Ron Rivera has been through a lot since taking over as the Washington Commanders head coach after the 2019 season. From COVID-19 to dealing with cancer during his first season as coach, Rivera has faced plenty of adversity, much of it surrounding controversial owner Daniel Snyder.
With last week’s announcement that Snyder had an agreement in principle to sell the Commanders to Josh Harris for $6.05 billion, you’d think everyone in the entire organization, specifically Rivera, would be relieved this chapter would soon be ending.
He is — sort of.
Wait, what?
You see, Rivera is old school. When he was hired as Washington’s head coach, Snyder made him multiple promises. Promises, that Rivera said he always kept. That matters to Rivera. Rivera has heard everything about Snyder. He’s not defended Snyder, but he’s a little tired of hearing about the past.
In an interview at the NFL owners meetings last month, Rivera noted how Snyder had been there for him in some of the most difficult times of his life.
When the news broke of Snyder reaching a deal with Harris to potentially become Washington’s next owner, Rivera described it as “a little bittersweet.”
“So, for me, it’s a little bittersweet,” Rivera said to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “Because I understand it. I understand what happens, what it means to people, how it affects people, the impact on the organization itself. Those are all things that I’ve kind of had to go through in my own mind. And, again, not to disrespect or downplay what all these other people have gone through; it’s just that the guy that I’ve dealt with is a different person to me.
Rivera then explained his relationship with Snyder.
“He’s really helped me. When I got sick, he was there, and helped me and my family. My mother passed away recently; he was there to help me out, getting back to the funeral and being there for my dad. So that’s the guy I know. And that’s why when people ask me, ‘How do you feel about this?’ That’s what I say; it’s bittersweet. ’Cause again, this is the guy that’s been nice to me. He’s been there. So that’s hard for me.”
There will be some who criticize Rivera, but that’s just silly. As Rivera said before, perhaps Snyder has changed. Perhaps he has learned some very valuable lessons over the last three years. Regardless, Snyder needed to go. And he should’ve been gone long ago, but that doesn’t mean Rivera is wrong for feeling the way he does about Snyder.
Rivera did acknowledge he’s happy for his players, specifically because they won’t face the repeated ownership questions and can focus only on football moving forward.
