In one sense, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform didn’t really reveal what we didn’t already know or strongly suspect.
Yet, in another sense, with the final report by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform released Thursday, I was left with the feeling, “I know Snyder is going to sell the team but is there any way we can pick up the pace here and get this franchise sold quicker?”
Another new release of negative news regarding Daniel Snyder? How soon will it conclude?
Snyder began as a meddlesome owner resulting in general manager Charley Casserly “resigning” before the 1999 season. Talk about red flags! Some of us raised our eyebrows with that one, and certainly, the 2000 offseason confirmed our fears. Snyder terribly overrated his abilities as a football executive. He simplistically thought himself a NFL general manager.
Sadly, over the last two decades, we have learned that he apparently didn’t relate to his workforce well, interact well with them, supervise well, listen well, empathize well and on and on.
In this last year, he was still attempting to place the blame for the workplace culture on Bruce Allen, who frankly appeared aloof, smug and uncooperative himself many times. It was like the two deserved one another. Unfortunately, so many others in the workplace would suffer from the leadership or lack thereof from Snyder and Allen.
Might it have been Snyder’s testifying before the committee and the subsequent report that would follow, that led him to look into selling the franchise? Might the final straw have been when his wife Tanya was mercilessly booed by Commanders fans a month ago at a home game?
Tanya, a breast cancer survivor herself, appeared in a video presentation regarding Breast Cancer Awareness on the FedEx Field big screen. Fans spontaneously booed her and chanted “sell the team.”
Regardless of what you know and feel about Daniel Snyder, each and every fan who treated Tanya so rudely after all she has been through physically and emotionally suffering with cancer, should be ashamed of themselves. It was entirely thoughtless, rude, crude, and brutish.
Perhaps it was the last straw for Tanya? Might it have been the last straw for Dan? Of course, I don’t know.
But we do know the Snyders have neither challenged nor denied reports of looking into selling the team. Therefore, they are going to sell.
I wonder if Thursday’s report simply results in many like myself wanting to speed the sale and finally put this era behind us?