Back in grade school I would joke and wonder along with my friends who would we play for if we ever made it into the NFL. It was obvious we would choose our favorite teams, so the better question was actually which team we wouldn’t play for.

When I ask myself that second question today, the answer is obvious: the Washington Redskins. I am far from a fan of any NFC East team, so I’m not choosing them because they’re a rival. Instead, I have a deep, intense loathing of the team’s owner, Dan Snyder.

In my eyes, Snyder is everything wrong with owners of professional sports teams today, especially in the NFL. When the lockout ended, the first thing that came to mind was Snyder and how he and the rest of the owners will now gain a larger part of the revenue sharing. Though there are always exceptions to the rule like Patriots owner Robert Kraft, money-driven owners like Snyder will continue to exploit the fans.

To me, it all began in 2000 when Snyder first started charging fans admission to watch training camp, the first owner in the league to do so. In 2006, vendors at FedEx Field offered bags of peanuts with the logo for Independence Air on them; the problem, however, was that the airline had been out of business for about a year, with some questioning the shelf life of the peanuts.

That doesn’t measure up to why I despise him most. I have to be careful and watch my words here or else I may receive a legal notice because earlier this year Snyder decided to sue the Washington City Paper and one of its writers, Dave McKenna, over something that was published. He so badly wants to protect his public image, as do many owners, that he does things that are completely out of line.

The piece in question is McKenna’s “The Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder,” which gives an A-to-Z list of instances of Snyder’s alleged shortcomings. What Snyder is reportedly unhappy about is the photo that depicts him with horns and that the information in it is inaccurate and therefore libelous.

Among the claims made in the guide was that when Snyder wanted to clear trees so he could get a view of the Potomac River, that he went “all Agent Orange on federally protected lands.” It would be foolish to think that Snyder himself actually used such a potent chemical to remove the trees. That’s like saying Rupert Murdoch actually hacked phones himself. Nonetheless, Snyder is still suing the paper.

That’s what makes me angry. In my eyes, Snyder’s behavior is that of a bully. The claims he makes about the Washington City Paper are weak and have absolutely no chance to stand up in court. But that doesn’t bother him. He knows going to court would put financial pressure on the alternative weekly paper, and a letter sent to the publisher of the Washington City Paper even alludes to that fact.

The letter from a representative of Snyder’s reads: “We presume that defending such litigation would not be a rational strategy for an investment fund such as yours. Indeed, the cost of litigation would presumably quickly outstrip the asset value of the Washington City Paper.”

I first heard about the lawsuit when a friend showed me an entry about the case on the sports blog Deadspin at a time when I wasn’t a regular reader. Since the lawsuit was filed, Deadspin has posted a link to McKenna’s guide, which now has more than 890 comments. The Washington City Paper has even started its own “Legal Defense Fund,” which raises money to help pay for legal fees to help fight Snyder (Not literally, Dan. I meant in court).

Luckily the American Civil Liberties Union and others have stood up to Snyder and defended the paper’s right to publish the guide. Thanks to Washington D.C.’s “anti-SLAPP” law, it appears that there is great potential that this case will be thrown out.

Basically, this type of law is to help corporations or really rich people from intimidating people without any real justification. Even if Snyder wins his case, he has undoubtedly lost even more respect from NFL fans with this bully tactic.

People like Dan Snyder are the reason I don’t like the NFL owners. In fact, I’ve lost a lot of respect for the entire league because of the amount of greed involved. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, owners will now receive 53 percent of more than $9 billion in revenue and have to pay rookies much less. They got what they wanted by squeezing every penny they could out of the players, as they always do to the fans.

I’m not about to say the players are perfect either. We’ve seen countless players leave college early so they can cash in with an NFL contract a year earlier. However, I am more sympathetic to their cause. They’re the ones playing the game, they’re the ones suffering their bodies and getting concussions, they’re the ones with the shorter life expectancy, and they’re the ones who in many cases have nothing else to fall back on. They aren’t the ones who started the lockout.

Maybe I’m completely missing the point. Maybe the fans don’t lose because they got football back even though the owners got more money. Maybe the league will be able to overcome all the poor press it has received in the last few months.

What I do believe, though, is that good ownership is an integral piece in having a successful franchise. The New England Patriots have proven it with Kraft, the Pittsburgh Steelers have proven it with Art Rooney and, most recently, the Green Bay Packers have proven it with its own citizens.

I guess as long as Dan Snyder and the Washington Redskins don’t win the Super Bowl, I’ll be happy.

_Greg is a senior in Media. Follow him on Twitter @thegregzeck._