The Washington Commanders
According to a congressional committee document released Friday morning, the NFL is unable to publicly release its findings in the league’s investigation into the Washington Commanders without the permission of team owner, Dan Snyder.
As a refresher, the Commanders are being investigated for a toxic work environment that has spanned decades. On Thursday, five women came before Congress to detail allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Tiffani Johnston, who was a marketing and events coordinator for Washington, said that Snyder touched her without consent at a work dinner. Snyder has denied the allegations.
Doug Pederson to the Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence has a new head coach, as the Jacksonville Jaguars have hired Doug Pederson to right their sinking ship. I’m not sure the metaphors work with jaguars and ships, but let’s go with it.
Pederson led the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl victory in 2017 and made three playoff appearances from 2016-2020. Overall, he was 42-37-1. Pederson first interviewed with Jacksonville on Dec. 30 and was brought in for a second interview this week. Apparently, it went well.
The Jaguars have been in the market for a new coach since firing Urban Meyer in December.
Vegas, Baby
The NFL Pro Bowl will take place on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium Las Vegas at 3 pm ET/noon PT on ABC/ESPN. The NFL draft will take place in Vegas in April and Super Bowl LVIII in two years. In other words, what happens in Vegas will now be broadcast all over the world.
Justin Herbert was named the starting quarterback for the AFC, while Aaron Rodgers was named the NFC starter. Rodgers is not participating due to injury and his roster spot was replaced by Kirk Cousins.
Brian Flores
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit this week against the NFL, the Dolphins, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos. The suit alleges racial discrimination in the league’s hiring practices of coaches.
Flores was recently fired by the Dolphins after three seasons, with the final two being winning seasons. The suit also says that Dolphins’ owner Steve Ross tried to incentivize Flores to tank in order to receive a higher draft pick. Former Browns’ coach Hue Jackson said this week that he dealt with a similar issue in Cleveland.
The suit looks to institute a class-action on behalf of over 40 Black coaches, GMs and other candidates. The league and the three teams have all denied the claims. The NFL consists of 32 teams. There is one Black head coach. There were nine head coaching vacancies. Six have been filled by white coaches. Three openings left.
MLB Lockout
Major League Baseball locked out the players on Dec. 2 and little progress at a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) has been made since, with the two sides meeting four times. On Friday, the MLBPA rejected the league’s request for a mediator to negotiate between the two sides.
By the looks of things, spring training will most likely not start on time, while a March 31 Opening Day is also in jeopardy if they’re unable to come to an agreement by the end of the month.
We don’t need mediation because what we are offering to MLB is fair for both sides:
— Max Scherzer (@Max_Scherzer) February 4, 2022
We want a system where threshold and penalties don’t function as caps, allows younger players to realize more of their market value, makes service time manipulation a thing of the past, and eliminate tanking as a winning strategy.
— Max Scherzer (@Max_Scherzer) February 4, 2022
