When Stan Kroenke slithered out of town with his football team and headed to Los Angeles, he did so with the blessing of all NFL franchise owners and, by default, Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones helped smooth the route to L.A. for Kroenke, and then used his power to ‘convince’ some owners that were skeptical of Kroenke bailing on St. Louis.
St. Louis got shown the door as only money- and power-mad billionaires can show you out.
Now, according to an ESPN report released Thursday, Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder is threatening to release “dirt” on some fellow owners if they try to remove him from the franchise.
Fellow owners are fed up with the continuing scandals, including the latest in which Snyder is accused of hiding revenue that would be shared amongst all owners. FedEx Field, home of the Commanders, is considered the worst NFL venue with no new stadium deal in sight, and there is genuine concern Snyder is carrying too much debt.
Owners meet in two weeks, and in the ESPN story Snyder told a close associate “the NFL is a mafia.” He also reportedly said if owners try to force him to sell, “he has gathered enough secrets to ‘blow up’ several NFL owners, the league office and even commissioner Roger Goodell.”
ESPN interviewed “multiple owners and league and team sources” who said Snyder instructed his law firms to hire private investigators to look into other owners and Goodell.
From the ESPN story:
One owner was told by Snyder directly that he “has dirt on Jerry Jones,” a team source told ESPN, though the nature of the information was unclear. Another source confirmed that Snyder has told a confidant that he has “a file” on Jones, who has served as Snyder’s friend, mentor, and longtime firewall of support.
“Jerry Jones recently told confidants that he ‘might not be able’ to protect Snyder any longer. Snyder has also ‘badmouthed’ Jones, telling an owner recently, ‘he’s only out to get in your pockets. … You can’t trust him,’ a senior executive close to the owner said. “Snyder’s already lost Jerry,” the source added.
The Commanders released a statement Thursday, which reads “It’s hard to imagine a piece that is more categorically untrue, and is clearly part of a well-funded, two-year misinformation campaign to coerce the sale of the team, which will continue to be unsuccessful.”
Jones, nor any other owners, had released a comment on the report as of noon on Thursday.
St. Louis ended up with more than $750,000,000 of Kroenke’s money in a legal settlement, and the region can now sit back and watch some NFL pit bulls tear themselves to pieces. That’s worth a 50-yard-line seat to any NFL game
