The Washington Football Team’s Problems Always Begin with Daniel Snyder
The problems continue to mount for the Washington Football Team. The team formerly known as the Washington Redskins has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the last two months. As long as team owner Daniel Snyder is running the show, the problems will likely go on.
Daniel Snyder was pressured into a name change
Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Football Team, has had a very rough couple of months. Snyder, who once told the world he would never change the nickname of his Washington Redskins team, caved under heavy pressure and removed the nickname. The change came after several big-name sponsors and companies threatened the team with financial moves that would’ve cost Snyder millions.
The team then ran into some trademarking issues as a Virginia man named Philip Martin McCaulay outsmarted Daniel Snyder. McCaulay, knowing the team might have to change its name, went out and had many potential nicknames trademarked. If the team is hoping to use one of those names, it would have to go through McCaulay and strike some type of financial agreement.
So for the time being, the team is embarrassingly called the Washington Football Team. It will be referred to as the Washington Football Team likely throughout the 2020 season.
Washington Football Team rocked by recent scandal
Last week, The Washington Post came out with a story that couldn’t not have come during a worse time for Daniel Snyder and his Washington Football Team. The story alleges sexual harassment within the workplace. Fifteen female employees in the organization allege sexual misconduct took place.
While 14 of the women spoke in anonymity, Emily Applegate chose to come forward. Applegate, now 31, left the organization in 2015. She needed a job and she loved her role with the team with the exception of the harassment part.
“It was the most miserable experience of my life,” Applegate, now 31, said of her year working as a marketing coordinator for the club. “And we all tolerated it because we knew if we complained — and they reminded us of this — there were 1,000 people out there who would take our job in a heartbeat.”
Now another possible violation?
When the harassment scandal became public, the team issued a statement. “The Washington Redskins football team takes issues of employee conduct seriously. … While we do not speak to specific employee situations publicly, when new allegations of conduct are brought forward that are contrary to these policies, we address them promptly,” the team said, according to The Washington Post.
There have been changes in front-office personnel and the recent hiring of two front-office executives are now in question. In a separate Washington Post article, the team’s hiring process is under review to see if the organization adhered to the NFL’s Rooney Rule. The Rooney Rule is in place to give minority candidates an equal opportunity for certain positions. Those include a wide range of executive positions.
Daniel Snyder is at the heart of every issue. According to The Washington Post, his decisions are not made with the best interest of the organization. “He goes through his Rolodex and calls random people until he gets an opinion he likes. And he follows it,” said a person who worked with Snyder for seven years. Said another person with five years of direct experience: “He seeks advice, but he only hears what he wants to hear. His favorite phrase is ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about!’”
