Yahoo Sports Dan Snyder releases final statement after Commanders sale to Josh Harris
Friday was a happy day for the Washington Commanders, as the team introduced new majority owner Josh Harris following the $6.05 billion sale that ended Dan Snyder's tenure in the NFL.
Snyder didn't leave completely in silence, as he and his wife Tanya released one final statement congratulating Harris and his co-owners and thanking all involved in their two-plus decades of ownership. They said they would spend their newly free time with family and focusing on causes such as breast cancer research:
We congratulate the Harris Ownership Group on yesterday's unanimous League approval of their purchase of the Washington Commanders. We are proud to have built the most diverse leadership group of any NFL Team, including having the highest representation of women, underrepresented groups, and the first full time black female coach in League history.
We are immensely grateful to the best fans in football, the Commanders' faithful, for the passion and unwavering support they have shown for this team and those who represented it on and off the field. From the players who battled every week for that extra inch, to those who worked behind the scenes to enhance every facet of the organization, we thank you for your hard work, dedication and commitment to our team, fans, pursuit of excellence and most importantly, to each other.
Being stewards of this historic organization for the last quarter century has been the privilege of a lifetime. When we purchased the team nearly 25 years ago, Dan was quoted as saying "I'm a fan. A huge fan. It's that simple." That is as true today as it was then. During our next chapter, we are looking forward to spending time with family and devoting our energy to the causes that matter very much to us, including furthering our long-standing support of breast cancer research.
Obviously, that statement left plenty out, as few people would actually look at Snyder's Commanders ownership with anything resembling pride.
It doesn't acknowledge the devastating Mary Jo White report or the NFL-record $60 million fine that accompanied it, which was announced the same day the NFL's owners unanimously ratified Harris. In no uncertain terms, that report asserted Snyder had sexually harassed former Commanders employee Tiffani Johnston and, at one point, attempted to physically force her into a limousine.
The report also said it had confirmed the allegations that Snyder's team deliberately concealed at least $11 million from the NFL so it wouldn't be subject to revenue sharing (with as much as $44.49 million hidden elsewhere) and improperly withheld security deposits from the fans his statement thanked.
Of course, the White report and the topics it covered were only the final act of what might go down as the worst tenure of a sports owner in American history. Snyder's greed, incompetence and outright viciousness permeated throughout an organization that saw little success on the field, with legions of fans abandoning what had once been the most valuable team in the NFL.
The Commanders are no longer Snyder's problem and Snyder is no longer anyone's problem. It's not a surprise Snyder didn't bother pushing back with his final statement, because there is nothing left to say.
