Yesterday on the John Fredericks Radio Show state Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) was asked if he was being considered for the job of general manager/president of the Washington Redskins as has been rumored. The job became vacant when Bruce Allen was fired at the end of last month. Petersen’s response to John Frederick’s query about the job:
“Well you know, John, I usually don’t talk about my personal future on media shows…y’all got more important stuff to talk about. I’ll just say that I’ve been a Redskins supporter all my life and I’m obviously a season ticket holder and I’ve sort of worked with the team on various things, informal things. You know, I was friends with Bruce and obviously he got fired and that was tough. But you know the bottom line is I’m here in whatever capacity the team needs me. I hope I could be helpful and if that’s a professional position, then that’s something I might consider, but that’s all I can say right now…
“If I was to ever be in a position like that, the first thing I would do is at every home game I’d be in the parking lot, shaking hands with fans, going to tailgates, meeting people, meeting the customers. You know, for me, I wouldn’t worry about the on-field product per se. I think you hire the top football guys to do that. Your job is to be out meeting your customers and doing that 24/7. If you got to stand at the gate a Redskins park and shake people’s hands on the way into practice or stand at the gate of FedEx Field and shake people’s hands on the way into the game, you want people to talk to you, you want to be talking to the fans 100%.
You know, teams go up and down on the field. What’s concerning to me about the Redskins is their fan base has eroded substantially, substantially in the last 10, 15 years, and we all see that. And part of that’s the team’s been unsuccessful on the field. But part of it is, for some whatever reason, they lost their identity – and that’s something they need to recapture. You’re a hundred percent correct.Let me tell you something, there’s been more enthusiasm in the DC area in the past 72 hours than I’ve seen in the last, you know, almost since Obama was elected. I’m not exaggerating; people love the Redskins. People like me who grew up here, there’s nothing like it. It goes to the core of our DNA in this area. You know people like Sonny Jurgensen, you know you name the names… these are legends, these are names that they walk into any restaurant in the DC area, they’re not paying for their dinner…We need to get that back. We need to get Redskins fans back in the stadium. We need to get them you know back in the seats. We need to take back our house.
And again, if I could play a role in that, great. You know, right now I’m focused on the Senate, my Senate tenure, and I’m excited for that…but I will tell you as I believe the Redskins have a positive role in this community it brings people together across racial, ethnic, political lines, and that’s an important institution and it shouldn’t go away.”
It certainly sounds like Senator Petersen has given a lot of thought to the job. If he were to become President of the Washington Redskins he would resign as a state Senator leaving the Senate 20-19 in the Democrats’ favor. A special election would be held to fill his seat.
Senator Chap Petersen was one of the founders of the Redskin’s Caucus in the General Assembly because of his pride in the Redskins and his desire that they are allowed to keep their name.
Petersen would be a fool not to take the job as GM/president of the Redskins. According to this site, back in 2013, the average salary for an NFL GM/President was between and $1 and $3 million per year. Some general managers have been awarded contracts worth $11 million. But it would mean giving up the $18,000 (+per diem) Petersen currently makes as a state Senator in Richmond. Definitely a no brainer.
