A new report claims that the Las Vegas Raiders’ season-altering drama in 2021 was likely linked to a larger campaign to help Dan Snyder remain the owner of the Washington Commanders.
The Las Vegas Raiders 2021 season was rocked to its foundation after just a few games when it was revealed that then-head coach John Gruden had made many unsavory comments about various personalities inside the league in a slew of emails before his return to the head coaching ranks. It was a shocking moment that led to him resigning from his role and throwing the organization into a difficult position of making a major coaching change in the early stages of the season.
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Gruden’s return to the Las Vegas Raiders was a surprising move in itself after leaving in 2001 and then going on to help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win a Super Bowl the next year. However, Raiders boss Mark Davis had a strong relationship with Gruden that was forged during those previous years. It was a bond that the team boss did not want to see end two years ago.
In a new report from ESPN, Davis reportedly went into conversations with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell planning to fight to keep Gruden. However, the pressure from the league boss was persistent as Goodell consistently told Davis “Something has to be done.” It led Davis to frustratingly acquiesce to the league’s desires but he did so with questions about how and when the email leaks occurred.
Las Vegas Raiders 2021 drama part of NFL commissioner’s attempts to protect Dan Snyder?
The Gruden emails were discovered during investigations into Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder and his regime after allegations of serious workplace misconduct. Following the Las Vegas Raiders drama with Gruden, it was reported in October of last year that the leaks likely came out of the Commanders organization, and on purpose.
The new report from ESPN shed some more light on that situation and it includes links to Goodell, Snyder, and a key figure at Roc Nation. From the perspective of Davis, he reportedly always had a strong belief that Goodell had some part in the leaks as he tried to protect Snyder and his imperiled ownership role.
“It seemed to Davis as if he and the Raiders were collateral damage in what he saw as Goodell’s yearslong effort to protect Dan Snyder, of all owners, at all costs. ‘[Expletive] the NFL,’ Davis later told Gruden. ‘And [expletive] Dan Snyder,'” the ESPN report revealed.
Yet it seems to go even deeper. Following the fallout of Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest during the national anthem, the NFL formed a relationship with Roc Nation to attempt to clean up its reputation with certain football fans. Their CEO, Desiree Perez, became a key force in that campaign and reportedly had a direct line to top executives in league offices. She reportedly also developed close ties to the Washington Commanders owner.
The ESPN report seems to suggest that Snyder, Goodell, and Perez may have been linked to the Las Vegas Raiders drama of 2021 in an attempt two shift the negative narrative surrounding Snyder and the investigations into the organization.
However, those same leaks and the speculation of their source may have put a bullseye on Snyder and led to his eventual downfall in 2022.
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“He was free and clear that October — he just had to wait out his suspension and let everything blow over. A major miscalculation. Without the leaks, he might just have survived,” a source close to Snyder reportedly claimed.
Snyder’s ownership run with the Commanders is set to end at some point this year as a sale to a group led by billionaire Josh Harris gets closer to being finalized.