The National Football League will open an investigation into tampering tactics possibly used by the Washington Redskins front office. The NFL is responding to allegations made by the Tennessee Titans that the Redskins tampered with DT Albert Haynesworth before the league mandated free agency period began.
League investigators are interested in obtaining all communications
between Haynesworth’s agent, Chad Speck, and Redskins officials in the
weeks before free agency opened. Part of the difficulty, though, in
determining the subject matter of the contact is that Speck also
represents Redskins wide receiver Malcolm Kelly.Reports emerged during the NFL combine in mid-February in
Indianapolis that Speck and Snyder had dinner together. However, Snyder
often is seen publicly in those kinds of settings with agents. The
Titans, according to a report in the Tennessean, forwarded to the
league office newspaper stories, a radio clip, and electronic
communication that they believe show there was improper contact.
The good news for Redskins fans is the fact tampering charges are extremely difficult to meet, often turning more into a ‘he said and he said’ type of argument. Without solid documentation or recordings, the charges are crap shoot at best.
The bad news is, the threshold of proof the NFL requires is now less.
In the aftermath of Spygate last year, Commissioner Roger Goodell
implemented a set of rules to crack down on cheating. One change
lowered the threshold for the standard of proof needed for him to
discipline a team for any competitive violation, including tampering.
The other bad news is, the Redskins front office, run by Owner Dan Snyder and side kick Vinny Cerrato have a history of having these type of accusations leveled against the franchise. You don’t often hear of teams accusing other teams of tampering year in and year out, but usually when it does occur, you can bet the Redskins are the party being accussed.
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