Warren Buffett was talking about the U.S. economy falling into recession during a Monday interview with CNBC. He buys Coke stock instead of Pepsi, checks railroad car inventories to determine market trends and thinks Nebraska football will win eight games this fall.
And then Buffett rocked my world. The third richest man in the world’s dream would have been to own the Redskins. Forget oil futures — let’s hear more about this.
“If I lived in a big city that had a top team, I’d want to buy it there,” he said. “I own a quarter of the Omaha Royals … but I grew up in Washington, D.C. My dream might have been to buy the Washington Redskins, although they were playing baseball [the Senators were the city’s top team during the 1940s, while the Redskins played second fiddle]. The Washington Senators — I’m not sure you’d want to. They used to say, ‘First in war, first in peace and last in the American League.’ …
“When I was a kid I thought for sure if I ever got rich I would be buying a sports team, but I’d rather play on one now — so if there’s anyone out there who would like to sign me up I’m ready.”
Warren, it’s never too late to buy the Redskins. Look at Ted Lerner, who owns the Nationals at age 83. Own the Redskins and you can play guard and wear your age (77) for all I care. Just end this age of terror (and terrible) under Dan Snyder — who, at age 43, will probably operate this team long after I’m gone.
Come on Warren — you’re reportedly worth over $50 billion. Give Snyder $2 billion, double book value, and send him on his way. Snyder may not want to sell, but there’s a price on everything. He can take that extra $1 billion and buy the English soccer team the Redskins owner was rumored to be considering last year.
Too bad Buffett wasn’t paying attention in 1999 when Snyder emerged from a failed offer with a cash-poor partner to grab the team before FedEx chairman Fred Smith could bid $1 billion. Snyder has been milking fans for every dime ever since, allowing him to buy Six Flags, Johnny Rockets and Dick Clark Productions — not to mention lots of free agent ballplayers that have produced a losing record over nine years despite nearly $1 billion in payroll.
Buffett has one tie with the Redskins. Russell Athletic, a subsidiary of a subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is a Redskins sponsor. Buy the team and Buffett can change the name to the Berkshires or even the Hathaways. Miss Jane can be a cheerleader.
Buffett graduated from Wilson High in 1947 while already operating businesses around the District. The man could make a cloudless sky rain silver dollars. Buffett would have been a worthy successor to late owner Jack Kent Cooke and predecessors Edward Bennett Williams and George Preston Marshall. They were tycoons much like Buffett is today.
Oh well, it could have been worse. Buffett said he might have owned the Redskins’ nemesis if residing in Big D.
“If I lived in Dallas I’d want to own the Cowboys or something like that,” he said.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
