There are certain things in life to which humans look forward. Christmas morning. Quitting time. The Super Bowl.
Responding to a request from Congress to participate in a contentious hearing regarding information that could force a sale of an NFL franchise should not be on that list.
Nevertheless, the statement issued by the Washington Commanders in response to the invitation from the House Oversight Committee to owner Daniel Snyder for testimony at a hearing on June 22 uses the term “look forward.”
“The Commanders have assisted the NFL in cooperating with all prior requests from the House Oversight and Reform Committee,” the team said. “We look forward to responding directly to the Committee’s invitation in a timely manner.”
Like the statement from the NFL in response to a request for testimony from Commission Roger Goodell, the statement from the team points to past cooperation with the Committee. The Committee would take the position, however, that the league and the team have not fully cooperated. Even if they have, what’s the purpose of making the point of past cooperation? What matters is whether they’ll cooperate going forward.
Really, the comment has relevance in this context only if the team or the league are considering not cooperating with the latest request and hoping that any equity from the past perception/reality of cooperation will cause fans and media to look the other way. Hopefully, all fans and media outlets won’t fall for that.
Eleven months ago today, the team and the league managed to avoid any and all transparency regarding the investigation conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson. The time for true transparency arrives in three weeks.