When ESPN reported last week that NFL franchise owners might take some action at this week’s league meetings to address Dan Snyder’s ownership of the Commanders, I wasn’t optimistic. Snyder has long been among the worst owners in American sports, and his fellow owners have hardly batted an eye. They might have finally had enough, though.

Colts owner Jim Irsay made the first move yesterday when he told a group of reporters, “I believe there is merit to removing him as owner of the [Commanders].” Irsay added he believes such a move is “in the best interest of the National Football League.” Irsay also said he believes the league could “potentially” secure the 24 votes necessary to remove Snyder as owner of the franchise.

It’s a stunning development but not a rash decision by Irsay. Albert Breer was among that group of reporters in the lobby of the New York hotel where the owners were meeting. Here’s how he described the scene:

The assembled reporters peppered him with follow-ups. Irsay doubled down, and doubled down, and doubled down. Next to him on the nearby set of stairs was Colts president Pete Ward, who had a slight smile and didn’t seem in the least surprised by his boss’s comments. A couple of NFL public relations staffers were in earshot, too.

And Irsay’s voice trembled with emotion at times as he continued to bury Snyder. Watching him, it was clear as day to me, having been around Irsay, that this was deeply meaningful to him. He’d put plenty of thought into it—something further backed up by the lack of surprise on the face of Ward and the others around him.

Breer caught up with Irsay later and asked him about the allegations that Snyder oversaw a toxic work environment in Washington. Here’s what he had to say:

I don’t like the fact that sometimes the way owners are viewed, people think we can do whatever we want, with all the sorts of issues that are out there. Because that’s not true. This is not what we stand for, this sort of thing. I mean, it’s absolutely not. So the league’s very important to me. I’ve been taught by founders of the league and, like I said, Lamar [Hunt of the Chiefs] and Wellington [Mara of the Giants] and Dan Rooney [of the Steelers] that you do what’s best for the Colts but what’s best for the league, too.

You have to protect the shield to protect the league, and I don’t like to see the shield damaged. And right now, the shield is taking some damage from all this.

Snyder won’t get voted out immediately, but Irsay’s comments are an important first step. For an owner to call out Snyder and suggest he be removed is a major development. Now we’ll wait to see how the NFL moves forward. The league, Breer writes, is likely to wait until former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White finishes her investigation into Snyder and the Commanders before taking any action against him. Even then, the other 31 owners might not want to vote Snyder out and risk a potentially long and messy legal battle with the famously litigious Snyder. One longtime executive said yesterday, as Breer paraphrased it, it’s more likely “the NFL would have to have Cowboys owner Jerry Jones go to Snyder and essentially say, ‘It’s time, I’ll get you your $7 billion. You gotta leave.’”

Either way, the clock appears to be ticking.

The best of Sports Illustrated

In today’s Daily Cover, Michael Rosenberg has the harrowing story of Keegan Gregory, a high school diver who survived last year’s school shooting in Oxford, Mich.:

Keegan walked out of that funeral to a life he had no chance of resuming. Forget dreams; the Gregorys couldn’t even make plans. For Christmas break, Meghan and Chad decided to drive the kids to Nashville, go to a Titans game, then surprise them with a trip to Saint Martin. But Keegan heard fireworks at the Titans game and panicked; and he saw cops in the stadium with guns in their holsters and worried somebody would steal one. The family left shortly after the opening kickoff.

With an impressive win over the Lakers, the Warriors proved they’re still a force to be reckoned with, Rohan Nadkarni writes. … Chris Mannix was across the country in Boston, where he came away convinced Jayson Tatum is on the verge of superstardom. … Tom Verducci explains how the Phillies’ pitching strategy was the key in their win over the Padres. … Stephanie Apstein captured the scene inside the Yankees’ clubhouse after they beat the Guardians to advance to the ALCS. … Here are the matchups, spreads and odds for SI Sportsbook’s Perfect 10 contest for Week 7.

