This is just comical. The Redskins and owner Dan Snyder already had a big problem winning the PR battle while trying to explain the owners' lawsuit against the Washington City Paper. Now, head PR man Tony Wyllie has made it a lot worse.
Speaking at an "Ethics in Sports Media" panel at the University of Maryland, Wyllie said the Redskins are firing a "warning shot" at other members of the media by going through with this lawsuit. Via Dan Steinberg:
"Some people ask, ‘Well, are you firing a warning shot to other members of the media? And I'd probably say ‘yes,'
Wyllie goes on to explain that, despite this, the Redskins aren't trying to be "bullies" and that they aren't making anyone "afraid." Right. And when I go to a fast food joint, I'm not trying to do bad things to my body.
Earlier in the panel, Wyllie apparently compared Snyder's search for the truth to what the Egyptian protesters did. Via Steinberg.
"All we wanted was the truth, the same thing you heard up in Egypt where people were trying to find one thing -- people getting hurt and beat up to find one thing -- the truth," Wyllie said. "And that's what this is all about."
Merill College professor Diana Huffman jumped in to say Wyllie probably doesn't have a very good chance of winning, to which Wyllie responded that they needed to stand up for what is right.
He then asked Washington Post sports editor Matt Vita if the paper would let something like Dave McKenna's piece run, to which Vita responded that he wasn't sure, but that he certainly wouldn't let a lawsuit stop him. USA Today's Christine Brennan then jumped in to say she'd have 100 lawsuits against her if everyone sued when a fact was wrong. Wyllie then closed by saying McKenna was "evil and mean," and everyone moved on.
Looks like bad PR runs with the Redskins no matter who is in charge.