Thom Loverro

Thom Loverro has been a professional journalist since 1977, working for a number of newspapers, including eight years as a news editor and reporter for The Baltimore Sun, where he covered government, politics, and crime. He moved into sports writing when he joined The Washington Times in 1992. He moved to The Washington Examiner as a sports columnist in 2009 and returned to The Washington Times in 2013, where he is currently the lead sports columnist.

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Columns by Thom Loverro

District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine speaks during a news conference in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. Racine says his office is filing a civil consumer protection lawsuit against the Washington Commanders, owner Dan Snyder, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

LOVERRO: Anything can happen now that Racine has stepped up to the plate

Everyone expects Attorney General Karl Racine to strike out in his lawsuit against the Commanders, Dan Snyder and the league. But a lot can happen now that someone has picked up a bat. Published November 13, 2022

FILE - Washington Redskins defensive end Dave Butz is shown in a 1975 photo. All-Pro defensive lineman and two-time Washington Super Bowl champion Dave Butz has died. He was 72. A spokesman for the Washington Commanders confirmed that Butz's family informed the team about his death Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. It was not immediately known where Butz died or the cause of his death. (AP Photo/File)

LOVERRO: Alabama country boy Dave Butz became a hero in the nation’s capital

When legendary Washington Redskins defensive tackle Dave Butz and I last spoke in March, we talked about his birthplace -- a small Alabama town called Lafayette -- where coincidentally another great champion, heavyweight Joe Louis, was also born. Published November 10, 2022

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) throws during an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, November 06, 2022 in Landover. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

LOVERRO: Heinicke’s got some magic, Cousins has the whole bag of tricks

Taylor Heinicke, last year's starter who began this season as the backup, threw a six-yard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter -- and suddenly the crowd was mesmerized by Heinicke magic. Then Kirk Cousins showed the stadium who the real sorcerer was. Published November 6, 2022

Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz (11) walks off the field after their team's loss to the Tennessee Titans at an NFL football game on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, in Landover, Md. (Shaban Athuman/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

LOVERRO: The overreach for Wentz fits Snyder’s M.O. for quarterback mistakes

Washington Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke had some answers Sunday for those "analytics" that his coach, Ron Rivera, was bellowing about two weeks ago when questions were raised about Rivera's previously professed love for Carson Wentz. Published October 31, 2022

Dan Snyder, co-owner and co-CEO of the Washington Commanders, poses for photos during an event to unveil the NFL football team's new identity, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Landover, Md. Dan Snyder's ownership of his hometown NFL team in Washington has been full of more controversy than playoff success for more than two decades. Still, the past couple of years have been tumultuous enough to raise the question of how tight Snyder's grip is on the once-storied franchise. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) **FILE**

LOVERRO: NFL is waiting for a smoking gun that’s sitting in plain sight

In all the talk about what it would take to perform the public service of ridding Skipper Dan the Sailing Man from the lives of battered Washington Commanders fans, the speculation has always been about needing a smoking gun. Published October 27, 2022

A general view of FedEx field during the first half of an NFL football game between the Washington Commanders and the Green Bay Packers, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Al Drago)

LOVERRO: Win over the Packers won’t free a fan base imprisoned by ineptitude

It's hard to find peace in the team's cursed home, even on a day that the Commanders (3-4) pull out a 23-21 win over the Green Bay Packers for the lowliest two-game win streak (12-7 win over Chicago two weeks ago) you might ever see. Published October 23, 2022

Washington Commanders fans in the stands before an NFL football game between the Washington Commanders and the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

LOVERRO: Dragging down the NFL’s bottom line? That’s one Snyder sin the owners will not forgive

If the NFL is a "mafia," as Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder reportedly referred to it, then Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay's declaration that kicking Skipper Dan out deserves "serious consideration" was a Corleone family kiss on the lips. Published October 19, 2022

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) looks on during the first period of a NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

LOVERRO: Food for thought, goals for the soul and Ovechkin’s blue-plate special

Alex Ovechkin is the constant that calms the acid reflux in the stomachs of Washington sports fans. As long as he remains on the ice in Washington, there is a level of respect and competitiveness that makes the world all right -- even if the real world itself is a nightmare. Published October 17, 2022

