Patrick Semansky/AP
An investigative report from ESPN revealed that Dan Snyder — the disgraced owner of the Washington Commanders currently in the process of selling the team — blackmailed league executives and fellow owners to protect himself.
The report primarily focused on the emails that led to the firing of former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Numerous sources pointed fingers at one another, so a definitive source of the leaked emails is unknown.
When the Commanders were under investigation amid rumors of toxic workplace culture, Snyder’s attorneys reportedly displayed a slideshow of “embarrassing emails and texts from several top league executives” during a league meeting. It became known as the “Blackmail PowerPoint,” and the message it sent was clear: if Snyder went down, so would the rest of the league.
According to the report, this was an effective tactic. Snyder was reportedly “dictating his punishment,” with NFL executives sending him drafts of the news release announcing the conclusion of the investigation. He even “weighed in on word choices” from the statement.
Then, on July 1, the league announced that Snyder would be forced to “step away from day-to-day operations ‘for at least the next several months.”” Additionally, he’d pay a $10 million fine. Snyder reportedly bragged that the punishment was “surprisingly light.”
While it’s unknown if the Gruden leaks also came from Snyder, what is known is the fact that those leaks eventually put the final nail in the coffin of Snyder’s tenure as owner.
“Within days” of those leaked correspondences between Gruden and Commanders General Manager Bruce Allen, a congressional committee launched its own investigation into both the team and the NFL as a whole. That investigation led to a separate criminal investigation into alleged financial misconduct by Snyder and his team.
Continued pressure from the U.S. government and the NFL’s owners resulted in Snyder fielding offers for the team with intentions to sell.
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