As the NFL closes in on closing the investigation involving years of alleged and/or actual misconduct within the Washington Football Team, multiple former employees want to be sure that the matter isn’t swept under the rug.
Via the Washington Post, two former employees sent a letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday demanding that the results of the investigation be made public.
The league could try to claim that details won’t be released due to employee privacy reasons. However, as noted by the Post, the former employees explained that investigators told them that the final report would omit names and other identifying information. The letter also explained that any names appearing in the report can be redacted.
“We shared our experiences, often at great emotional cost, taking you at your word that the investigation would be conducted transparently and in good faith, and that the NFL would take appropriate steps in response,” the letter from the former employees states, per the Post. “But there cannot be accountability without transparency.”
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy declined comment on the demand for transparency, and he said that the report has not yet been received from attorney Beth Wilkinson.
The NFL has disclosed information regarding other controversies, from the New Orleans bounty scandal to the Dolphins’ bullying controversy to #Deflategate to the question of whether the NFL had the Ray Race in-elevator video before it was procured by TMZ.com.
NFL franchises, while owned privately (except for the Packers), have become public trusts -- especially in places where the team’s stadium has been funded partially if not fully by taxpayer money. In matters like this, which have great significance to the team, the league, and society at large, it’s impossible to justify handling the allegations and the finds secrecy.