Does outgoing Commanders owner Dan Snyder care about his tainted legacy?

Do outgoing Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder and his long-suffering wife truly care about their tarnished franchise legacy?

Many Washington Commanders fans have known nothing but Dan Snyder being the team's owner and became almost used to the constant stream of misery and failure under his leadership. They are the lucky ones compared to supporters who tasted glory in the years and decades before his reign of terror began.

As that song by UK-based band James goes:

If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor.

The last year saw one scandal too many for Snyder, who was forced to sell up once and for all. While most met this saga with ongoing skepticism considering how difficult the billionaire can be more often than not, joyous news eventually emerged when an agreement was reached with a star-studded ownership group led by Josh Harris.

Commanders owner Dan Snyder leaves legacy of incompetence

After initially purchasing the Washington franchise for $800 million, Snyder is walking away with $6.05 billion. This represents another NFL record and a substantial profit for someone that gave almost nothing to the cause other than disgrace and incompetence.

Once the NFL officially approves the sale on July 20, the deep exhale of relief from Commanders fans around the world will be matched only by the celebratory scenes that'll follow. This has been a long time coming and it's drained the life out of almost everybody - so for this to become final is the closure many need.

That won't matter much to those who've accused Snyder of wrongdoing within a toxic work environment he oversaw. But hopefully, they'll also get the justice deserved despite the league washing their hands of the outgoing owner in the coming weeks.

One also has to wonder whether or not the Snyders actually care about the legacy they're leaving behind in Washington. It started as a dream - taking over his childhood team with the intent of leading them into an era of prosperity.

It was anything but. And it lasted almost 25 years.

A stadium in shambles, almost no playoff success, subpar facilities, complete disenchantment among the fanbase, and no free-agent worth their salt entertaining the organization without a whopping contract unbefitting their talents. That's without counting the sexual misconduct, workplace conditions, and everything in between associated with one of the most inept ownerships in North American sports history.

Snyder is a proud man that might even entertain a second act elsewhere with his newfound wealth in pursuit of redemption. On the other hand, if he cared all that much about how the Commanders were being perceived, then significant changes would have arisen.

Instead, everything Snyder touched seemed to crumble. From the name change to the Sean Taylor Memorial - nothing was done correctly and only seemed to rile the fanbase up further.

And yet, Snyder's come out of this almost $6 billion better off. To be precise, $5.25 billion of the Commanders' sale money represents profit.

Imagine the common man got rewarded in such a way for running his business into the ground.

Alas, the NFL is not real life. Not in that sense, anyway.

Snyder is laughing all the way to the bank regardless of what potential sanctions come next. But when he rests his head at night on a luxurious yacht, the fan inside him will always wonder why he couldn't - or didn't - do enough to make his dreams come true.

And that, above all else, might be the saddest thing of all.