Chris Cooley has no interest in Commanders ceremony
The Washington Commanders will be celebrating the franchise’s 90th anniversary with at least one less honoree than they’d hoped.
On Sunday, the team is having a ceremony including 10 former players that will be added to its greatest 90 players list. Former Commanders tight end Chris Cooley declined the invitation.
“At this point, I don’t have a lot of desire to be involved with Washington Commanders,” he said on The Kevin Sheehan Show, “I don’t have any interest in doing this.”
He was selected to two Pro Bowls and played in Washington before its rebrand for his entire nine-year NFL career until his retirement after the 2012 season. “I’m very appreciative of being voted in, and I’m very appreciative of my time while I was there,” Cooley said.
While he chose not to further elaborate, there are some clear possible explanations as to why he might prefer to sit this celebration out.
The Commanders’ Controversial Context
Cooley made a point to add that “it’s not the team name that does it,” alluding to the mixed reactions surrounding the Commanders’ 2020 name change.
His comments were part of a longer discussion about Colts owner Jim Irsay’s recent comments regarding Commanders owner Dan Snyder.
Irsay said on Tuesday that Snyder should be removed from Commanders ownership, and he believes that the league’s owners have enough votes to make that happen.
Irsay is the first owner to advocate publicly for Snyder’s removal, a cause that has seemed to gain momentum after a striking ESPN story filled with information about Snyder broke Oct. 13. The report included details of Snyder recently telling an associate he has enough information to “blow up” several NFL owners, the league office and commissioner Roger Goodell.
Snyder currently faces investigations from the NFL as well as a congressional committee for issues surrounding workplace misconduct and sexual harassment.
Financial issues also abound for Washington’s football team. Aside from allegations of Commanders withholding ticket revenue, a Commanders season ticket holder recently received their $14,000 raffle prize from the team two weeks late, only to have the check bounce. The Commanders blamed it on a “bank error” and announced that they wired Shipley his money on Wednesday. Cooley concluded his comments with empathy for fans.
“I feel for all of the fans for where they’re at and I still appreciate the people that are still fans, that are still diehards” he said.
Clearly, even they are not exempt from the dysfunction that seems to ooze from every aspect of the franchise.
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