It’s on league to force Daniel Snyder to sell team
Over the past six weeks, 42 women have alleged in two separate Washington Post investigations that the Washington Football Team has been a cesspool of sexual harassment and misconduct for much of Dan Snyder’s 21-year reign as owner.
In a July 16 report, Snyder wasn’t directly implicated. In the Post’s latest, published Wednesday morning, he is. A lewd outtakes video of the making of the team’s 2008 cheerleader swimsuit calendar was allegedly compiled for Snyder, while he also is accused of suggesting a cheerleader join a close male friend of his in a hotel room so they “could get to know each other better.”
Sean DeBarbieri, a spokesperson for the Washington Football Team, told USA TODAY Sports that the team had no comment on Wednesday’s report. Snyder released a statement Wednesday afternoon denying the allegations, saying the investigation “reads like a ‘hit job.’ ”
However, if the allegations are true, Snyder must go. Under no circumstances can he be allowed to remain an owner of an NFL team.
If Snyder possessed even a smidgen of dignity in the midst of these withering and reprehensible allegations not only against him but the workplace he oversees, he would say he’s selling the team and basically resign, just as three of his male employees did last month when faced with the extensive allegations against them in the Post’s first goround with the team.
Snyder even has an alleged sexual misconduct role model to follow. Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said he was going to sell his team on Dec. 17, 2017, the same day Sports Illustrated reported that at least four former Panthers employees received significant monetary settlements due to inappropriate workplace comments and conduct by Richardson, including sexually suggestive language and behavior, and on at least one occasion directing a racial slur at a Black team scout. Five months later, Richardson was gone, selling his team in a $2.2 billion deal approved by NFL owners on May 22, 2018. A month after that, Richardson was fined $2.75 million by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
If Snyder doesn’t announce that he’s leaving, Goodell should do the honors for him. In a statement released Wednesday evening, Goodell said the league “strongly condemn(s) the unprofessional, disturbing and abhorrent behavior and workplace environment alleged in the report which is entirely inconsistent with our standards and has no place in the NFL.” He then announced that “an independent investigation into these issues is in process.”
The NFL’s investigators shouldn’t take long; the Post’s meticulous reporting has laid it all out for them. If the NFL confirms what the Post has reported, then Goodell and the league’s owners will have ample evidence to kick Snyder out for good. Expulsion requires a threequarters vote of the league’s executive committee, which is comprised of one representative of all 32 teams.
Snyder has his allies for sure, but there can be no room in the NFL in 2020 for an owner as awful as Snyder allegedly is. The sheer number of women alleging a culture of sexual harassment and misconduct within his organization over more than 15 years is jaw-dropping.
In a statement after the July report, Snyder painted himself not as someone in charge of his organization, but as some sort of bystander. In the fallout, Snyder brought in a new team president, Jason Wright, the first Black person to hold that job in NFL history, and a new senior vice president of media, Julie Donaldson, the team’s highest-ranking woman. Along with new head coach Ron Rivera, they are supposed to represent significant change for this floundering organization.
That’s all well and good. But if Snyder wishes to distract us from his overwhelming presence at the top of the team, we know he is there. We also know there is one man responsible for everything allegedly going on in his organization, and that is Snyder himself.