Dan Snyder Still Doesn't Get It
Dan Snyder just does not get it. On Friday, the beleaguered owner of the Washington NFL franchise put out a statement regarding the Washington Post story from the day before.
Hot Read: Dan Snyder Issues Statement on Sexual Harassment Allegations
In the statement, Snyder condemned the behavior described in the Post story. He also said the culture must change and he already started that process with the hiring of new coach Ron Rivera in January.
Hot Read: Dan and Tanya Snyder Internal Memo to Employees
Finally, Snyder acknowledged he had hired a powerful attorney, Beth Wilkinson, and her firm, to investigate Washington’s entire workplace culture from top to bottom.
What Snyder did not do was apologize or accept culpability for anything that happened under his watch from 2006-19.
Typical Snyder.
Since purchasing his favorite childhood team in 1999, Snyder began the process of destroying one of the most successful, beloved and storied franchises in all of professional sports. Whether it was firing coaches, bad spending sprees, suing elderly grandmothers, or journalists who tell the truth on him and his miserable existence, Snyder never seems to learn.
For years, Washington lied about the season-ticket waiting list. The team hired Brian LaFemina in 2018 and he all but admitted the team had lied. He didn’t last long.
Local television ratings continue to decline. Football fans in the DMV area prefer to watch other teams than Washington on Sunday afternoons.
And let’s not even talk about FedEx Field where opposing fans make it a home game every time Washington steps on the field.
It all falls on Snyder.
Do you think he cares? He’s still rich.
Unfortunately for Washington fans, since Snyder was not directly named in the harassment, NFL owners likely will not force him out.
There is no doubt, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the other owners would prefer someone other than Snyder in Washington, but forcing him out would set a precedent that no other owner would want to perhaps face themselves.
Snyder will come out of this saying he fired the bad apples and everything was their fault. No more Bruce Allen, Larry Hess, Alex Santos, Larry Michael or Richard Mann. It was all their fault. He hired Rivera and that was the first step in fixing his latest mess.
When Wilkinson and her firm completes its investigation, Snyder will hire more accomplished individuals to fill out his embarrassingly thin HR staff.
Yet, nothing will change as the biggest issue still remains.
Snyder had another real opportunity to show everyone he had learned something here. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban faced a similar situation when his organization was the subject of rampant sexual harassment in the workplace.
Cuban wasn’t named in the lawsuit, yet he went in front of the media and apologized. Why? Because he is a good leader who realized anything that happened under his watch, is ultimately his responsibility.
Cuban offered Snyder some advice.
Does anyone truly believe Snyder didn’t know his longtime buddy, Michael, was making women 30 years his junior uncomfortable in the workplace? Sure, he knew. Yet, Michael had a powerful position in the organization for many years.
What about Santos and Mann?
It’s possible some items never crossed his desk for various reasons, whether the women were afraid to report it, or simply, there was no one to report it to because the team facility was nothing more than a frat house full of Snyder yes-men.
What about the report where Snyder made one of his executives do cartwheels in front of him and his buddies because the former executive was a male cheerleader in college? That type of boorish behavior seems run-of-the-mill in Snyder’s world.
For 10 years, Washington fans were all led to believe everything was Allen’s fault. Yes, Allen was horrible at his job and a vengeful human being, but do you think he did anything that Snyder did not want him to do?
Daniel Snyder is not selling the Washington football franchise. Nor, is he being forced out. Therefore, it is beyond time for Snyder to stand on a podium — or a Zoom call — and have an open forum with the reporters who cover his football team on a daily basis. He needs to show accountability for not only the terrible product he has produced for 21 years but to apologize for what he allowed to happen on his watch.
For once, do the right thing, Mr. Snyder.
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Bryan Manning writes about the Washington Redskins for RedskinsReport.com and contributes to "All Hokies" on SI.com. He has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football and college basketball for almost 10 years for various outlets such as Bleacher Report, SB Nation, FanSided, USA Today SMG, and others. For his day job, Bryan works in engineering for a major communications company.
