We already knew that Danny Rouhier really, REALLY wanted to see the Commanders on Hard Knocks this summer, and while it looks like the Jets will get the call…well, when he was rolling solo again on Tuesday, Danny gave one last plea for the Commanders to step up and ASK to do it.
“What better time to sell yourself than now? Quite frankly, there’s a great chance you probably won’t be here next year, and that’s not even your fault!” Danny said. “A new regime coming in, it is not unreasonable to want to start anew and begin again, say thank you for your service. So now is the time to show how much things have changed! Show your leadership, your acumen, all of your young stars. This is a free advertisement!”
It’s not just football, either; Danny wants to see the world find out how wonderful and charitable Terry McLaurin is, how fun Jahan Dotson is, or how much of a beast Jon Allen is. Let people see the personalities behind the team, so maybe some new folks can get behind them as the Dan Snyder era ends and the Josh Harris era begins.
“You don’t have to let them put anything negative out there, or anything that makes you look foolish,” Danny said. “You get editorial control. I understand certain years, you don’t want them to see the nonsense, but Ron Rivera is a grown-up everyone likes, who will come off exceptionally well.”
Danny then ranted about how the Lions’ last Hard Knocks experience let everyone fall in love with Dan Campbell, whom he called “an overmatched boob who should be a tight ends coach at some small college,” as well as Duce Staley and Aaron Glenn. So why not the Commanders’ staff, Rivera and Eric Bieniemy and Jack Del Rio – and the team and the organization itself?
“This should be the showcase – it’s the single-most controllable, easy thing the franchise can do right now to help win back the hearts and minds of lapsed fans who aren’t as invested as they used to be,” Danny said. “Nothing they can do – no promotional event, giveaway, email blast, postgame concert – could do a hundredth of the good being on Hard Knocks could do. The Lions, who stunk FOREVER, are selling out games, and they have some juice because of Hard Knocks. You think there’s any juice or excitement around this organization? The dictator has been toppled, the No. 1 villain is deposed, and the dream is real – and you can’t muster the gumption to say yes?”
You don’t have to show any of the downsides of the team, the facilities, whatever, as Danny mentioned – but this is the moment to advertise all the good to the world, and say ‘we’re back.’
“I don’t get it, and can’t stand the argument against it,” Danny said. “The old way, when HBO just put out what they wanted and you might look bad? I get it. But Liev Schreiber is going to do his thing while the team is hitting the sleds, position coaches are all fired up, Eric Bieniemy is prowling the sidelines like Dane Cook doing a TV special! You don’t want that?”
And that led to one final plea:
“Washington football people, business people: I’m begging you to walk down that hallway to Double-R’s office and say, ‘Riverboat, can I close the door? Come on dude, do it. Dude. DUDE. You have to get on Hard Knocks.’”
Follow Grant & Danny on Twitter: @granthpaulsen & @funnydanny
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