Dan Snyder and the Redskins Hate Your Grandma

OK, maybe not your grandma…but somebody’s grandma.

And that grandma’s name is Pat Hill, a Redskins season ticket holder since 1960, who, like much of the country, has been hit hard in these difficult economic times.

Her real estate sales took a major hit with the housing market crash, so much so that she could no longer afford the $5300-a-year contract for her two loge end zone seats. So she asked the Redskins to waive her contract for a year or two.

Fair enough, right?

Wrong.

The team said no, then sued the 72-year-old grandmother for backing out of her 10-year-ticket-renewal-agreement after only one year. The ‘Skins were seeking payment for all seasons through 2017, plus interest, attorney’s fees and court costs.

Oh, and they made her cry…the bastards.

Poor Mrs. Hill couldn’t afford a lawyer. She didn’t fight the lawsuit, or even respond to it. Guess what…the team won the suit.

To the tune of $66, 364.

But Mrs. Hill isn’t alone…she is but one of 125 season ticket holders who asked to be release from multi-year contracts, only to get sued by the Redskins in the last 5 years. Most were victims of the economic downturn.

According to Redskins General Counsel David Donovan, lawsuits are a last resort.

“The Washington Redskins routinely works out payment plans and alternate arrangements with hundreds of ticket holders every year,” Donovan said. “For every one we sue, I would guess we work out a deal with half a dozen.”

But the Washington Post, in a bit of investigative journalism, talked to many of the ticket holders who had been sued. They report that the “deal” the team offered consisted of settlements that required them to make large payments over time.

Back to Pat Hill. She hopes Dan Snyder hears her story, drops the lawsuit, and understands that she will once again pay for her season tickets once the recession is history. That’s a tall order, if only for the fact that she’s hoping Dan Snyder will be a reasonable, logical, understanding human being.