Washington Football Team is now the Washington Commanders

soxhop411

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WaPo is reporting that the NFL wrote a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform stating that the Commanders are stonewalling the NFL and blocking them from getting access to over 100K documents


LOS ANGELES — The NFL told the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a letter that the Washington Commanders, not the league, are impeding the committee’s access to many documents related to the investigation of the team’s workplace, another sign of increasing tension between the team and league over the handling of the probe.

The letter — dated Wednesday and sent to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), the committee’s chairwoman, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) — reiterates the league’s assertion that “[d]ecisions related to the findings of the investigation have been made by the NFL, not the team.” The NFL also defended its decision to have attorney Beth Wilkinson, who conducted the investigation, submit only oral findings to the league rather than a written report.
Representatives for the Commanders did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


The NFL said that it entered into a “common interest agreement” with the team to avoid having to restart the investigation after taking over the probe from the team. And as the committee now seeks information related to Wilkinson’s investigation, the league wrote that the team is responsible for blocking access to more than 100,000 documents.
The NFL sought approximately 109,000 team documents related to the investigation that were previously shared with Wilkinson’s firm, Wilkinson Stekloff, and are in the possession of a third-party vendor, the league’s attorneys wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.
“That vendor refused to provide the NFL or even Wilkinson Stekloff with access to the documents unless the team consented because of its concern that it could be sued by the team or its owner," the attorneys wrote. "The NFL promptly directed the team to provide its consent to the vendor, but the team repeatedly has refused to do so.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/02/10/nfl-congress-commanders-documents/?utm_source=reddit.com
 
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dcdrew10

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WaPo is reporting that the NFL wrote a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform stating that the Commanders are stonewalling the NFL and blocking them from getting access to over 100K documents




https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/02/10/nfl-congress-commanders-documents/?utm_source=reddit.com
I don't even know what to think at this point, both WFT and the NFL are such scummy organizations. Could Snyder be stonewalling Congress and the NFL? Yes. Could the NFL be hiding behind everyone's perception that WFT is to blame and playing the long game to wait this out until people stop caring? Yes. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than in the NFL and WFT.
 
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soxhop411

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I don't even know what to think at this point, both WFT and the NFL are such scummy organizations. Could Snyder be stonewalling Congress and the NFL? Yes. Could the NFL be hiding behind everyone's perception that WFT is to blame and playing the long game to wait this out until people stop caring? You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than in the NFL and WFT.
Yah. Though the nfl publicly throwing Snyder under the bus in a letter to Congress is interesting. Given the consequences the nfl and Goodell would face if goodell was actually lying about Snyder stonewalling the government
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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Where would they even move? Is there any city/state screaming for an NFL franchise? Oklahoma? That seems to be an untapped sports market with only the Thunder being there of the Big Four. Considering the history of the Sooner State, having two teams that fled there would be a little bit of fun irony.

But I'm not sure where they would go if they had to move. Maybe Oakland?
 

YTF

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Where would they even move? Is there any city/state screaming for an NFL franchise? Oklahoma? That seems to be an untapped sports market with only the Thunder being there of the Big Four. Considering the history of the Sooner State, having two teams that fled there would be a little bit of fun irony.

But I'm not sure where they would go if they had to move. Maybe Oakland?
Would St. Louis deserve a shot? They already have a stadium.
 

coremiller

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The best candidate markets for relocation are probably San Antonio or Austin. They're only 80 miles apart so you could maybe even capture both markets with one franchise.
 

Hoya81

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A relocation seems like a tall order. Snyder's not going to let the franchise go for anything lower than market value (maybe 5 billion). The Kroenke debacle in St. Louis will likely drive up the cost of the league's relocation fee (currently $550 million) to somewhere near the $1 billion range and new stadium construction could run anywhere from 3-5 billion. Much harder to get an immediate return on that in any of these smaller markets.
 

Remagellan

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A relocation seems like a tall order. Snyder's not going to let the franchise go for anything lower than market value (maybe 5 billion). The Kroenke debacle in St. Louis will likely drive up the cost of the league's relocation fee (currently $550 million) to somewhere near the $1 billion range and new stadium construction could run anywhere from 3-5 billion. Much harder to get an immediate return on that in any of these smaller markets.
Add to that, the NFL (and no major sport, for that matter) is going to allow DC to go without a team. Look how often baseball kept coming back to Washington until the Nationals stuck. There has to be someone or some group with the sort of money necessary to keep the franchise there should the league force Snyder to sell.

Edit: or more succinctly, what Merlin said.
 

YTF

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Good call. But they couldn't be the Rams...

The St. Louis Commanders doesn't really work. Maybe they could be the Archers.
As per my suggestion, they wouldn't be the Commanders. New city, new name a la the Cleveland Browns becoming the Baltimore Ravens. Fresh start, remove the Snyder stench from the franchise. Maybe resurrect the old ABA nickname if that could be worked out. The Spirit of St. Louis. The ABA nickname was actually Spirits (plural) but I'd drop the "s" and go with Spirit. I mean it's never going to happen because the team has a huge following and I can't see the fans being punished over this, but aside from that I think it's a good solution to move on from the embarrassment that the franchise has become under Snyder.
 

