Thoughts on the Washington Redskins harassment scandal

The future

Redskins fans can at least look forward from this tiring saga with the comforting thought that things should get better. All of the harassment instigators named in the Washington Post article are gone, and Ron Rivera put his foot down early, saying that he won’t stand for that type of behavior in his organization.

But regardless of the future, the Washington Post article casts a pall over happenings in Ashburn. Dan Snyder likely won’t be forced to sell the team; in fact, he may walk away with a mere fine.

Snyder’s continued possession of the team may allow him to rebound from this incident, and grow to be better. But a single knee-jerk reaction to criticism isn’t good enough. A consistent, continuous effort must be made to heal the team’s culture, and that’s something Snyder hasn’t shown himself to be capable of in his two decades as owner.

While Rivera has a heavy influence, it’s ultimately up to Snyder himself to make things better — to champion change, and provide the resources for others to assist. And at the moment, he either doesn’t understand that, or doesn’t want to acknowledge that, perhaps because doing so would sacrifice whatever remaining threads of sympathy he enjoys.

Snyder’s mismanagement of the Redskins franchise has warped the reputation of the entire organization, so much so that a name change, once heavily contested by ardent supporters, might be a respite from the toxic reputation that the team has come to bear across the nation.

Rivera may facilitate a positive shift, but Snyder will be the most powerful agent in this process. And to fulfill his duty, he can either choose to change his own ways, or, with dire consequences, sink back into the shadows and shirk his duties as owner once again.