Washington Commanders president Jason Wright will get the opportunity to prove himself following the sale of the team. According to Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Maske of The Washington Post, Wright will be retained and given a chance to earn a continued role under the new ownership led by Josh Harris.
The Commanders hired Wright in 2020. He became the first Black team president in NFL history. His tenure in Washington has occurred under distress. His hiring came shortly after the team committed to a name change from his previous nickname that was deemed as disparaging and racist to Indigenous people.
Wright also has endured the aftermath of several sexual harassments, and workplace misconduct allegations against the Commanders organization that predated his hire. Wright has had to navigate through the negative publicity that included outgoing owner Daniel Snyder.
However, Wright’s time in Washington hasn’t been without some blame. He was at the forefront of the heavily-criticized Sean Taylor jersey retirement in 2021 and the underwhelming Sean Taylor memorial at FedEx Field in 2022. There was also the bounced check for a raffle winner.
The biggest black eye for Wright is that he gets blamed for the unpopular name choice for the “Commanders.”
Still, Wright gets a pass from pundits and fans because of the burden of running a football franchise under Snyder. That reason is why Wright will get a chance to distance himself from the dark cloud of the Commanders.
The sale of the Commanders from Snyder to Harris could be ratified as early as July 20. According to the Post, Haris’ group understands the Commanders are not a “one-year fix.”
The length Harris would be committed to Wright as team president is unclear. Nonetheless, Wright must get the ball rolling to show his value to the incoming ownership and distance himself from being associated with Snyder.
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