Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder can be called many things. Litigious is one of them.
If his partners are planning to try to get rid of him, they need to be ready for Snyder to fight back.
How would he do it? Any way he can, possibly. That’s not a criticism. It’s a fact. He has a track record of aggressively utilizing the court system to advance his business and/or personal objectives. He has every right to do it.
If the owners are thinking about trying to exercise their perceived right to force him out, he’ll surely exercise his perceived right to fight back.
The NFL’s Constitution & Bylaws contain a procedure for forcing out an owner due to conduct detrimental to the welfare of the NFL or professional football. The Commissioner has the authority, if he decides that the maximum available fine of $500,000 is not adequate or sufficient, to refer the matter to the NFL’s Executive Committee, which has the power to mandate “cancellation or forfeiture of the franchise in the League of any member club involved or implicated.”
Snyder surely wouldn’t accept any such outcome. He’d undoubtedly fight it every step of the way. He’d have the ability to do that, if he wanted to.
The NFL didn’t have to deal with such ugliness when Panthers owner Jerry Richardson sold the team after an NDA controversy emerged in late 2017, because Richardson willingly walked away. Snyder likely wouldn’t go quietly, or easily.
Beyond the various legal fights that Snyder could wage, what about the things he knows about his partners? Would he go scorched earth when it comes to airing out the league’s dirty laundry?
These are fair considerations. They are reasons for the NFL to treat lightly. To think carefully. To perhaps look for a way to resolve the situation amicably.
It’s believed Snyder is determined to give the team to his children. If so, how about a deal that entails Snyder walking away, his wife taking over, and his kids eventually getting the reins?
That would be far better than a protracted legal battle. It would be far better than Snyder retaliating by creating chaos. And while it may be better for the team’s fans to extricate all Snyder DNA from the Commanders, they may have to settle for Snyder’s wife now and kids later in order to get rid of Snyder himself.