‘Papa John’ Schnatter Claims Jerry Jones And Dan Snyder Wanted Him To Collude Against Roger Goodell

• According to ‘Papa John’ Schnatter, Jerry Jones and Dan Synder wanted him to get Roger Goodell fired.
• Although he declined to do so, Schnatter made his thoughts very clear.
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John Schnatter stepped down as CEO of Papa John’s in 2018. Before he did, however, he claims that he was caught in the middle of a massive scandal in the NFL.

During a recent interview with Jason Whitlock, Schnatter said that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder wanted him to try and get NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fired. Specifically, they wanted him to get Goodell removed for the way he handled the national anthem controversy, as well as the suspension of Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.

According to Schnatter, Synder and Jones hate Goodell. Despite their asking, he would not help them in their plan.

“Snyder and Jones hate Goodell,” Schnatter said. “I said, ‘No, this is not my job to fire your Commissioner. He works for you.’ Remember, Goodell is a coward, and he is incompetent. And he’s just lucky. Jerry Jones, the owner of the Cowboys, Indra Nooyi [former CEO] with PepsiCo, and Dan Snyder all called me — several other folks — about Goodell’s conduct and the way he was handling this. Jones and Dan Snyder . . . wanted Goodell fired. This is like . . . the first of November, end of October. They called and said, ‘You need to take this guy out. You’re the number one sponsor of the league, as far as notoriety and acceptance and association. Everybody loves you, they love Peyton [Manning, a Papa John’s franchisee and sponsor]. We hate Goodell.’”

In addition, John Schnatter claimed that Dan Synder had some very disparaging words toward Goodell and his behavior with alcohol.

Specifically, Schnatter claimed that Synder called Goodell a “drunk, and yet we’re paying him $50 million a year.” That alone would have been quite the headline.

During the interview with Whitlock, Schnatter doubled down on his reluctance to help the two NFL franchise owners.

“Snyder and Jones hate Goodell,” Schnatter said. “I said, ‘No, this is not my job to fire your Commissioner. He works for you.’ Remember, Goodell is a coward, and he is incompetent. And he’s just lucky. Jerry Jones, the owner of the Cowboys, Indra Nooyi [former CEO] with PepsiCo, and Dan Snyder all called me — several other folks — about Goodell’s conduct and the way he was handling this. Jones and Dan Snyder . . . wanted Goodell fired. This is like . . . the first of November, end of October. They called and said, ‘You need to take this guy out. You’re the number one sponsor of the league, as far as notoriety and acceptance and association. Everybody loves you, they love Peyton [Manning, a Papa John’s franchisee and sponsor]. We hate Goodell.’”

Here are John Schnatter’s full comments on Fearless with Jason Whitlock:

After Synder and Jones pressured Schnatter into trying to get Goodell fired, the former Papa John’s CEO did make his opinion heard. He didn’t go at Goodell publicly, but referenced his poor leadership in a conference call regarding the company’s poor third quarter earnings in 2017.

“Good or bad, leadership starts at the top and this is an example of poor leadership,” Schnatter said, via Chris Otts of WDRB.com. “This should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago.”

Schnatter was referencing the NFL’s lingering controversy surrounding the national anthem. His comments were a direct shot at Goodell.

At the time, there was a belief that Jones put Schnatter up to his conference call rant. Based on Schnatter’s most recent comments with Whitlock, that was the case.