It's on me and it's on us up here. Our work begins today and I'm so excited to be on this journey together with the city. Thank you all.