NFL Issues Statement & Dan's Defense

After Dan Snyder issued a statement that surprisingly accepted accountability for a culture run amok, the NFL has followed up with a statement of their own.

New from the NFL pic.twitter.com/zgAD1DsHTt
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) August 26, 2020

The key part of the NFL statement was to point out that the investigation by Beth Wilkinson and her firm is independent in nature because she was "recommended by our office."

That doesn't automatically make it 100% independent just because the NFL says so, but I feel better about the nature of the discovery because of this.

It's also comforting to know that the NFL is saying full cooperation must be granted or they will be notified and appropriate action will be taken.

The NFL also saying that a review of the investigation will take place and punishment could be coming is important because they are basically saying it just won't be a report but you can expect a heavy fine or perhaps even the loss of a draft pick or some kind of sanction.

The NFL is far from perfect in many matters but trust me -- they are not kidding when dropping the hammer on Dan. They have been furious at Snyder for a long time, which is what led to Brian Lafemina being pushed down his throat.

Lafemina, an NFL executive until joining the Washington franchise, was fired eight months later along with his crew. How do you think the NFL took that?

Make no mistake about it. The NFL is largely driving this train. They realize that they have a gigantic problem from an image and financial standpoint for a franchise that used to be a proud representative of the league.

They not only forced Lafemina and the name change down Dan's throat but I believe they steered Snyder to Ron Rivera and Jason Wright.

Two fine men with good character and maturity. In other words, everything opposite of what has infiltrated the building in large part over the last twenty years.

Snyder's statement from earlier on Wednesday started out great. He accepted responsibility and promised to be more accountable and involved.

Everything from the third paragraph on where he starts by saying the Washington Post story reads like a "hit job" is something I would not advise.

Snyder is frustrated and he likes to sue people. I would expect that he's going to file a slander lawsuit of some kind against the Washington Post, Tiffany Scourby and possibly others.

I know he feels wronged because he claims to not have known about a lot of these problems.

It doesn't matter whether he knew about them or not. I can't prove that he did or didn't, although it's hard to fathom that he knew nothing about anything (apparently).

He's ultimately responsible (as he admitted) for what went wrong and if he did indeed do some of the things he's accused of, it is beyond disturbing.

Still he should not have defended his case as specifically and vigorously as he did in the statement. Do that for Beth Wilkinson and her firm. Do that for the NFL. I think he took away from the first couple of paragraphs of the statement which were strong and a sign of change.

Now - it's hard to feel anything but numb because it feels like it is still the same old Snyder.

That's Mr. Snyder to some.

Chris Russell is the Publisher of this site, a part of SI.com. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Washington Football Team" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621