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Bruce Allen Introductory Press Conference

Redskins Owner Daniel M. Snyder

Opening Statement: "Good afternoon. First, I'd like to, on behalf of the Redskins organization, send our heartfelt condolences to the Cincinnati Bengals, to Chris Henry's family, and to my dear friend Marvin Lewis. As an organization that went through a tragedy two years ago, our hearts and our prayers and our wishes go to them. We understand. And our prayers go out to the organization.

"Thanks for being here. I'm very, very proud to announce our new Executive Vice President and General Manager, Bruce Allen. Here's what you need to know about Bruce. Number one, he's a proven winner. Over the last decade, this decade, he's been with teams that have won five division championships. And he has a great passion for the game, passion for winning, he's a great communicator, he's a man who absolutely has a tireless work ethic. He's a man that works around the clock.

"Yes, you'll all recognize his name, the Allen family. So he understands the great tradition, it's an added bonus, that he understands the tradition, the heritage of the Washington Redskins. Ladies and gentlemen, our new General Manager, Bruce Allen."

Redskins Executive Vice President/General Manager Bruce Allen

Opening Statement: "Obviously, this is an exciting day for me and my family. If you told me 35 years ago, I would be standing here at new Redskins Park, I do think I would have bet on that. It's exciting because of the history, the tradition, the comfort about coming home. Everybody who knows me, and hopefully you will get to know me better, knows that the principles of football in my mind are simple, it's a team. It's 53 men, the entire staff, everybody in the building going in the same direction for one common goal, and that's to win. So, I'm excited to be here and let's open it up to anyone that has a question."

On the status of the coaching situation and any potential moves that may be made in the future:
"I met today with Jim Zorn and other than I think a couple brief encounters at a combine a few years ago. We just sat down and told him what I am going to try and due in the next few weeks because this is a unique opportunity to get a start on the 2010 season and the season is upcoming and in that conversation we're going to have some more meetings and discuss the future."

On why this position is a good fit for him as opposed to waiting to see what was available at the end of season:
"What makes it a good fit is I want to be with a place with tradition. The fact that I can recite most of the media guide to you probably made it even more exciting. The dedication and the passion of the ownership here to win, I embrace. I like urgency. I like doing things sooner than later and that made it the most attractive position that could possibly have been available."

On his impression of the talent currently on the team:
"From a far, as an opponent, I like their talent other than the fact that a few of those plays in that playoff game if we had the review rules that we have today in the NFL I don't know if those touchdowns would have been allowed, however, I think it's now a good time to take credit for the Brian Orakpo pick. I think I have done a good job with that. But seriously, they have a nice core of talent here. That's attractive. There are some young players whose futures are extremely bright. I think if we can add to this team, we can accomplish our goals."

On his impressions of quarterback Jason Campbell:
"The only time I really talked to him was before the draft and I liked him as a young man. I will get to see him and I look forward to talking to him. We have a great opportunity Monday night. We have these two NFC East teams coming up and performance in the NFC East is going to be key for our organization."

On how his responsibilities will be different from other front office employees in the past:"We discussed my responsibilities. I really can't speak for what has occurred in the past. I am very comfortable with it. The Redskins will have a common goal. The Redskins will make decisions based on what is going to help this franchise win. Our ultimate goal is to get good teammates. A good teammate is someone you're going to be able to count on and we share the same vision on that."

On his impressions of what may have happened this season:
"I have seen the games but I haven't obviously felt the pain that has been associated with 4-9. Starting today, I feel the pain and I look forward to talking to the coaches, the personnel people having them explain to me their thoughts on what occurred. You can watch the [New Orleans] Saints game and you can pick out plays, you can pick out any of that. I am more interested in a program that doesn't have a good week here or there. We had a good practice today. I am interested in 52 weeks of good practice, 52 weeks of work ethic because that is what is going to turn into a good season."

On when he started to discuss the position with Daniel Snyder:"We've talked in the last several weeks on different issues other than this. Obviously, he and Vinny have had conversations. Dan had said that he could be going in a different direction. When he made the phone call this week and offered me the job, I didn't need long to check out the flight schedules to come up here."

On how he would evaluate his expertise in player evaluation:
"The players who have performed well, I'm pretty good. The players who didn't, I wasn't so hot. We're going to utilize everybody's skills here. I am interested in hearing the opinions of the people. The great opportunity here by coming in at this point of the season is to build a plan and get a head start on 2010. Identify what can help us win in 2010 and beyond with never losing sight of the upcoming games. I am going to work hard. I have made some draft mistakes, I have made some free agent mistakes but as a team, our teams did pretty well."

Redskins Owner Daniel M. Snyder

On how his responsibilities will be different from other front office employee interactions in the past:
"Bruce with his track record obviously attracted me. I have been thinking about this for quite some time. He is a seasoned, experienced NFL football executive and was really appropriate for the title."

On how difficult of a decision it was to have Vinny Cerrato leave and why was it made now:"This is obviously the right time for a change. Difficult decision, he's still a friend. I appreciate the work he did for us throughout the years. I think Joe Gibbs appreciates that in a big way. Joe called this morning and really supports the move with Bruce and understands where we're going and it is time for a change so that is really where we're going."

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