YTF

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A relocation seems like a tall order. Snyder's not going to let the franchise go for anything lower than market value (maybe 5 billion). The Kroenke debacle in St. Louis will likely drive up the cost of the league's relocation fee (currently $550 million) to somewhere near the $1 billion range and new stadium construction could run anywhere from 3-5 billion. Much harder to get an immediate return on that in any of these smaller markets.
What? The owners are not approving a move out of the DC market.
Of course it's not going to happen, but in my world of thinking out loud this is the best way to bury this entire Snyder debacle.
 

joe dokes

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Of course it's not going to happen, but in my world of thinking out loud this is the best way to bury this entire Snyder debacle.
Roger hiring someone to kill Snyder would be easier to accomplish.
 

snowmanny

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The commandeers aren’t leaving Washington but I thought that Toronto was a desired spot for the NFL.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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Won't the Argonauts have something to say about that?

They do want a team in London, though...

The London Blitz?

(To keep it tone deaf, as is tradition.)
 

8slim

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The clown show continues:

https://richmond.com/sports/professional/source-nfl-commanders-at-odds-over-changing-super-bowl-dates-on-team-crest/article_a1f48e83-bbf0-5af2-8366-20df2a6bd181.html#tracking-source=home-sports

At the unveiling two weeks ago, the team presented the crest, an homage to its history, with the dates of its five world championships listed.
But fans noted that the dates were the years of the Super Bowl games themselves, not the seasons that preceded the titles.

For instance, the crest says 1992, but the title is commonly credited to the 1991 Redskins team.
According to a source, the team tweaked the crest, changing the years to the Roman numerals of the game.


However, all changes to logos and team identities have to be presented to the NFL for league approval, and the NFL declined Washington's request.
That's left Washington in limbo as it works on how best to present its new merchandise to fans.
A person with knowledge of the situation said the team is still brainstorming ways to tweak the crest to reflect the fan feedback that has been received.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Why would the NFL deny the request to update the logo? It’s a stupid mistake but why not let them fix it?

Edit: it appears to be because of copyright issues with the use of the Roman numerals, so why not just fix the years to the right years? What a stupid mess.
 

Preacher

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Why would the NFL deny the request to update the logo? It’s a stupid mistake but why not let them fix it?

Edit: it appears to be because of copyright issues with the use of the Roman numerals, so why not just fix the years to the right years? What a stupid mess.
There wouldn’t be Roman numerals for the years they won the NFL championship (pre merger) so it seems weird to mix Roman and Arabic numerals. But this is Washington so who knows?
 

dirtynine

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The editorial decisions around how to handle the name change when it comes to history are obviously still evolving. But this approach strikes me as odd:

https://theathletic.com/news/hall-of-fame-commanders-wr-charley-taylor-dies-at-80/92V9HWJGBYDE/

Did Bob Feller play for the Guardians? It’s subtle at the pro level - it’s certainly easier to say Lou Carnesecca was a legendary coach for St. John’s without going into the school’s nickname during his era. But pro teams use their nickname more formally, and it’s very often used alone. It’s a little jarring to see Washington’s former nickname now, but it also doesn’t seem right at all to apply “Commanders” to somebody who played in the 1960s.

edit: I guess I’d prefer an editorial note somewhere in articles like this explaining the decision and/or policy.
 
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Awesome Fossum

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Agreed. I thought the same thing on the ESPN story. He never played for the Commanders. I think it would be totally fine to write the story without using "Redskins" and just call them Washington, but we don't get to retroactively change the name of teams.
 

SumnerH

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Eh. We talk about Cy Young as a former Red Sox despite that not being the team name when he played for them. Nap Lajoie is remembered as a Cleveland Indian (eventually to be a Guardian, I presume), despite that being the name the team was changed to in response to him leaving them. Nobody refers to Cap Anson as the former Chicago Colts' great; he's a Cubs HOFer/a-hole.

This seems more jarring because it's more recent, but it's the same thing and we'll adjust to it.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Eh. We talk about Cy Young as a former Red Sox despite that not being the team name when he played for them. Nap Lajoie is remembered as a Cleveland Indian (eventually to be a Guardian, I presume), despite that being the name the team was changed to in response to him leaving them. Nobody refers to Cap Anson as the former Chicago Colts' great; he's a Cubs HOFer/a-hole.

This seems more jarring because it's more recent, but it's the same thing and we'll adjust to it.
The Washington Bullets are more current but really not all that current either. They were also pretty forgettable.
 

