The Redskins Blog

Bruce Allen Discusses Uniforms Some More

The last time Bruce Allen was asked about the Redskins uniforms, he was unable to finish his answers to any of the questions. Yesterday, Allen was a guest on Redskins Nation with Larry Michael. The two talked about the snow (“Redskins weather,” Allen called it), the value of the Scouting Combine, getting read for free agency, and more, and you can see all of that in the video here.

http://p.castfire.com/1Ll7r/video/246769/redskins_2010-02-11-130015.895.m4v

But Allen also got a second chance to talk about the rumors of an offseason uniform change, and Larry Michael — unlike Steve Czaban — actually let him answer. Here’s how it went (italics and boldface added by me):

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Bruce Allen Tries To Discuss That Uniform Issue Despite Steve Czaban

Last post on Bruce Allen’s appearance on ESPN980 yesterday, following on his reminiscences about the past and discussion of the current offseason.

After all that serious talk was done, co-host Steve Czaban jumped in with one last question, one that is very important to the fanbase, at least based on my web traffic and the emails I get featuring helmet mock-ups (such as the one up top of this post): he asked about the possibility of a change to the Redskins uniforms.

Czaban tends to be very good about asking these kind of voice-of-the-fans questions, which is terrific. Unfortunately, as we’ll see, this time he didn’t actually feel like listening to the voice of the GM for the answer.

(Let me interject here as I always do, to clearly state: I am hearing that there will be NO change to the uniforms. The helmet above is a fan creation. All the rumors and speculation are just that. But it’s been a subject of much discussion, online and off, and Czaban saw an opportunity and wisely went for it.)

“I’ve gotta add one last thing,” Czaban said. “The uniform. A lot of people are really into the uniform–”

“Like you,” co-host Andy Pollin interjected.

“– and have very particular ideas about it,” Czaban continued, “some more traditional than others. Is there anything going on with the Redskins uniform that we should know about? Redesigns? Tweaks?”

“Oh, no,” Allen said. “No.”

For the record, that seems pretty clear and unequivocal. And, just to be even more certain, Czaban asked the obvious follow-up: “No?”
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Bruce Allen Discusses The Offseason (Again)

New Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen didn’t just talk about banana splits and the old days during yesterday’s second radio appearance on ESPN980. Hosts Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban freely admitted that their opening “hey, remember when” questions were mostly preamble to the things that people really wanted to know; eventually they got to the meat of it, to the questions that the fans ask in their emails and blog comments and things like that.

Sometimes they didn’t get much in the way of specifics. Take a look at Allen’s comments on the offseason so far, for example:

“We started from the coaching end,” he said, “and are really pleased with the staff that Coach Shanahan has put together. We’re gonna blend a lot of new ideas into our new schemes that we’re gonna be running. I think that’s gonna lead us into free agency and then our offseason program where all of our players have to learn their new jobs and the work ethic that we expect from them, and the level of commitment that we demand from them.”

A careful review of that statement will reveal just about nothing beyond the most basic, obvious football stuff: work ethic, commitment, offseason program, etc. Which is not a bad thing, by the way — I certainly don’t want the team’s general manager explaining his plans in specific detail on the radio — but it makes it all the more notable when he does elect to reveal specifics.

His comments about his draft philosophy, for example, I found telling — and telling in a way that was probably not very reassuring to a lot of the aging players on the roster.

“Well, I’m not afraid of trades,” Allen said.

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Friday, February 5: Bruce Allen Hasn't Eaten Dessert Since Super Bowl VII

One thing I get horribly sick of during Super Bowl week is the endless parade of retired NFL players circling media row, answering the same questions on EVERY sportstalk radio show under the sun. It’s like Groundhog Day for Barry Sanders, the one week of the year that he pokes his head out to see the sun, and I could not possibly be less interested in what he has to say or whatever product he’s selling.

Which isn’t to say that there aren’t some interesting guests. It’s always nice to hear from former Redskins, for example (and, to be fair, I imagine the Detroit fans get pretty excited for Barry Sanders), and it’s also good to hear what actual current players and front office types have to offer.

