Back in October 2021, when the world was grasping previous emails Las Vegas Raiders Coach John Gruden and getting to know firsthand the opinions he shared When most people weren’t listening (or reading), conspiracy theories were flying in every direction. Someone leaked sensitive material from an NFL investigation – with the apparent intent of achieving some goal – and now everyone has a premise.
Some have pointed the finger at NFL Players Association CEO DeMaurice Smith, who was the subject of one of Gruden’s humiliating monkeys Sent to Washington’s then-head coach, Bruce Allen. Others believe it was NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or one of his officials in the league’s office, looking to make Gruden the example of a series of racist, homophobic and misogynistic messages to Allen. Still others point out that it may be Allen himself, theorized to have been so burned by Washington team owner Dan Snyder, who sacrificed Gruden’s reputation just to heighten tensions with his former boss.
publicly, Everyone denied having anything to do with it. But a secret? Well, it turns out that there was a pretty big accusation by the NFL. One that seemed to put the burden of the leaks on the Washington franchise. A claim that, if true, would mean that the person most responsible for Dan Snyder’s downfall was the person we suspected all along.
Dan Snyder.
What does Snyder have to do with Gruden’s emails?
Thursday The revelation is from a 79-page congressional report It certainly did nothing to diminish that belief, with the House Oversight Committee publishing findings that got to the point in the document’s title: “Harmful Behavior: How the NFL and Washington’s Leaders Covered Up Decades of Sexual Misconduct.” It contained several allegations that direct the reader directly to Snyder’s office and then proceeds to empty all the trash cans on his desk.
What can best be summed up in the report is its paragraph: “The findings of the commission’s investigation, as set out in this report, are clear: sexual harassment, bullying, and other toxic workplace behavior permeated Washington’s leaders and was perpetuated by a culture of fear inculcated by his employer.” the team “.
You really can’t explain more than that. But while there is a lot to parse here, one nugget is buried Page 42 It must be of particular interest. It comes down to emails written by Gruden, which can best be described as the rift that eventually led to the downfall of the Snyder estate. Because one of the undeniable facts about this whole Snyder mess was that in the late summer of 2021, it looked like he was about to crash again. It survived another investigation and an endless round of intense scrutiny and criticism.
Then Gruden’s emails leaked in October and everything changed.
Gruden was forced to resign as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Threats of litigation began to trickle in. The NFL and Snyder have been forced into another internal investigation. Then Congress came through the dooropening the floor and microphones to anyone and everyone with dirt or allegations against Snyder, the NFL, and the Washington franchise.
You could argue that the person who leaked these emails eventually shone a spotlight on Snyder and then demanded it to an extent that only exists on the surface of the sun. It’s a fact that made Thursday even more interesting when the NFL’s opinion on the matter was finally published. From the report came an exchange with Bruce Allen claiming the league she did Point your finger when it comes to email leaks. Specifically, Allen noticed something that was allegedly shared with him by the league’s special counsel for investigations, Lisa Friel, when Allen complained about his emails ending up in the hands of reporters.
From a portion of the Allen deposition in the report: “I said, ‘Well, who the hell gives my emails to the Wall Street Journal? ‘” Why not – I’m the only one who doesn’t have my emails. Why?’ She went on to say, “We didn’t do that in the league office. I got out on their side.”
When asked who Friel was referring to when she said “their side,” Allen replied, “She’s pointing a finger at the team.”
There are two things worth noting here for a moment. First, there is still an allegation from a league office that has repeatedly deflected or blamed a number of things connected to Snyder or investigations into his franchise. Second, Commanders co-owner Tanya Snyder denied that she or her husband had anything to do with the leaked emails when she met with Goodell and her owners at a league meeting after Gruden was discovered.
Only Allen is still attesting to a claim made to him by Friel and there is no mention of the evidence that was made available to support it. That said, it’s one hell of a wild claim, only for the fact that it sparked a complete legal mess for Snyder in the aftermath. If he did eventually sell his team, those leaked emails should be remembered as the most important turning point in the effort to get Snyder out of the league.
The idea that the Snyder franchise may have been behind the leak – essentially an implied suggestion that Snyder himself was a part of – is fascinating.
The leaked emails could eventually lead to Snyder’s downfall
Dan Snyder will mainly draw as Victor Tupolev, the Russian naval commander who accidentally sinks his own submarine in “The Hunt for Red October.” Chasing down his former mentor, Marco Ramius, Tupolev fires a torpedo to send his friend to the ocean floor, only to watch the same torpedo spin again and destroy his submarine as one of his officers says, “You arrogant ass. You killed us.”
That moment was a classic revenge plot. And it would be for Snyder, too.
Is it believable? It’s hard to say. The report itself—not to mention decades of reporting on Snyder—certainly indicated that the Washington owner is not afraid of getting into fights or settling scores. And in the case of Gruden’s emails, there’s no denying that Snyder is she did He attempted to use it against Allen on at least one occasion well before it appeared in the papers.
Lest anyone forget, some of Gruden’s emails to Allen were The exhibits are in a defamation case brought by Snyder against an India-based media company. During this litigation, Snyder sought to establish that Allen participated in the leaking of information to the media. To make the case, his attorneys produced documents that included some emails between Gruden and Allen, as well as between Allen and other members of the media. While the emails did not identify Gruden by name, instead describing him as an ESPN “character,” they were included in the case in June of 2021. Those same emails, which Snyder and his attorneys were apparently in possession of, ended up In the hands of reporters at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
No bread crumbs have been proven to exist between the two. There is no evidence that this is why Friel was referring to the team as the source of the leaks. Whatever leaks happen, the fallout is the real story at this point.
This part is less guesswork. It can be measured not only in the congressional report released Thursday, but in He was sued by District of Columbia Attorney Carl Racinecoming An investigation by Mary Jo White (which would be the third significant investigation of Snyder and his franchise), Gruden’s lawsuit against the NFLand other parts of the lawsuits that have not yet been disclosed.
At the center of them all? Revenge, strength and Dan Snyder.
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