Roger Goodell’s six-page opening statement to the House Oversight Committee leaked

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is in defense mode currently. That's due to the United States government's investigation into the league's actions, or lack thereof, against Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder. The latter is accused of mismanagement of the franchise at multiple levels.

Now, his six-page statement, that he is going to make to the House Oversight Committee later, has been leaked online. The entire statement was tweeted by journalist Adam Schefter on his Twitter page.

In the statement, Goodell addressed the question of how the league handled the different oversights within the Commanders organization:

"It is clear to me that the workplace in Washington was unprofessional and unacceptable in numerous respects: bullying, widespread disrespect toward colleagues, use of demeaning language, public embarrassment, and harassment.

"Moreover, for a prolonged period of time the Commanders had a woefully deficient HR function, particularly with respect to reporting practices and recordkeeping. As a result, we imposed unprecedented discipline on the club, monetary penalties of well over $10 million, and requirements that the club implement a series of recommendations and allow an outside firm to conduct regular reviews of their workplace."

According to the NFL commissioner, the current culture within the Commanders is not the same as that described in prosecution attorney Beth Wilkinson's report.

"In addition, for the past year, Daniel Snyder has not attended League or committee meetings, and to the best of my knowledge, has not been involved in day-to-day operations at the Commanders.

"The cheerleader program has been entirely revamped and is now a co-ed dance team under new leadership. And the most recent independent workplace report, which we have shared with the Committee, confirms that an entirely new, highly skilled, and diverse management team is in place and that there has been a 'substantial transformation of [the team’s] culture, leadership, and Human Resources practices.

"To be clear the workplace at the Commanders today bears no resemblance to the workplace that has been described to this committee."

Roger Goodell shifted the attention to the NFL's growing number of female executives

In his statement, Roger Goodell tried to deflect attention from the issue at hand to tout unrelated stats about the league's hiring practices.

"Integral to our commitment to fostering inclusivity in our workplace is ensuring that we continue to build a diverse NFL, one that affords equitable access to opportunity to all regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or background. And we are proud of the significant progress we are making.

"At the League offices, more than one-third of our employees are women, and that percentage has continued to grow: 56 percent of all new employees hired in 2021 were women. Our clubs have made similar strides as well.

"More than one-third of NFL clubs are also owned in whole or significant part by women and 25 percent of business operations roles are now held by women."

Roger Goodell may finally see one of the league's owners punished to the fullest extent, and it could threaten his own power in the process.