So I had no problem with new Redskins Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen making the circuit yesterday. He turned up at least twice on ESPN980, first on the John Thompson Show (which Gary Fitzgerald wrote about over at the Redskins.com mothership) and later on The Sports Reporters with Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin.

I’ll have more on Allen’s comments there later today (or you can listen yourself in the Corona Audio Vault), but he started off answering a question about the worst loss in Redskins history. And it was clear that — for him — there was no question: Super Bowl VII. That’s him after the game in the AP photo above right, head in his hands, a portrait of abject misery.

The Redskins lost to the Dolphins 14-7 that day, and it changed Bruce Allen’s life — and his diet — irrevocably. Read more »

Thursday, January 21: A Different Feel To The Offseason

It can’t come as a surprise to anyone that there’s a different feeling around Redskins Park this offseason.

There are a lot of reasons for it, some of them obvious (an almost entirely new coaching staff and a new general manager are going to create a slightly different feeling) and some of them less so. I have a suspicion that I’ll be spending a lot of this offseason trying to pinpoint some of these less obvious differences.

One of them became eminently clear on Friday night, at the Pigskin Club‘s 72nd Annual Awards Dinner in D.C.

“The Pigskin Club,” Brig Owens explained, “has a very rich history.”

The former defensive back, named one of the 70 Greatest Redskins on the occasion of the team’s 70th Anniversary, should know — he was a two-term president of the club. (That’s him on the far right of the picture on top of this post.)

“It was originally started to honor those African-American players who weren’t normally honored back in the thirties, forties, fifties and sixties,” he said, “so there’s a rich tradition. And it’s also a community. You’re able to bring players in from around the country regardless of what color they are; it’s all about democracy in sports.”

Friday’s event was, according to the club’s description, “a celebration to acknowledge the accomplishments of our young people and community leaders who serve as role models.” I was there mainly because Brian Orakpo was slated to receive the John W. Posey Award for his rookie season, and I thought it might provide an excuse to ask him a couple of dumb questions.

“Brian Orakpo came in as a rookie and made an impact right away,” Owens said, explaining the meaning of the award. “The Pigskin Club took note of that and said we’ve gotta honor the young man and introduce him to the community here in Washington D.C. I think he’s gonna have a great career here, and the Pigskin Club recognized that right off the bat.”

Orakpo wasn’t able to attend because of a prior commitment, but Owens was there. As was Bobby Mitchell, another of the 70 Greatest Redskins, and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (Mitchell is second from the right in the photo.)

Oh, and new General Manager Bruce Allen. He was there, too. (He’s second from the left.)

It wasn’t the first Pigskin Club event for any of those three.
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Bruce Allen's Press Conference

http://p.castfire.com/oYeso/video/221289/redskins_2010-01-04-141437.flv

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Bruce Allen's Press Conference (And Post-Press Conference Press Conference)

http://p.castfire.com/oYeso/video/214505/redskins_2009-12-17-163827.flv

In case you haven’t seen it anywhere else, that’s today’s press conference introducing Bruce Allen as the new general manager of the Washington Redskins. It was a solid press conference, as such things go — Allen is a charismatic, confident speaker who made a point to address the media members by name as much as possible — and in the end, it boiled down (as such things usually do) to a few specific points.

Here they are, backed up with quotes just like we all learned back in freshman English.

1) Allen represents a tie to the history of the Redskins.

“It’s exciting because of the history, the tradition, the comfort about coming home,” Allen said. “Everybody who knows me, and hopefully you will get to know me better, knows that the principles of football in my mind are simple, it’s a team. It’s 53 men, the entire staff, everybody in the building going in the same direction for one common goal, and that’s to win.”

2) Owner Daniel Snyder realized a change was necessary, and saw the replacement of Vinny Cerrato as essential to that change.

“Obviously this has been a very difficult season,” Snyder said, “one where we have disappointed everyone-the fans, ourselves. We understand that. It’s been difficult. When it gets to the point where you’re looking at what we need to do for the future, you look at change. And that’s what I decided to do.”

3) The three remaining games are even more important to the current players and coaches than you might have thought.

