The NFL’s needs to issue a report about its Washington findings.
It is highly unusual for the National Football League to make mistakes in its business practices. The league somehow has made the concussion issue disappear. But the league was not transparent with what happened in Washington with Daniel Snyder’s franchise workplace irregularities report. Snyder got hit with a $10 million fine for unprofessional behavior. Is the NFL hiding something? Some people were fired or forced to quit. But someone leaked emails to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, two of the three news organizations that matter most to the NFL. The emails have ensnared one coach, one former GM, one league executive and one reporter. Las Vegas coach Jon Gruden lost his job for things he wrote to Bruce Allen, the former Washington general manager who was with Gruden in Oakland and Tampa Bay in Allen’s previous stops. Then there were email exchanges between Allen and NFL counsel Jeff Pash which disparaged people. ESPN’s Adam Schefter wanted to clear a story with Allen. This should all have been an NFL matter but Congress is looking for some answers about the probe from the NFL.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has started the process of looking into the NFL’s handling of misconduct allegations made against Snyder’s business. Washington D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said the House Oversight Committee is very likely to hold hearings on the Snyder matter. Did Snyder’s franchise have a hostile workplace culture for years? The committee wants information from the NFL as soon as possible and some of the areas it wants to discuss include bigotry, racism, sexism and homophobia which seemed to be part of the Gruden emails to Allen. Gruden was an ESPN employee at that time of his exchanges with Allen. But can Congress punish the NFL? Not very likely.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
