Give him two minutes. Long-time Washington sports writer Rick Snider would make you laugh, critique the many scandals of the city’s football team or teach you a lesson about the region’s history.
After decades covering sports in the District, Snider honed his wit and one-of-a-kind voice to a razor-sharp edge. A career in newspapers eventually evolved as the prolific writer became an author, radio guest, tour guide and podcast producer.
Though he was best known for his football coverage, Snider didn’t limit himself. He openly discussed his Christian faith in his writing and social media posts. He relished blending his passions. A love of history and food that led to unique, pizza-centered tours of the District remained a staple of the Washington region long after he stopped covering the Commanders on a daily basis.
For generations of fellow sportswriters, he was a friendly face in Washington-area press boxes for more than 40 years.
Snider died Tuesday in Baltimore from complications of a stroke suffered earlier this month. He was 65 years old.
The District native is survived by his wife, Lisa; daughters Katie and Megan; and four grandchildren.
Snider’s sportswriting career began in 1978 and continued through this NFL offseason. Though a heart attack on the Commanders’ practice field forced him off the day-to-day beat in the early 2000s, he was never far from the team.
From the time he was 12, Snider said he wanted to write for newspapers. He got his first shot at 18 as a freelancer and never looked back. Over 47 years, he worked as an editor, beat reporter, columnist, author and analyst.
His writing career featured stops at nearly every major sports publication in the District. Across a nearly 50-year journey, he spent 20 years writing for The Washington Times before stops at the Washington Examiner, The Washington Post’s Express section and the Command Post magazine.
“He was a determined reporter who loved the competition of getting the story — and he was good at it,” said Thom Loverro, a columnist for The Times who worked alongside Snider for more than 30 years. “He had a love of life and people, from those who toiled on the backstretch of racetracks to those who coached on the sideline to those he would meet on the tours he gave of the nation’s capital.”
Snider’s ability to parlay his sharp, insightful writing into new formats continually impressed his colleagues as he racked up accolades. He won several awards throughout his career, including a 2002 Dateline Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for his local coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame named him the co-Washington Sportswriter of the Year in 2010.
In recent years, Snider became a staple of radio broadcasts as a columnist with 106.7 “The Fan,” appearing on the station’s popular “Sports Junkies” show.
He carved out a dedicated following on social media with videos about the Commanders, typically filmed in his car or office.
“Give me two minutes,” he’d implore scroll-happy Twitter — now X — users. They’d often oblige. His most recent videos from training camp drew 80,000 views.
The wit that flowed through his columns and articles translated easily to social media. He’d occasionally appear bare-chested, noting that a recent loss made him so frustrated that he “lost his shirt.”
Most recently, he pivoted to start his own newsletter on Substack.
“Rick was a consummate professional who covered the franchise with class for over 40 years,” the Commanders said in a statement. “His combination of tremendous knowledge of the game, understanding of the franchise’s history, ability to connect with people from different backgrounds and his quick wit made his coverage unique and compelling. Rick was a great man and an absolute joy to be around.”
News of Snider’s death — just weeks after he last appeared at training camp — rocked the Commanders beat, leading to an outpouring of support and well-wishes from the fellow writers who considered themselves privileged to work alongside him.
“Rick Snider was THE authority on the Skins in the ’90s/early ’00s,” wrote Mark Zuckerman, the MASN Nationals reporter who filled Snider’s role covering the team for The Washington Times after his heart attack. “He was forever gracious, always willing to offer advice and even the occasional compliment. … Ashburn will never be the same.”
Snider never stopped mentoring young writers or sharing stories with anyone who asked.
As recently as this summer, he proudly chatted with colleagues about trading stories of the Super Bowl years at a reader’s party in exchange for a mowed lawn.
During catered lunches at the Commanders’ practice facility last season, Snider was quick to inform reporters how lucky they were.
During the first Joe Gibbs era, the team grabbed McDonald’s for the media corps. Snider and the rest of the reporters picked whatever hadn’t been wrecked by the legendary “Hogs” offensive line, he said.
“He was a true pro; he did his job and went home; he treated people well; he provided excellent guidance when asked; he held firm to his principles/beliefs,” ESPN reporter John Keim, who worked with Snider at the Examiner, wrote on X. “Mostly, though, he raised a damn good family.”
It would be unfair and untrue to categorize Snider as exclusively “a football guy.” He covered an array of other sports as well, including horse racing, but his interests expanded beyond the track or field. Snider knew where to grab the best pizza in the District, how to craft a cocktail and how to weave a good story.
His personal website proudly mentioned his status as a licensed tour guide, a fitting gig for a walking encyclopedia of the District’s history.
Snider’s social media was filled with almost as many posts about family as about the Commanders. His wife’s relationship with football, middling at best, was a routine topic. Snider was also quick to shower love on his daughters and grandchildren, who he insisted would become Washington football fans.
“They’re eighth generation Washingtonians,” he wrote in 2021. “It’s non-negotiable if I have to put it in my will.”
While his bibliography included football-centered texts — “100 Things Commanders Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” is a staple of sports sections in bookstores across the region — it also featured a pair of “Cavemen Cooking” books, “Presidential Pours: Commanders in Cocktails,” and “The Final Form of Love,” a Christian fiction novel.
But the Commanders were his bread and butter, from the highs of Super Bowl victories to the controversial lows of the Dan Snyder era.
After the franchise unveiled a much-maligned tribute to Sean Taylor in 2022, Snider reflected on what he’d want a memorial of himself to look like, based on a question from a fan. After a few jokes — “I do expect a real statue … make it skinnier; that would be nice” — he reflected more seriously.
The ideal homage would feature Snider with a clipboard in one hand and a recorder in the other — the way he reported countless stories on the beat.
“I’d want it where it’d have me listening to people talk,” he said. “Because that’s what a good media person does, is try to listen to answers, figure out what’s going on and ask follow-up questions.”