DJnVa

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Agreed. I thought the same thing on the ESPN story. He never played for the Commanders. I think it would be totally fine to write the story without using "Redskins" and just call them Washington, but we don't get to retroactively change the name of teams.
Similar type of thing:

Fanatics Removes Washington Commanders Jersey Bearing John Riggins’ Name And Number

“I feel completely disenfranchised,” Riggins said on The John Riggins Show. “I cannot for the life of me – this is me, John Riggins, talking here – I can’t understand how anyone who once played under the old franchise name could possibly want to be a part of anything to do with the Washington Commanders.
“That makes me feel filthy,” Riggins said. “I feel dirty. I don’t want anything to do with it. For now anyway. Maybe I’ll change. Maybe I need a little more time. I don’t know, but it just doesn’t feel right to me.

“That term is completely foreign to me. It doesn’t sound real.”
 

edoug

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Of all the things that the Washington football team has done, this is what bothers him?
 

soxhop411

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On the very short list of things that might get Snyder booted from the league is underpaying his fellow owners. That said, I don't know this site's level of reliability - I only saw this because Will Carroll retweeted this story.

https://frontofficesports.com/commanders-allegedly-held-back-visiting-nfl-teams-ticket-revenue/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=article-sharing
They are legit. And yes. Owners can tolerate shit from other owners. But what they won’t tolerate is another owner screwing them out of $$$$.
And if this is proven true, I doubt Snyder still owns the team by the draft

also. This is like Al Capone going down for tax evasion, instead of the other crimes he committed
 
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Cellar-Door

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Yeah, Snyder is an absolute terrible person, and the league will do everything it can to cover that up, if he shorts the till? He's probably gone. The NFL isn't the NBA where they might force you out for being awful or a criminal, but mess with the money.....
 

Marciano490

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I find this stuff fascinating. Snyder is infinitely rich. He’s part of the coolest club in America. All he has to do is not fuck up and he’ll continue to get richer and own a football team. Is it greed or is he just self destructive?

Also, the NFL has perfect hero cover to boot him because of the sticky fingers but pretend it’s because of the other horribleness.
 

Van Everyman

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This statement reads like Snyder penned it himself:

Sources told FOS that the person who gave the information to the Democrat-led Oversight Committee was the one referenced in the following statement by GOP Oversight Committee Spokesperson Austin Hacker:

“The leak of one-sided, unconfirmed, unsupported allegations from a disgruntled ex-employee with an ax to grind is just further proof the Democrats’ investigation is a waste of Congress’ time. Nothing the Committee has heard from any credible witness points to any financial improprieties; in fact, the only credible witness in a position to know the facts the Democrats have heard from has denied any such improprieties.”

Sources with knowledge of the information given to Oversight Committee staffers told FOS that it went beyond first-person testimony.
Article also notes that the WFT had the second lowest attendance in the league last year. From one of the most bankable franchises in the sport to this.
 

Oil Can Dan

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Thanks for sharing that. What a read. I can't see how the other owners sit idly by with this information now known.
 

Bozo Texino

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The Athletic has a story on the Commanders' financial improrpiety here.

EDIT: This HAS to spell the end for Snyder, right? NFL owners will look the other way when it comes to sexual harrassment - but fucking with their money?
 

Gdiguy

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It's hard to imagine the owners are going to let this go, but I guess we'll see. Washington maintained two sets of books -- one that they shared with the NFL and one that had the "real numbers" that only a small group inside the team, including Snyder, reviewed.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21583539-2022-04-12cbm-rk-to-khan-ftc-re-washington-commanders
Buried on page 10

According to the spreadsheet, one customer name that corresponds to two season tickets appears to have been registered in the name of current NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell as of July 2016. The amount of the unreturned deposit is approximately $1,000. The address for this account is listed as the NFL’s corporate address in New York. According to the spreadsheets, the security deposit appears to have been collected prior to Mr. Goodell’s election as NFL Commissioner in 2006. The Committee has not determined when the security deposit was paid or whether it has since been returned.
 

jose melendez

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This is just his MO. He made a ton of his money illegally changing the long distance service of senior citizens.

I don't know whether this meets the legal burden, but by any common language definition, he's committing fraud... and that's on top of the human trafficking.
 

Hoya81

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https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33971374/source-washington-commanders-spend-100-million-land-virginia-possible-stadium
The team has spent $100 million for 200 acres in the Dumfries/Quantico area in Northern Virginia as the first steps towards building a new stadium complex that would include a 60k seat domed stadium, practice facilities, an 20k seat amphitheater and other retail development. The article speculates that this could be a move to force Maryland to spend big to try and retain the team, but also that the team has given up on returning to D.C. proper due to additional federal oversight.
 

DanoooME

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Traffic in that area is already a complete clusterfuck. I can't imagine what it would be like after that is built.
 

B H Kim

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Traffic in that area is already a complete clusterfuck. I can't imagine what it would be like after that is built.
For Monday or Thursday night games, anyone who works in DC and commutes south on 95 should probably just plan on getting a hotel room and spending the night.
 

jose melendez

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As long as it's not my DC tax dollars funding them, I'm good. Though it has occurred to me that with the name change, I could actually follow them as my second team if Snyder gets forced out.