For many months, the Commanders have been immersed in cases of sexual harassment, toxic corporate culture, and even financial abuse. And yet, Dan Snyder, the owner, is still there.
For an obviously simple reason: he is ready to shoot those who try to make him leave. Not with bullets, but with files. This is revealed in an article published this Wednesday by ESPN, which is based on more than thirty sources.
“They can’t piss me off,” Snyder reportedly summed up privately to a relative.
Because over the years, Snyder would assure that he collected compromising information on his fellow owners and the leaders of the NFL, including Roger Goodell.
Not just gossip. Snyder would also be by private investigators, responsible for tracking down some of his colleagues! At least six of them would have been entitled to this treatment. The Washington franchise responded with a statement that flatly denies it.
arm wrestling
“The NFL is a mafia. All owners hate each other,” Snyder allegedly assured an associate.
” It’s wrong. All owners hate Dan,” replied an anonymous owner.
Vibe.
“He thinks he has stuff on everyone. He thinks he has things on Roger,” says a Commanders executive.
Snyder is said to have assured an owner that he had a file on Jerry Jones, his Cowboys counterpart. Jones was however one of the few supporters of the man from Washington. But that was before.
“He’s already lost Jerry,” says an ESPN source.
Everything would be in the hands of the other owners, who are the only ones who can vote to dismiss Snyder, who has owned the Washington franchise for 23 years.
“Goodell doesn’t want to get his hands on it,” says one owner. “That’s what happens when you do business with bad people. They know they’re going to burn down the house. »
Despite accusations of toxic culture in the franchise, doubt remains in NFL circles. Snyder would still be far more involved in management than he says. Jason Wright, the first African-American president of a franchise, would be much less so than expected.
nuclear deterrence
Does Dan Snyder really have compromising information? Is he bluffing? These rumors are his own nuclear deterrent.
Six executives believe he was the one who leaked the emails that led to Jon Gruden’s resignation from the Raiders. So what if they kick him out and he really does have something?
According to USA Today, the owners were taking the heat between themselves for a vote that would have excluded Snyder last May, but they ultimately did nothing. Beyond the accusations of sexual assault and proceedings of all kinds, its poor financial performance, which therefore weighs more heavily on the other owners.
“Some owners are not appreciated in their city because they lose. It’s normal, it happens, ”explains an owner. “Snyder is not appreciated because of what he has done to this historic franchise. The stadium is falling apart. The team is not good. He can’t get a new stadium. He has no way out… He may have passed the point of no return. »
Or not. Would a new stadium make this anonymous owner forget the financial and sexual harassment stories?
” Yes. »
Does Snyder know?
” Yes. »
NFL morality.
These stadium problems could be the exit door that other owners could try to use to put Snyder out. The league and the other owners could in particular limit their assistance to the maximum and let it fail in the search for the necessary funds. What then push him towards the exit.
Whether he’s bluffing remains to be seen.
