Private Infighting Roils Owners of Washington N.F.L. Team

Even as Snyder continues his legal battle, he has made several hires charged with making serious changes to the club’s culture. They include Jason Wright, first Black team president in league history, and Julie Donaldson, a white woman, who became senior vice president for media and a game day radio broadcaster, replacing Larry Michael, one of the male team employees accused of harassment. Terry Bateman, who is white, was brought on to run the team’s marketing.

After Bateman and Donaldson were hired in late July, the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which promotes diversity in football, asked the N.F.L. to confirm that the team followed Rooney Rule guidelines that require at least one person of color or one woman, or both, to be interviewed for any open senior level positions. The N.F.L. is continuing to investigate.

When the Washington Football Team plays the Philadelphia Eagles in its first game of the regular season on Sept. 13, it will do so in a fan-free home stadium, led by a coach battling cancer. The franchise will most likely still be searching for a new team name and logo, awaiting the results of an independent investigation of sexual harassment in the front office, and court rulings in the United States and India.

Football will, for once, be the least troubling issue Snyder faces in Washington.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/sports/football/dan-snyder-washington-football-ownership.html