A House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing into the “toxic” work culture at the Washington Commanders football club took a turn when members questioned NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about everything from “wokeness” to “deflategate.”
The testy hearing saw Republicans rebuke committee Democrats for investigating a private company after they said the NFL already held Commanders owner Dan Snyder accountable. The committee called the hearing after an investigation found that the Washington Commanders football team had a long-standing work culture of sexual misconduct and other toxicity.
COMMANDERS OWNER CONDUCTED ‘SHADOW INVESTIGATION’ TO DISCREDIT CLAIMS, HOUSE SAYS
“We have the authority to investigate anything and everything,” Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) told Republicans asking by what authority the committee was investigating the NFL, later clarifying, “The committee has the authority to investigate conduct within Congress’s legislative jurisdiction, and that includes protecting women in the workplace.”
Rep. Byron Donalds tries to put an early end to this.
“You can bang the gavel all you want, but I don’t really care.” pic.twitter.com/MGfDxqlcSS
— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) June 22, 2022
Though GOP members said Congress’s meddling was distasteful, some took the opportunity to air their grievances about NFL management. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) told Goodell that he is “a little bit troubled by your embracement of what I’ll call Left, woke, anti-American propaganda” by the league’s support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which “perpetuated the narrative that America is a racist country.”
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) satirized the hearing by comparing to Watergate the 2015 deflategate scandal that resulted in Tom Brady’s (or as Fallon specified: “the GOAT, Mr. California Cool, the Real Slim Brady, the Master of the Talk, the Lord of the Rings, Tom Terrific”) suspension from the league.
“Last week marked the 50th anniversary of Watergate, which was a scandal that led to a series of felony convictions and the first resignation of the United States president, and it tore the very fabric of American society,” he said. “And a scant seven and a half years ago, another scandal rocked our nation, threatening the very core and foundation of our republic, that being of course deflategate.”
Fallon asked Goodell how the league is ensuring that the footballs (or as he specified: “the piggy skin, the rock, the pill, the handbag, the melon, and the leather”) are properly inflated, with Goodell reassuring him that officials now inspect the balls before each game.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked Goodell why Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is banned from NFL games. Portnoy engaged in a protest outside the NFL headquarters in 2015 following the deflategate scandal that included handcuffing himself to the building and printing towels depicting Goodell’s face with a clown nose. Goodell said he was not familiar with the issue.
Following the hearing, Portnoy released a statement comparing Goodell to Adolf Hitler, Kim Jong Un, and other “despicably evil leaders,” alleging that Goodell must have perjured himself because he must have heard of Portnoy’s exploits.
Team Portnoy Press Release: pic.twitter.com/5DyVDKRIIB
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 22, 2022
Maloney also announced that Snyder would be subpoenaed after he did not appear to testify. Goodell was the only witness, and he said he was surprised Congress is investigating the Commanders because he thought the NFL had “handled the situation in a way that was responsible for a workplace.”
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“We imposed unprecedented discipline on the club, monetary penalties of well over $10 million, and requirements that the club implement a series of recommendations and allow an outside firm to conduct regular reviews of their workforce,” Goodell told the committee. “In addition, for the past year, Daniel Snyder has not attended league or committee meetings, and to the best of my knowledge has not been involved in day-to-day operations at the Commanders’.”
Maloney is introducing legislation following the investigation to combat the abuse of nondisclosure agreements. Her committee started investigating the team last October after Snyder refused to release the results of an internal investigation.
