Twitter is reacting to the heinous new story about Washington’s NFL team.
After days of wondering how bad the forthcoming Washington Post story about Dan Snyder and the NFL’s Washington team would be, Thursday provided clarity.
According to the Post, 15 women who worked for the former Washington Redskins have alleged sexual harassment by former scouts and members of Snyder’s inner circle at Redskins Park. Among the employees accused of sexual harassment was Larry Michael, the team’s radio announcer who suddenly announced he was leaving the team last week.
With such a massive scandal finally out in the open, it’s not surprising Twitter had plenty to say about the matter. After all, this is the same owner who stubbornly refused to retire the team’s offensive nickname for years — despite frequent pleas from Native American and other advocacy groups — and only caved once all his sponsors started pulling out.
Most important of all, these women should be commended for speaking up and for their bravery in doing so, since reliving these awful ordeals and putting them out in the open is not an easy thing to do.
So sad and not at all surprising given the article that came out about the cheer team years ago. Commending all of the brave women who are standing up & speaking up 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 https://t.co/cxJDYAXNCM
— Kasidee Karsten (@kasideekarsten) July 16, 2020
Some of the details are absolutely horrifying:
This stuff is just disgusting. Male employees of the Washington NFL team positioned themselves under stairs where they could look up women's skirts. No one specifically accuses Dan Snyder but the buck should stop with him. This is his team -- not for long. https://t.co/ji4MixlU5V pic.twitter.com/cPyhLnbNr0
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) July 16, 2020
“Infuriating” might not even be strong enough a word.
This is infuriating https://t.co/pPsjsdob4o pic.twitter.com/3sPuT6jyCx
— Stacy Jo Rost (@StacyRost) July 16, 2020
The situation was quickly compared to the recently reported scandal about widespread sexual harassment within the Dallas Mavericks organization:
Initial reaction to the Washington Post piece...Absolutely horrible situation and disgusting. I do think this is more like the Dallas Mavericks story and Mark Cuban situation than Jerry Richardson and the Panthers.
— Alex Gold (@AlexGold) July 16, 2020
While the story itself is alarming and revolting, it’s not entirely surprising either, considering the “leadership” for the Washington franchise:
Are we really shocked that the Dan Snyder story involves numerous women enduring sexual harassment while working for Washington's NFL franchise?
— Adrienne Lawrence, Esq. (@AdrienneLaw) July 16, 2020
The team unapologetically used a racial slur as its name. The fact that it also terrorized women is par for course.
Racism 🤝 Sexism
Between this and the nickname controversy, Mike Freeman wonders how Snyder possibly gets to keep his team after this:
This stuff is far worse than what happened under Jerry Richardson and the Panthers. Far worse. Not even close.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) July 16, 2020
Don't know how Snyder keeps the team.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) July 16, 2020
On the coaching front, at least Ron Rivera is the man in charge who will now be tasked with handling this situation. Hopefully he can indeed help turn around the disgusting and sexist culture in Washington.
Reached out to a current Washington coach about Post article.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) July 16, 2020
“No coach in the NFL is better suited to handle this. Ron went through it with Richardson (in Carolina) and has the impeccable reputation and credentials to turn things around here.”
One has to wonder what the potential consequences will look like for Snyder and the NFL’s Washington team. Only time will tell if public outcry and pressure will finally force him to sell the team, but if the early Twitter reactions are any indication, this story (rightfully) won’t be going away anytime soon.