“I’m here to learn what’s been going on,” Allen said. “It gives me an opportunity that you usually don’t get to see players play under the lights of Monday night and Sunday night against the [New York Giants] and the Dallas Cowboys. I’ll get to see how the coaches interact and see how we run as an operation so there are no surprises for the offseason. And it gives me a wonderful opportunity to evaluate everything I’m watching.”

4) No, really.

“The great opportunity here by coming in at this point of the season,” Allen said at another point, “is to build a plan and get a head start on 2010, identify what can help us win in 2010 and beyond with never losing sight of the upcoming games. I am going to work hard. I have made some draft mistakes, I have made some free agent mistakes, but as a team, our teams did pretty well.”

5) Enough with the Jon Gruden stuff. Seriously.

“Well, we don’t have an opening at that position,” said Allen. “And I have a close relationship with hundreds of coaches in this league, but Jim Zorn is our coach. I met him two hours before meeting you here, so give us some time to see how our relationship develops.”

6) Bruce Allen is not a huge fan of putting up Christmas lights.

“I’m very happy at the timing of this,” he said, “because I don’t have to put up the Christmas lights. I don’t have to go Christmas shopping. I have an excuse. I’m working.”

Following Allen’s press conference — during which he addressed the assembled press — he did a one-on-one interview with each TV station, then did a group session with the print reporters. This second session differed from the first one in two ways: 1) it wasn’t recorded on video, and 2) the writers were standing, not sitting. Brian Murphy of ExtremeSkins was diligent enough to transcribe the whole thing, and kind enough to allow me to repost it here.
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Michael Lombardi Discusses Bruce Allen

New executive vice president and general manager Bruce Allen had his first press conference today, and it was a well-attended affair. Pretty much all the Redskins Park staffers were in attendance, of course, along with a substantial contingent of media folks — a large Washington Post crew, a large Washington Times crew, radio people, talking heads from the local TV affiliates, and, representing the NFL Network, Mike Lombardi.

This was an interesting little quirk of fate, because Lombardi’s claim to fame as a broadcaster is that he’s a former personnel man. One of the teams he worked with was the Oakland Raiders, and one of the guys he worked under was one Bruce Allen. So he actually could offer some insight on today’s moves that went beyond his role as a TV guy, and he was generous enough to give me a little bit of his time.

Brian Murphy of Homer McFanboy and ExtremeSkins had had the same idea — and first, I should add — so we elected to do the interview together following the Allen press conference.

Redskins Blog: “I want to start by asking you: you’ve worked with Bruce Allen.”

Mike Lombardi: “Yeah.”

RB: “What are some of his strengths? What does he bring to the Redskins?”

ML: “He brings an element of the ability to communicate to the fanbase. The ability to give confidence to the people in the building. And his leadership is such that he’s able to take a lot of the information in and disseminate it around. And certainly working with the coaches and the head coach, I think he can reach a good decision.”

RB: “What do you think are the most important traits for a good general manager?”
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Bruce Allen Named Executive Vice President/General Manager Of The Washington Redskins

The Redskins have officially named Bruce Allen Executive Vice President/General Manger of the team. More throughout the day, I’m sure. For now, here’s an assessment of Allen’s last stint as GM, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and here’s the Redskins press release:

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA – The owner of the Washington Redskins today announced that proven long-time NFL executive Bruce Allen has been tapped to be the Executive Vice President/General Manager of the franchise. Daniel Snyder made the announcement just hours after accepting the resignation of Vinny Cerrato. Cerrato served in many capacities for the franchise over the last ten years, most recently as executive vice president of football operations.

“Bruce Allen is the personification of an NFL winner,” Snyder said. “Our fans know his heritage; we know his abilities. He is the right person to lead our club.”

Allen, 53, is one of only a few people in the NFL who has helped lead teams that have won five division championships since 2000. He is the son of the late George Allen, the legendary former Redskins coach. Most recently he was the General Manager at Tampa Bay. Prior to Tampa, he was a Senior Assistant at the Oakland Raiders. In 2002, he was named the National Football League’s George Young NFL Executive of the Year.

Allen said he would begin work for the Redskins immediately.

Continued after the jump.

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