Until recently, the biggest news to come out of the Washington Redskins’ camp was the $100 million contract given to defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, effectively making him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. When asked whether such a heavy investment was wise – considering the sour state of the economy – Vinny Cerrato, Washington’s executive vice president for football operations, told ESPN.com, “We had a budget, and we owe it to the fans to improve the football team.”

Actually, it looks like Cerrato and team owner Dan Snyder think the fans owe them.

On Sept. 3, James V. Grimaldi, a reporter for The Washington Post, wrote that the Redskins are suing fans who cannot afford to pay premiums on multiyear season ticket packages because of (in most cases) the recession.

In the last five years, 125 separate lawsuits have been filed by the Redskins against their fans. In addition, the Post reported that 34 suits were not contested, which automatically awarded judgments to the ‘Skins.

Among those fans sued are: a 73-year-old grandmother living on Social Security, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, and a man who was incarcerated in the middle of his contract.

To date, Washington has amassed $5.6 million in judgments and has not lost a suit. To add insult to injury, since most of the judgments are being paid through installments, rarely does a fan have the opportunity to actually use one of these tickets they’re forced to buy.

As if this isn’t despicable enough, the Redskins are reselling the tickets that the defaulting fans forfeit. The Post also reported that there have been some instances when the ‘Skins have sold tickets (tickets that have been paid for as a result of the lawsuits) to the ASC Ticket Co., which caters to the Maryland, Virginia and D.C. area. Essentially, Washington is selling the same tickets twice.

Upon reviewing this information, there are several conclusions that can be reached:

1. The ‘Skins are arrogant

This pretty much speaks for itself. Rather than “owing the fans” as Cerrato said, the Redskins are exploiting arguably their most devout fans. The average cost for the standard two-ticket, six-year package is $34,250. It’s hard to imagine that anyone who spends that kind of money is anything but the most loyal of fanatics.

But aside from that, it seems as though the Redskins’ front office believes that it is immune from public scrutiny. While the NFL is the most popular sports organization in America today, there is no law written that says it has to be. If fans of other teams start getting railroaded a la Washington, the NFL’s popularity will plummet.

2. The ‘Skins are greedy

This almost goes without saying. It would be one thing if the club merely sought to secure their future assets by holding fans responsible for tickets they hadn’t paid for, but by reselling tickets that were paid for via lawsuit, the Redskins are only trying to fatten their wallets.

This is also evident due to the team’s association with ASC Ticket. The people at ASC are, in essence, scalpers. They’re legitimate scalpers, but scalpers nonetheless. Rather than making the tickets available to the general public (or maybe even the people who paid for them), the Redskins are selling them to brokers who charge above-market-value prices. How does this help the average fan? (It doesn’t.)

3. The ‘Skins are shameless

FedEx Field, which the ‘Skins call home, has the largest seating capacity in the NFL with 91,704. According to a marketing report posted Sept. 2 on Forbes.com, the Redskins are also the richest team in the league. Last year, despite posting a losing record, the ‘Skins brought in $90 million, roughly $19 million more than second-place New England.

Why then, would the Redskins try to milk these people, who have helped make them the richest franchise in pro football, to the point of destitution?

Answer: See conclusions one and two.

For years now, Native American groups have lobbied for Washington to change its team name on the grounds that it is racially offensive.

Not only do I agree, but I can suggest a few four-letter words that would fill in nicely.

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