WTTG Dolphin fan riles Snyder

Attention, local television news crews: Be careful what you wear to Redskins Park.

Just ask Carlos Castro, a WTTG-TV (Channel 5) cameraman who showed up to cover a recent practice at the Washington Redskins’ Ashburn, Va., home base sporting a Miami Dolphins cap.

This, apparently, was a very big deal to Redskins’ owner Daniel M. Snyder.

According to individuals familiar with the situation, when Mr. Snyder passed Mr. Castro in the hall at the clubhouse, he ordered the cameraman to remove the teal-and-orange cap. Mr. Castro declined to discuss the matter, but the sources said he kept his hat on because he felt Mr. Snyder was rude.

Later, the Redskins’ public relations director, Michelle Tessier, encouraged Mr. Castro to take the cap off. “It was kind of in jest,” she said, although she added that she thinks it is tacky to wear another team’s colors on the Redskins’ home turf.

One of the sources said Mr. Castro kept his hat on as a matter of principle. “He’s a very nice guy. If they hadn’t been so nasty about it, he would have taken if off,” this person said.

Ms. Tessier said she also had a beef with Mr. Castro because he parked on the team’s lawn when he arrived at the clubhouse that day. Individuals who know Mr. Castro countered that he does not usually shoot sporting events for the station, so he should have been forgiven for not knowing the parking protocol.

Ms. Tessier said she called management at the Fox affiliate to complain about the parking incident. When Mr. Castro returned to the newsroom that afternoon, News Director Katherine Green called him into her office.

Ms. Green did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

The brouhaha has transformed Mr. Castro, described as a proud Cuban American, into a kind of folk hero among the local TV reporters and cameramen who cover the Redskins, some of whom complain about shabby treatment from Mr. Snyder and company.

Some of Mr. Castro’s co-workers at 5151 Wisconsin Ave. NW, where WTTG is based, have even posted a cartoon lampooning the incident on one of the bulletin boards inside the station.

Sensitive information?

Mr. Castro isn’t the only person griping to Ms. Green these days.

Prince George’s County Fire Chief Ronald D. Blackwell called her last week to say he was “disappointed” with one of the station’s reports on the investigation of a serial arsonist in his county and the District.

Story Continues →