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Things might get ugly between Dan Snyder and the other NFL owners.
According to a report from ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, Don Van Natta, and Tisha Thompson, the NFL owners are going to meet next week to call for the removal of Snyder, but they are afraid he may attempt to “blow things up.”
Snyder, who has found himself at the center of several controversies over the years, has reportedly been privately tracking other owners for several years and is threatening to expose their dirty secrets behind the scenes if they try to oust him as Commanders owner.
From me, @DVNJR and @tishaESPN, via 30+ sources
*Snyder has said his dirt on Goodell/owners from PIs could “blow up” NFL. “They can’t f— with me.”
*He’s “lost Jerry” Jones
*Goodell “wants Snyder gone,” per exec
*A novel removal method owners have discussedhttps://t.co/pzImP9bCr5— Seth Wickersham (@SethWickersham) October 13, 2022
Via ESPN
he tells members of his inner circle about the dirt he has accumulated on fellow owners, coaches, executives, even his own employees — all the stuff he’s learned from other sources, including private investigative firms. He never says exactly what he knows, only that in his 23 years as owner of the Washington Commanders, he knows a lot. And that in the zero-sum world of billionaires, this is how you survive. Snyder recently told a close associate that he has gathered enough secrets to “blow up” several NFL owners, the league office and even commissioner Roger Goodell.
Apparently, the league and the owners are aware that Snyder has been tracking them with private investigators in an effort to gather dirt on them.
League sources say the NFL is aware that Snyder has claimed to be tracking owners. But none of the owners or sources would reveal how they learned of Snyder’s alleged effort to use private investigators. It’s also unclear how many owners are said to have been targeted, though sources say they believe it’s at least six. 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, the Dallas Cowboys owner who has served as Snyder’s friend, mentor and longtime firewall of support.
Commanders officials have denied reports of Snyder tracking other owners.
A Commanders spokesperson and outside lawyers denied that Snyder has hired or authorized private investigators to track another team’s owner and league office executives, including Goodell. “This is categorically false,” said John Brownlee and Stuart Nash, partners at Holland & Knight. “He has no ‘dossiers’ compiled on any owners.”
A team spokesperson called it “simply ridiculous and utterly false” that Snyder ever said that he could blow up the league, or that the league “can’t f—” with him, or that “the NFL is a mafia” or “all owners hate each other.”
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens next week at the owners meetings and if the other owners have the gall to try and take out Snyder.