Around the sports world

Tom Brady addressed the viral video of him yelling at his offensive line. … AEW wrestler “Hangman” Adam Page was hospitalized after he was apparently knocked out during a match. … Brittney Griner released a statement from a Russian jail on her 32nd birthday. … Stephen Curry offered support for Griner during the Warriors’ ring ceremony. … The Celtics paid tribute to Bill Russell before their season opener.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Johnny Gaudreau’s solo goal for the Blue Jackets.

4. Stephen Curry torturing Anthony Davis with his ballhandling.

3. Yankees rookie Oswaldo Cabrera taunting Josh Naylor after robbing him of a potential two-run hit.

2. Gleyber Torres mocking Naylor’s baby-rocking celebration after making the final out to eliminate the Guardians.

1. Kyle Schwarber’s 488-foot home run in Game 1 of the NLCS (and Bryce Harper’s stunned reaction).

SIQ

On this day in 2008, the Rays defeated the Red Sox in Game 7 of the ALCS to advance to their first World Series in franchise history, completing a remarkable one-season turnaround. How many games did Tampa Bay win in ’07?

Yesterday’s SIQ: This season, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić will attempt to become the first foreign-born player to win the NBA’s MVP award three times. Who is the only other non-American player to win the award twice?

Answer: Steve Nash. He won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2004–05 and ’05–06.

Nash, who was born in South Africa and raised in Canada, was only the second MVP not born in the U.S., following Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993–94. In 2006–07, the year after Nash won his second MVP, his former teammate Dirk Nowitzki became the third foreign-born winner.

There’s a decent chance that we have a fifth straight foreign-born MVP this season. Antetokounmpo and Jokić have combined to win the past four awards. They could very well win again this season, and two other international players—Joel Embiid and Luka Dončić—are among the favorites.

From the Vault: Oct. 18, 1999

The period leading up to Texas and Oklahoma’s 1981 showdown at the Cotton Bowl was one of the rivalry’s fiercest. From ’71–81, both teams were ranked in the top 20 at the time of their annual game in Dallas. The ’81 meeting was the seventh time during that time frame that both teams were ranked in the top 10, with the Longhorns entering at No. 3 and the Sooners at No. 10. So yeah, it was a game well worth a spot on the cover of SI.

Both teams had a lot on the line. Texas had national championship aspirations after picking up a résumé-building win against No. 14 Miami the week before. Meanwhile, Oklahoma, after being ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP poll, had lost to No. 1 USC and tied No. 20 Iowa State and really needed a win to right the ship.

In the first half in Dallas, it looked like the Sooners would get that much-needed win. They led 14–3 after 30 minutes, but Texas coach Fred Akers thought it was only a matter of time before the turnover-prone Sooners faltered, Douglas S. Looney wrote:

Yet so sure was Akers that Oklahoma would revert to form that he made no significant adjustments at the half to either the offense or defense.

Instead, Akers chose to top up his boys’ tanks with still more high-test oration at halftime, saying, “The Sooners have gone far longer than they deserve without a fumble and they know it.” And as the Longhorns buckled their chin straps and got ready to run back on the field, Akers delivered himself of still more ringing oratory: “Men, what we want to do is kill their will. You will find a way. Just put your tattoo all over ’em. The collisions are going to be fierce and the intensity is going to be severe because we’re going to make it that way. We are talking about going to war. We are talking about hand-to-hand combat. We are talking about grenades and knives and axes and baseball bats, with everybody kickin’ and fightin’ and bitin’ and clawin’. You have championship fiber running through you.”

Poor Oklahoma, without hearing a thing, was being talked into defeat. The wild-eyed Longhorns proceeded to play up to their coach’s rhetoric after the intermission.

Oklahoma failed to get on the board after halftime as the Longhorns scored 31 unanswered points to win 34–14.

Texas was already SI’s No. 1–ranked team in the country before beating Oklahoma and the victory earned the Longhorns respect from AP voters, too, who leapfrogged them over No. 2 Penn State when No. 1 USC lost to Arizona. Texas’s reign on top was short, though. It was upset on the road the next week against unranked Arkansas. The Longhorns had to settle for a No. 2 ranking at the end of the year.

Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.

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