Fan’s hopes aside, Allen in business
Campaign to fire him hasn’t swayed Snyder
Washington Redskins president Bruce Allen is remaining in his role overseeing football operations and will also assume control of the business side of the franchise, the Redskins said Friday.
Allen had moved to a football-only role last year, when team owner Daniel Snyder hired former NFL executive Brian Lafemina to run the Redskins’ business operations. Lafemina was fired the day after Christmas, after just eight months into his job, and Allen has since moved back to his old position, the Redskins said.
“There was never any question about this,” Tony Wylie, the team’s senior vice president for communications said Friday when asked about Allen’s status. “Of course he’s coming back.”
Snyder is keeping Allen despite a clamor from many Redskins fans to have Allen removed after nine years as an executive with the team. Several fans have started an online campaign called #FireBruceAllen, flooding the comments section of the team’s social media posts with the hashtag. But several people around the NFL with knowledge of the Redskins’ plans say Snyder remains comfortable with Allen in charge.
Allen, originally hired late in the 2009 season to be a general manager for soon-to-be-hired Mike Shanahan, took over all operations of the franchise after Shanahan left following the 2013 season. In his time with the Redskins, Allen’s teams have gone to the playoffs two times — both first-round losses — and are 59-84-1.
The son of famed Redskins coach George Allen, Allen has not recaptured the prestige of his father’s time with the team. His tenure has been filled with controversy, including battles with Shanahan and fiascos surrounding star players, including quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Donovan McNabb, and last month’s waiver claim of former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster, who had been cut after an arrest on domestic violence charges.
Those charges were dropped earlier this month.
Many fans and league officials believe Allen is responsible for the erosion of the team’s once-vast and passionate fan base. Despite his 2014 claim that the Redskins were “winning off the field,” the Redskins significantly reduced the size of FedEx Field’s upper deck during his tenure, a reflection of declining ticket sales. The team announced last season that a sellout streak it had said stretched back decades had ended, and it played its 2018 home games in a half-filled stadium.
The empty seats, and large numbers of fans of visiting teams, discouraged several Washington players who lashed out at the declines in the fan base.