Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts came dangerously close to a serious leg injury on Sunday when a railing gave way, spilling fans into the tunnel at FedEx Field. On Tuesday, Hurts sent a letter to the Washington Football Team and the league regarding the situation.
The letter refers to the “dangerous situation” that was created by the collapse of the railing.
“I understand the severity of what happened and am extremely concerned for the well-being of fans and media,” Hurts wrote. “As a result, I would like to know what safeguards the NFL and the Washington Football Team are implementing to prevent this from ever occurring in the future.”
The NFL has said that it’s investigating the situation. Based on the manner in which the NFL investigated years of alleged workplace misconduct within the Washington Football Team, it would make sense to not have high expectations regarding any eventual transparency or clarity.
That’s unfortunate. It was a shameful display of disregard for the safety of paying customers and participants in games. And it’s the latest example of the dysfunction that flows from the top of the WFT organization.
I said it during PFT Live and #PFTPM, and I’ll say it again. Daniel Snyder must go. He’s a toxic presence, the personification of conduct detrimental to the National Football League. The league gains nothing from keeping him around. Their toleration of his various misdeeds constitutes complicity, or at least complacency.
What do they gain by keeping him around? What would they gain by pushing him out?
He needs to go. If Hurts had suffered a season-ending injury or if any of those fans hand endured a significant consequence (including loss of life) from tumbling through the railing and to the ground, the outcry to get rid of Snyder would have been immediate, and intense.
Why should he benefit from the fact that he got lucky? He owns the stadium. This is on him. It’s the latest reason why Snyder must go.
Meanwhile, when will FedEx Field ask to have its name removed from the stadium? How is having the corporate name attached to the worst stadium in the NFL (if not in all of American professional sports) helping the corporate cause?
FedEx signed a 27-year, $205 million naming-rights deal for the venue in 1999. At this point, it would make sense to tell Snyder to keep the money and lose the name.
Before doing that, FedEx and every other league sponsor should lobby the NFL to lose Snyder. The game would be much better off without him.