Commentary: Daniel Snyder is no longer just a headache for the NFL, he’s become a liability

We’re about to see what, if anything, the NFL has learned in the last six years.

In the weeks that followed the release of those horrific videos of Ray Rice knocking his then-fiancee unconscious and the searing criticism of his laughably lax suspension, Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that the league had fallen short. That its approach to domestic and sexual violence had demeaned and devalued women, putting their health and safety in danger.

Six years later, here we are again.

The painstakingly detailed, damning report Thursday by The Washington Post does not allege sexual or physical assault. But the sexual harassment and verbal abuse that more than a dozen women said they were subjected to by Washington team executives, including some who were members of owner Daniel Snyder’s inner circle, is just as debasing and just as harmful.

If the NFL doesn’t ban Snyder, and force him to sell the team, it’s no better than it was six years ago. And women, a key to the NFL’s future growth, should take note.

Snyder was not accused of any wrongdoing by any of the women, 15 of whom are former employees and two of whom who are reporters. But it’s hard to imagine an owner as controlling as Snyder and as immersed in his team’s operations would not have at least heard rumblings of the inappropriate behavior.

Especially since it was hardly a secret.

“Former women employees said the first few weeks at Redskins Park also often came with an informal, but invaluable, orientation administered privately by veteran female employees who warned them to avoid certain people and places, such as the staircase near the entrance to team headquarters,” according to The Post report.

“Lined at the top with transparent plexiglass, the stairs descend from the lobby to the locker room and training area, and someone standing at the bottom can look up the skirt of a woman standing at the top.”

Regardless of what Snyder knew or didn’t know, this is his team. Its culture is a direct reflection of him.

That Washington executives felt entitled to degrade women and treat them with such disrespect should surprise no one. Their boss, Snyder, displayed that same contemptuous attitude toward Native Americans by clinging to a racist nickname and logo that anyone with decency would have discarded long ago.

Snyder did so proudly, too, telling USA TODAY Sports in 2013 that he would, “NEVER. You can use caps” change the nickname. The pain and humiliation some Native Americans felt didn’t matter to him, just as the pain and humiliation the women felt didn’t matter to – didn’t even register with – Snyder’s minions.

Snyder might not have harassed anyone personally, as former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson did. But he fostered the environment that allowed it to happen. For that alone, the NFL needs to force him out as it did Richardson.

The Post story isn’t just an embarrassment for the league. Snyder has become a threat to the NFL’s bottom line.

His commitment to bigotry at a time when the country is having an unprecedented reckoning with systemic racism has already irritated some of the NFL’s biggest sponsors, including Nike and Pepsi. Now he risks alienating women, who make up nearly half of the league’s fan base and drive some 80 percent of consumer purchasing decisions, and who are fed up with men treating them as objects for their amusement.

For a league with a stated goal of being a $25 billion business by 2027, Snyder is a liability. Goodell and the owners have to see that.

It would be different if there were any indication that Snyder will be humbled by the women’s allegations and make significant, structural changes, as Mark Cuban did after similar revelations at the Dallas Mavericks. But The Post story made clear that isn’t going to happen, noting that some of the 14 former employees who spoke on condition of anonymity did so because they’d signed nondisclosure agreements with the team that “threaten legal retribution if they speak negatively about the club.”

“The team declined a request from The Post to release former female employees from these agreements so they could speak on the record without fear of legal reprisal,” The Post reported.

It’s also worth noting that there were sleazy allegations in 2018 of Washington cheerleaders being forced to pose topless and team officials selling access to them. But only now, knowing The Post story was about to publish, did Snyder hire an attorney to review Washington’s culture and policies.

Six years ago, Goodell promised the NFL would do a better job of keeping women out of harm’s way. It shouldn’t matter if that occurs in a player’s home or a team facility, or what form the abuse takes.

The NFL either supports women or it supports Daniel Snyder. It cannot do both.

Read more at usatoday.com