NFL commissioner Roger Goodell covered a wide array of topics during his press conference Tuesday, ranging from the status of the Deshaun Watson investigation to where Dan Snyder stands with the Commanders.
Washington’s team owner “has not been involved in day to day operations. Don’t believe he’s been at the team facility at all, and when we continue to have league matters, Tanya [Snyder] has represented the team as the CEO on both a day-to-day- basis, but also here with the league.”
The commissioner continued, adding, “She represented the club here and that will continue for at least the foreseeable future, but, Dan and I will talk about that at some point.”
In July 2021, Dan agreed to temporarily cede control of the team to his wife, Tanya, in wake of widespread controversy surrounding the franchise, of which he was at the center. The announcement came when the league partially released its findings from a workplace misconduct probe, levying a $10 million fine against the team.
The Washington Post released an article in July 2020 that detailed workplace sexual harassment experienced by 15 former women employees within the franchise. Later, the Post released another article reporting that a former senior executive instructed employees to create a behind-the-scenes video for Snyder. The video included videos of partially naked team cheerleaders from a ’08 team swimsuit calendar shoot.
But the accounts against Snyder did not end there. The Post previously reported that “lawyers and private investigators working on Snyder’s behalf took steps that potential witnesses ... viewed as attempts to interfere with the NFL’s investigation.”
His numerous alleged attempts to interfere reportedly ranged from reaching a $1.6 million settlement with a former employee who described sexual misconduct by the co-owner to filing petitions to identify employees who had spoken to the Post. Additionally, the Commanders co-owner allegedly hired private investigators who went to homes of former employees and contacted their friends and relatives, former employees' attorneys told the Post.
Come February 2022, former Washington Commanders employees and members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform gathered for a hybrid roundtable to discuss “workplace misconduct and the NFL’s failure to take steps to prevent sexual harassment and verbal abuse within the Washington Football Team under the leadership of owner Dan Snyder,” per an official release.
Melanie Coburn, a former cheerleader and former director of marketing, corroborated these interference allegations in her testimony.
“He sent private investigators to the homes of a dozen former cheerleaders last year, and I got calls from these terrified women who didn’t understand why P.I.s were showing up on their doorsteps,” she said. “He offered hush money to a group of us in exchange for our silence last February, but we declined. This was offensive and certainly felt like intimidation and witness tampering to us.”
New allegations were also made against Snyder during this roundtable.
“I am here today to tell you about the sexual advances by Dan Snyder and the constant unprofessionalism,” Tiffani Johnston said, “and ‘boys locker room’ culture that started at the top with Dan Snyder and continued down the line with all of Dan Snyder’s senior team.”
She went on to detail what she “learned” during her time with the franchise, listing multiple offensive moments including a time when Snyder allegedly sexually harassed her.
“I learned that placing me strategically by the owner at a work dinner after this networking event was not for me to discuss business, but to allow him to place his hand on my thigh under the table,” Johnston said in her opening statement. “I learned how to discreetly remove a man’s unwanted hand from my thigh at a crowded dinner table, at a crowded restaurant to avoid a scene. I learned that job survival meant I should continue my conversation with another co-worker rather than to call out Dan Snyder right then, in the moment.
“I also learned later that evening how to awkwardly laugh while Dan Snyder aggressively pushed me towards his limo with his hand on my lower back, encouraging me to ride with him to my car. I learned how to continue to say no even though a situation was getting more awkward, uncomfortable and physical.”
Snyder denied the allegations in a statement, saying, “I unequivocally deny having participated in any such conduct, at any time and with respect to any person.”
In October, legislators in the Committee on Oversight and Reform sent a letter to Goodell asking for him to give them “all documents and communications obtained in connection with the investigation into the WFT, its management, its owners, and any other matter relating to or resulting from the WFT investigation” by Nov. 4.
Representatives then called for the league and Washington to release all individuals from nondisclosure agreements that prevented them from speaking out against the team on Nov. 5. Come December, Goodell responded to the claims of reported interference attempts by Snyder, saying it “didn't interfere with the work that our investigator did.”
Lawmakers have continued to ask the NFL to release the full findings of their investigation. In February, documents released by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform raised questions about whether the league’s probe into the Washington Commanders was truly independent.
It revealed that not only did Washington agree to a written report being created of lawyer Beth Wilkinson’s findings and recommendations, but the league would not be able to release the findings without permission of Snyder, according to the documents. Here is a summary of what was found in the documents.
A website called boycottdan.com emerged in February, according to WUSA9, and it allows page visitors to send a prewritten message to Washington’s corporate sponsors. The franchise has lost multiple sponsors as the controversy continues, including Anheuser-Busch, and the team's flagship radio station will no longer carry the games.
“We’re two longtime Commanders (and WFT, and before) fans who saw the brave women who spoke before a House committee regarding the culture of sexual harassment and assault in the organization,” the page says on its about page. ”We decided enough was enough and that if the NFL wouldn’t hold Dan Snyder accountable, we would have to pressure Corporate America to do it for them.”
