The nascent Burgundy Revolution is beginning to coalesce into an organized movement. The impromptu anti-Snyder t-shirts (photos of which you can’t see because Daniel Snyder demanded the Washington Post remove them from Dan Steinberg’s Sports Bog) have now morphed into a structured protest.
The website Burgundy Revolution is urging like-minded Redskins fans to wear black to Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, and refuse to buy any concessions or team merchandise. They are labeling it Black Sunday, or #blacksunday1018, for all you tweeters.
The main agitators behind Black Sunday—who wish to remain anonymous—identifited by their Twitter handles @BurgundyRevo and @BoycottSnyder are lifelong Redskins fans fed up with the current state of the franchise. They lay blame for the last decade of futility directly at the feet of owner Daniel Snyder and Executive Vice President for Football Operations, Vinny Cerrato.
@BoycottSnyder created his Twitter account after the loss to the Detroit Lions, “It felt like I was watching the same terrible rerun over and over again,” he said. “There appeared to be no end in sight to our futility. Snyder could conceivably be the owner of the Washington Redskins for the next 50 years,” he worries, “constantly meddling and ruining the team. So I wanted to try and do something about it.”
@BurgundyRevo bought the Burgundyrevolution.com domain shortly after Dan Steinberg coined the term. he was “tired of getting my hopes up every year only to have it dashed. I used to be proud to wear my Skins jerseys,” he said. “I was playing on Twitter one night and I had posted something about firing Zorn and someone else pointed out the problem is really management.”
@BoycottSnyder saw the value in using Twitter as a tool for activism and disseminate his message, and it has worked, “The first 20 or so @BoycottSnyder followers became the backbone of the movement. We're all total strangers who basically met online out of mutual disgust for the mismanagement of Daniel Snyder.”
After the humiliating loss to Carolina, Black Sunday was born.
The goal of Black Sunday, @BoycottSnyder says, is to “boycott all concessions at the game, and to show Snyder exactly how many people are sick of his failed ownership.” The goals of the Burgundy Revolution, however, don’t end there. What they want @BurugndyRevo said is to force “Snyder to hire a real GM to make the football decisions, and then let the GM actually make the decisions.”
While the hiring of a general manager independent of Snyder in football operations is the central aim of the Burgundy Revolution, @BoycottSnyder has a personal goal: “to financially bring Snyder to his knees." He aims to “boycott all of his endeavors - Redskins and otherwise. Six Flags, Johnny Rockets, I want them all to fail. I want Snyder to sell the team and end this terrible experiment.”
@BurugndyRevo isn’t as sanguine about that end. “I don't know if that is necessary. I also am not sure how possible that would be since the team is so valuable.”
Both stress that they are anti-Snyder not anti-Redskins. They love the team and urge fans those wearing black and otherwise to cheer for the players. “I want to respect the players,” @BurgundyRevo said. “I was disgusted to hear of a fan spitting on [rookie linebacker] Robert Henson... That is horrible, no one deserves that. I love the Skins and will be a fan no matter what and I will cheer my team.”
To their credit, both also stressed to me how they don’t want to make the Burgundy Revolution about them. @BurgundyRevo, like most fans has another life to worry about. “I don't want to be the ‘leader’. I'm just very vocal and started the website. I have a young daughter and a busy job, I don't have time to run a revolution... but I can be a part of one.” Others involved on Twitter are @savetheskins, @selltheteamdan, @letsbuytheskins, and @redskins_fans. There is also the new website FanExodus. Even that old insurrectionist, rabble rouser The CurlyR is joining the cause.
@BurgundyRevo and @BoycottSnyder plan more protests beyond Black Sunday. Whether the Burgundy Revolution is successful or not remains to be seen, but this much is sure, one of the NFL’s most loyal fan bases is unhappy, riled up, and now organizing.
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