FILE - Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder, co-owner and co-CEO of the Washington Commanders, pose for a photo on the field during warmups before a NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The Washington Commanders are denying the contents of a report by ESPN detailing Dan Snyder's efforts to influence other NFL owners and the league office to keep control of the team. In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Thursday, Oct. 13, a Commanders spokesperson called it “categorically untrue” and “clearly part of a well-funded, two-year campaign to coerce the sale of the team, which will continue to be unsuccessful.”(AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth, File)

LOVERRO: Damning new report puts focus on Skipper Dan’s naughty list

"The NFL," Snyder reportedly told an associate, "is a mafia." No, Skipper Dan. The NFL is not a "mafia." If it were a mafia, the Washington Commanders owner would be in a hole in the Nevada desert by now. Or a New Jersey landfill. Published October 13, 2022

Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, in Landover, Md. Tennessee won 21-17. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

LOVERRO: Eventually Rivera will have to look in the mirror for answers to team’s failures

What was funny about the latest predicament that Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera found himself embroiled in -- and, let's face it, this franchise is a Don Rickles stand-up routine 24/7 -- was that it didn't happen as a result of one of his wordy, drawn-out answers to a press conference question. It happened because he gave a one-word answer: "Quarterback." Published October 11, 2022

Washington Commanders fans react after their team was intercepted in the last seconds of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, in Landover, Md. (Shaban Athuman/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP) **FILE**

LOVERRO: Snyder’s offseason promises look emptier with every loss. Is anyone surprised?

Instead of the regular column, a postgame email from Thom Loverro to John Mooney, managing director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, after the Washington Commanders' loss to the Tennessee Titans. Published October 9, 2022

Washington Nationals' Joey Meneses, right, celebrates with Ildemaro Vargas (14) after hitting a two run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, in Miami.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) **FILE**

LOVERRO: Nice clubhouse chemistry, but Nationals sorely lacking talent

It turned out their chemistry was fine. By 107 team loss standards, it was a good clubhouse. What they were missing was, as the former Nationals manager Davey Johnson used to say, players "expressing their talents." There wasn't much expression. The reality is almost nothing went right this past season. Published October 6, 2022

Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder, co-owner and co-CEO of the Washington Commanders, pose for a photo on the field during warmups before an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth) ** FILE **

LOVERRO: Snyder’s cozying up to Jones sends defiant message to NFL

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder flew to Dallas Sunday morning on one of his private jets with a mission in mind. It was to get a photo on the field at AT&T Stadium with powerful Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Published October 3, 2022

Dusty Hernandez Harrison (R) from DC wit a record of 17-0 will fight at Madison Square Garden this weekend. Photo courtesy of Golden Era Entertainment

LOVERRO: Late father is a ‘hard voice to replace’ in boxer’s corner

The late Buddy Harrison was going to be in his son Dusty Hernandez-Harrison's corner Saturday night before it got unexpectedly postponed. "He will be a hard voice to replace," Dusty said. You would need a choir to replace the voice of Buddy Harrison. Published September 29, 2022

Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz (11) fumbles the ball during the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles at FedEx Field, Landover, MD, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Brian Murphy)

LOVERRO: Commanders’ shiny new rebrand sustains a few dings in ugly loss to Eagles

They keep telling us the new Washington Commanders brand stands for a franchise on the upswing. But on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles takeover at Ghost Town Field just felt lik more of the same. Published September 25, 2022

Los Angeles Dodgers' Maury Wills is safe at third as St. Louis Cardinals' Ken Boyer takes the throw during the first inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Sept. 26, 1965. Maury Wills, who helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win three World Series titles with his base-stealing prowess, has died. The team says Wills died Monday night, Sept. 19, 2022, in Sedona, Ariz. He was 89. (AP Photo/FW) **FILE**

LOVERRO: From D.C. sandlots to MVP, Maury Wills changed baseball for the better

Maury Wills, who died this week at 89, came out of the District as maybe the greatest athlete from this city who impacted the game of baseball when he set the basepaths on fire as a record-setting Most Valuable Player for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Published September 22, 2022

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) makes a catch against Washington Commanders safety Darrick Forrest (22) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) **FILE**

LOVERRO: Commanders’ open criticism is new ground for Rivera

Unlike in coach Ron Rivera's first two seasons, safety Darrick Forrest's comment came during the postgame locker room media availability Sunday -- a practice that wasn't allowed by the NFL in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Published September 19, 2022

Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera pumps his fist as he walks off the field following the end of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, in Landover, Md. Washington on 28-22. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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