Dan Snyder says he encouraged NFL to take over Washington Football Team investigation

Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder claims he was behind the NFL’s decision to take over the probe into the Washington Football Team.

The Washington Football Team is a mess, but at least any mishandling of the investigation of the team’s internal culture will now be owned by the NFL.

On Monday, the NFL took over the probe which was launched in light of numerous allegations of sexual harassment against owner Dan Snyder and the organization. Upwards of 40 former employees have come forward with claims of misconduct.

According to Snyder in a statement tweeted by Adam Schefter of ESPN, it was all his idea:

“Recently, the Washington Football Team launched an independent third-party investigation into allegations about our culture and incidents of harassment. In conversations with Commissioner [Roger] Goodell, Tanya and I suggested that the NFL assume full oversight of the investigation so that the results are thorough, complete and trusted by the fans, the players, our employees and the public. I appreciate Commissioner Goodell agreeing to our suggestion and the entire Washington Football Team remains committed to fully cooperating with all aspects of the investigation.”

The NFL will oversee the investigation of the Washington Football Team.

Back in July, Washington hired attorney Beth Wilkinson to look into workplace misconduct allegations. She will now answer to Goodell, which is the least the NFL could have done to ensure above-board conclusions from the probe.

Last week, Goodell released a statement condemning the behavior alleged in the Washington Post’s reporting, but stated that the NFL would “monitor” the investigation while threatening to take it over if employees of the Washington Football Team failed to cooperate.

The lawyers for several former WFT employees who have made allegations responded by calling the NFL’s response inadequate.

“This statement and the action that you are touting simply monitoring the progress of the team’s investigation is too little and too late,” attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz wrote in a letter. “It does not reflect the seriousness of the allegations, which we now know include the production of a highly sexualized and exploitative video that could lead to civil or criminal liability for those responsible.”

It would seem the NFL, and the Snyders, took note of the criticism.

However it happens, the only thing NFL fans can hope for is a fair investigation that gets at the heart of the allegations against Snyder and his organization. If any hint of the claims being made are true, it’s probably time to give Snyder the Donald Sterling treatment.