Memory Lane

Before Synder fires Zorn, let's take a trip down memory lane.

Remember when Marty Schottenheimer was hired? To give you some context, Marty was hired the season after Deion Sanders played his one and only season with the skins. At that point we already had some bad Snyder experiences, the renaming of Jack Kent Cooke stadium, signing Jeff George to quite a large deal for a backup, Bruce Smith, and the midseason firing of Norv Turner.

Here is the press conference announcing the Marty hiring:
Part I:


Part II:


I remember thinking at this point in time that Synder had learned his lesson. That giving has-beens golden parachutes was a thing of the past, and that he had realized he was not cut out to manage football operations. He gave Marty complete control, and Marty produced.

Here are Marty's words from the end of the press conference (emphasis added):

The single most important thing, and there's former players sitting in this group back here, the most important thing that a professional athlete asks is this..

'Is the organization I'm affiliated with committed to winning?' Because frankly, if the athlete don't feel the commitment isn't in evidence, I don't think they provide you with the commitment is necessary.

Those of you that have been around this organization since Dan Snyder took over, I would suggest that there is no doubt of the commitment of this gentleman to winning a championship. That's the goal, that's the objective, I'm not sure how quick it happens, but i know it begins today, and it begins today in a partnership, in which two individuals have to begin the process developing the kind of trust and interaction that I have no doubt Dan Synder and I will achieve.

Marty was fired after one season, after in that season, becoming the first team in NFL history to lose five games in a row, followed by winning the next five in a row.