DC Patriots Press Release - State of the Franchise
Jan 22, 2021 15:33:43 GMT -5
St. Louis Sting and Clayhounds Dawgs like this
Post by DC Patriots on Jan 22, 2021 15:33:43 GMT -5
Washington, D.C. - Next week will mark the one year anniversary of The Shappell Group purchasing the Patriots franchise and relocating it to Washington, D.C. As such, the ownership group is proud to reflect on the progress of the past year.
Overall, we've taken dramatic steps to increase the talent and productivity of our franchise, increasing spending while also placing a premium on young talent to both build and sustain a winner.
Basketball - This was an area of the franchise we thought would take a number of years to rebuild, coming in to a team which finished in the bottom two last year. However, we saw unique opportunities to acquire Ben Simmons and Rudy Gobert, while also pursuing big fish like Russell Westbrook and LeBron James, to fuel a renaissance of our foundering franchise. We recognize the challenges that will continue to plague all teams during COVID, but we feel we have an opportunity to make a run in the NBA this year, and intend to continue to push this team to improve over the coming weeks.
Hockey - The pandemic damaged any chance of sneaking in with a division championship last year, and this offseason the front office spent considerable time charting the future of this aspect of the franchise. We hope fans see the long-term commitment we are making to excellence with the signing of Nikita Kucherov, Vladimir Tarasenko, Aaron Ekblad, and Seth Jones, in addition to the trades we completed to bring in Sebastian Aho, Illya Samsonov, and Cale Makar. While our slow start may be disappointing, we realize that the real target for our competitive window starts next year. We are excited to see how our players develop, improve, and heal over the next year, when we will be prepared to take the next step and compete for a championship.
Baseball - Upon our arrival, we made a commitment that our baseball team would challenge for a championship. We were proud of our regular season last year, even in a COVID-shortened environment, when we achieved the best record in the league. We were disappointed with our playoff loss, but spent the winter shifting players and acquiring draft capital. We believe we are well-positioned to be competitive again next year, while building out our future with a strong minor league system. We will continue to seek opportunities to better prepare for a championship run.
Football - After a 2-1 start, our fall to the depths of a last place finish was both unfortunate, and not unforeseeable. This team had too many holes to fill and injuries did not help our performance. For the second year in a row, we have traded back from a top draft pick in football in an effort to collect additional talent. That said, we are excited about young players who should start to lead the improvement of our team, from the injury return of Deebo Samuel, to our trade acquisition in Brandon Aiyuck, to our young quarterbacks in Tua and Jalen, and our young running backs in Cam and JK. The future of this team is trending upwards, and we anticipate this will be the last time we end up with the No. 1 overall pick in football for a long, long time.
In closing, we feel we've made incredible progress in the year since we acquired the franchise. And the state of our franchise is strong, and increasing in strength every day. We thank our faithful fans for standing by us as we remake these teams, and look forward to the year to come.
DC Strong - Patriot Pride
The Shappell Group
Overall, we've taken dramatic steps to increase the talent and productivity of our franchise, increasing spending while also placing a premium on young talent to both build and sustain a winner.
Basketball - This was an area of the franchise we thought would take a number of years to rebuild, coming in to a team which finished in the bottom two last year. However, we saw unique opportunities to acquire Ben Simmons and Rudy Gobert, while also pursuing big fish like Russell Westbrook and LeBron James, to fuel a renaissance of our foundering franchise. We recognize the challenges that will continue to plague all teams during COVID, but we feel we have an opportunity to make a run in the NBA this year, and intend to continue to push this team to improve over the coming weeks.
Hockey - The pandemic damaged any chance of sneaking in with a division championship last year, and this offseason the front office spent considerable time charting the future of this aspect of the franchise. We hope fans see the long-term commitment we are making to excellence with the signing of Nikita Kucherov, Vladimir Tarasenko, Aaron Ekblad, and Seth Jones, in addition to the trades we completed to bring in Sebastian Aho, Illya Samsonov, and Cale Makar. While our slow start may be disappointing, we realize that the real target for our competitive window starts next year. We are excited to see how our players develop, improve, and heal over the next year, when we will be prepared to take the next step and compete for a championship.
Baseball - Upon our arrival, we made a commitment that our baseball team would challenge for a championship. We were proud of our regular season last year, even in a COVID-shortened environment, when we achieved the best record in the league. We were disappointed with our playoff loss, but spent the winter shifting players and acquiring draft capital. We believe we are well-positioned to be competitive again next year, while building out our future with a strong minor league system. We will continue to seek opportunities to better prepare for a championship run.
Football - After a 2-1 start, our fall to the depths of a last place finish was both unfortunate, and not unforeseeable. This team had too many holes to fill and injuries did not help our performance. For the second year in a row, we have traded back from a top draft pick in football in an effort to collect additional talent. That said, we are excited about young players who should start to lead the improvement of our team, from the injury return of Deebo Samuel, to our trade acquisition in Brandon Aiyuck, to our young quarterbacks in Tua and Jalen, and our young running backs in Cam and JK. The future of this team is trending upwards, and we anticipate this will be the last time we end up with the No. 1 overall pick in football for a long, long time.
In closing, we feel we've made incredible progress in the year since we acquired the franchise. And the state of our franchise is strong, and increasing in strength every day. We thank our faithful fans for standing by us as we remake these teams, and look forward to the year to come.
DC Strong - Patriot Pride
The Shappell Group
