NEW YORK — When the day comes when Dan Snyder — finally, once and for all, and by whatever means — finds himself without an NFL franchise, October 18 will be remembered as a milestone in getting there.
And on Tuesday the gloves came out.
While no other owner went where Colts owner Jim Irsay so wantonly did, at the ritzy lower Manhattan hotel hosting the NFL fall meet, it was clear where the wind was blowing about the commanders’ future. And that future increasingly seems like it doesn’t include the man who bought the team 23 years ago.
Snyder has yet to walk a metaphorical green mile. But that is clearly in sight.
The NFL is awaiting an investigation by Mary Jo White to determine next steps with Snyder.
Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was candid early Tuesday night when he said there wasn’t much discussion about Snyder behind closed doors outside of his own guidance for owners to allow Mary Jo White to complete her investigation before commenting on Snyder became. What he didn’t mention was what happened between meetings and over text messages and in the breakout rooms and meeting room corridors.
There the owners discussed among themselves what to do with Snyder and his commanders. It started when the owners came to the hotel. It escalated after Irsay said there were “potentially” 24 votes to remove Snyder as a co-owner of the Commanders.
The temperature increased very significantly. And now it’s gotten to the point where a stalemate seems to be looming — Snyder is more or less challenging the owners to vote him out, and has done so on multiple occasions.
The first came last week, when a Commanders spokesman wrote in a statement describing ESPN’s exposé of Snyder as “part of a well-funded two-year campaign to force the sale of the team that remains unsuccessful.” The second came on Tuesday, after Irsay spoke up, as the same spokesman said in another statement: “We are confident that if Mr Irsay has an opportunity to see the actual evidence in this case, he will reach the conclusion that there is no reason for the Snyders to consider selling the franchise. And they won’t.”
When Snyder goes off like a cornered animal, well, there’s a reason for that. Here he needs to know the score. That another owner was willing to go on the offensive — and proposed setting a precedent by electing a colleague from the club and forcing the sale of a billion-dollar commodity — is significant.
The tone of the meeting changed when Irsay let 13 words slip from his lips regarding Snyder.
“I think it makes sense to remove him as the owner of the [Commanders].”
The assembled reporters showered him with follow-ups. Irsay doubled and doubled and doubled. Beside him on the nearby stairwell was Colts President Pete Ward, smiling slightly and not seeming the least bit surprised by his boss’s remarks. A couple of NFL public relations people were also in earshot.
And Irsay’s voice trembled with emotion at times as he proceeded to bury Snyder. As I watched him, since I was with Irsay, I knew that this was of great importance to him. He’d thought about it a lot – something made clear by the lack of surprise on the faces of Ward and those around him.
So I tracked down Irsay later that afternoon and, in a quiet moment, asked him why it was so important for him to do what he does. He mentioned that his 13-year-old granddaughter Charlotte was at training camp this summer and that she would be the fourth generation of owners in his family, and the impact the sexual harassment allegations against Snyder and the toxic work culture on his watch would have on her.
“I know Wellington [Mara] and Dan Rooney and Lamar [Hunt] and owners over the years, I know what we’re about as owners,” he told me. “I also had the opportunity to speak to her on the last day [former 49ers owner] Eddie DeBartolo [Jr.] and [former commissioner] Paul Tagliabue and somehow remind me of the context of past decades and things that happened. All of these things give you a specific direction and vision.
“I don’t like the fact that sometimes people think we can do whatever we want with all the possible problems that are there. Because that’s not true,” Irsay continued. “We don’t stand for that, something like that. I mean it absolutely isn’t. That’s why the league is very important to me. I was tutored by the League’s founders and, as I said, by Lamar [of the Chiefs] and Wellington [Giants] and Dan Rooney [Steelers] that you are doing what is best for the Colts, but also what is best for the league.
“You have to protect the shield to protect the League and I don’t like it when the shield gets damaged. And right now, the shield is taking some damage from all of this.”
There’s also important context for Irsay being the owner to say something — his own history is checkered, and he was once suspended after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of oxycodone and hydrocodone (he said later that the incident helped him confront his drug addiction). When he was the one to take on Snyder, he also placed himself squarely in the line of fire, opening himself up to Snyder’s retaliation.
His response to all of this, and the possibility that Snyder might come back to him, was implied: Bring it on. That was clearly too big for Irsay to shut up. And for him, it relates to the women in his life.
“No question,” he said. “Having only three daughters and seven granddaughters I can relate to things like this – my seven granddaughters venturing into different forms of work for organisations. I know the culture that we have in Indianapolis. I know the special culture that we have and the family atmosphere that we have developed there. That’s important to me and I think that’s important to a lot of owners in this league because that’s what we’re all about.”
Other owners have been patiently awaiting the White report’s findings. Not Irsay.
There may come a time when Snyder hears from Jones that he needs to sell his commanders.
Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports
At the end of the day, Jaguars owner Shad Khan stood on a street corner outside the hotel, about to hop into a black Escalade to drive home, and said it was important to him to be fair with everyone involved. So he said he would wait until the White report comes out to comment.
“Once it comes out,” he said, getting into the SUV, “everyone will have an opinion.”
The problem for now, as Irsay saw it, is that the league and owners will continue to bear the brunt of Snyder’s PR damage until then. Fair or not, people will ask: if they just stand by and remain silent, are they all like him?
Irsay’s Embassy vigorously challenged that perception, and at least a few other owners quietly applauded him for it. What comes next really depends on how quickly White completes her investigation, the results, and ultimately the stomach the other owners have to sanction a guy who clearly makes everyone else in the room look absolutely awful.
According to the ESPN report, will they be willing to face the glass house problem Irsay had by risking that Snyder could start airing everyone’s dirty laundry? Are they okay with setting a precedent that could lead to pressure to get others to sell their teams if they step out of line? Would they be okay with taking the legal responsibility of ousting one of their own, with Snyder’s litigious past being a strong indicator that he would break out the attorneys again in such circumstances?
A longtime manager said Tuesday night he doubted they would. He suggested that if White finds true what most assume about Snyder, the NFL should have Cowboys owner Jerry Jones walking up to Snyder and essentially saying, “It’s time, I give you your $7 billion.” You have to go.”
For his part, Jones didn’t do much hand-tipping on the way out of the hotel when, as a longtime Snyder defender, he was asked if he was still the right owner for the team.
“We all agree that we are not going to comment on this,” Jones said. “We just didn’t want to comment at all. But I know that, I said it, I have no idea about anything. And I’m brought up in the article. I have no knowledge of anything that has a basis for it. Period.”
What was left unsaid there was how Jones felt about Snyder, the man who created this mess for everyone in the first place.
And that said it all.
More NFL Coverage: