Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said Tuesday he thinks “there’s credit in taking away” Daniel Snyder as owner of the Washington Commanders.
Irsay, who spoke to reporters at the NFL Fall League meeting in New York, is the first owner to publicly state that position. Snyder and the franchise he has owned since 1999 are currently the subject of separate ongoing investigations by the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform and former US attorney Mary Jo White, who is conducting a new review on behalf of the NFL. , regarding allegations of workplace misconduct. .
“You know, it’s a difficult situation. I believe there is merit in removing him as the owner of the [Commanders]”Irsay said on Tuesday. “I think it’s something we need to look at, we need to look at all the evidence and we need to be thorough in the future, but I think it’s something that needs to be seriously took into consideration.”
The removal of an owner requires a vote of three quarters of the owners (24 votes out of 32). Irsay was asked if he thought there would be 24 votes to remove Snyder, who was not present at the meeting, as owner of Washington.
“I think there will potentially be,” Irsay said, “but we’ll see.”
Irsay said there would be no voting on Tuesday and it was “difficult to say” how soon that might happen.
“I don’t know how long it will take,” Irsay said. “We will definitely be thorough and look at everything. It could be at the March meeting – I don’t know – but I know we want to be thorough and look at everything carefully.”
Irsay’s comments come less than a week after ESPN.com published an article detailing Snyder’s alleged efforts to influence other owners and the league office to maintain control of the team. According to ESPN, Snyder told those close to him that he had negative information about other NFL owners and league executives, including commissioner Roger Goodell. The Colts owner told reporters he wasn’t worried if Snyder had any potential negative information about him.
“I don’t know about that,” Irsay said. “I don’t care. You can investigate me until the cows come home – that won’t put me off. Private investigators or whatever, to me, I don’t know “It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t know any of that, I’m just focusing on what happened in Washington and to me that’s very concerning.”
The commanders issued the following statement on Tuesday in response to Irsay’s comments:
“It is highly inappropriate, but not surprising, that Mr. Irsay has chosen to make public statements based on lies in the media. It is unfortunate that Mr. Irsay has decided to go public with his statement today, so that an investigation is ongoing, and the team has not had an opportunity to respond to the allegations. The commanders have done a remarkable process over the past two years. We are confident that when the opportunity to see the actual evidence in this case, Mr. Irsay will conclude that there is no reason the Snyders should consider selling the franchise. And they won’t.”
Snyder also sent a NFL ownership letter Tuesday, specifically denying the allegations made in the ESPN.com article.
“There is an allegation in the ESPN article that I think is important to address immediately. The article cites unnamed sources who said, ‘They were told Snyder had asked his cabinets to ‘lawyers to hire private investigators to investigate other owners’. and Commissioner Goodell. This is patently untrue and intended to erode trust and goodwill between owners which I take very seriously. never hired a private investigator to investigate a landlord or the commissioner. I have never asked or authorized my lawyers to hire any private investigator on my behalf for such purposes. And I never would.
Goodell told reporters on Tuesday that there was no timeline for the completion of White’s investigation. When asked his opinion on Irsay’s comments, Goodell said he told the members that “speculation without facts is not a very positive thing to do.”
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