Washington football team hires Terry Bateman as executive vice president

It’s been a tumultuous week for Washington football, so much so that a standard front office hire flies far under the radar.

Earlier in the week, a Washington Post article was released, detailing a deeply-rooted culture of harassment and verbal abuse inside Washington football. That article has since paved the way for a series of statements from Dan Snyder and Ron Rivera. Numerous instigators were fired, or retired ahead of the article’s release, and the franchise seems to be attempting to turn a new leaf.

Speculation continues to proceed outside the walls, but inside the Washington football organization, Snyder and Rivera are attempting to get back to business as usual ahead of training camp, which starts within the week for the team’s youngest players.

Earlier today, Snyder executed a business move, making a hire in Washington football’s front office. Per J.P. Finlay of NBC Sports, Snyder hired Terry Bateman to presume the team’s duties as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Snyder released a small statement on the hiring of Bateman, voicing his support. Here is his statement:

“”Terry Bateman is a man I trust and have worked with for many years. I can’t think of a better individual to help spearhead this organization’s marketing efforts into this new era.”

Bateman also spoke on his hiring, expressing his excitement at being able to contribute to the Washington football franchise at such a pivotal time.

Bateman will presumably handle the team’s marketing efforts, and as referenced in the Redskins.com article linked above, his experience as a chief executive officer at various businesses should guide him in his new role. In the short term, he’ll be tasked with facilitating a name change, revamping the team’s broadcasting department, and handling sponsorships, among other things.

The hire is somewhat peculiar, given the report on Washington football’s organizational toxicity last week. Bateman has worked with Snyder and the Washington football team before, and in fact served as executive vice president under Bruce Allen from 2015 to 2018. He also worked in marketing with the team back in 2006.

Bateman’s history correlates with the Washington football team’s history of harassment, so at the very least, this move may draw negative attention from those who draw that connection. Bateman is not a new face, and there may be some concerns over supplementing the new culture with an executive who was part of the old one.

With that being said, Bateman appears eager to move on from the past, and approach the set of challenges facing the franchise currently. He’ll surely have a full plate on his first day.

Disclaimer: From here on out at Riggo’s Rag, we will be using “Washington football” to refer to D.C.’s football franchise, in order to prepare for the coming name change, so that when the new name is chosen, we will be better equipped to integrate it into our writing.