Inexplicably, the same league that recently said the Washington Commanders should not be allowed to investigate themselves has no qualms about the fact that the Dallas Cowboys investigated themselves regarding the voyeurism allegations from 2015. Even more inexplicably (or less explicably, I suppose), the NFL apparently will get away with this deliberate failure to care about a significant incident of alleged misconduct.
I say “alleged” because the team’s investigation found no wrongdoing. Even though the team paid $2.4 million to resolve the allegations.
That disconnect is all the more reason for the league to investigate. Voyeurism, under Texas law, is a Class C misdemeanor. While the penalty is only a fine of up to $500, it’s still a crime. And it’s obviously a potential basis for civil litigation, as evidenced by the settlement.
The Cowboys found enough to justify paying $2.4 million. Although the broader facts and circumstances suggest that the payment was motivated by keeping the allegation that former Cowboys P.R. executive Rich Dalrymple (who allegedly recorded cheerleaders while changing) allegedly took “upskirt” photos of Cowboys executive (and daughter of Jerry Jones) Charlotte Jones Anderson during the 2015 draft, the team denied to ESPN.com that the affidavit from the fan who claims to have seen Dalrymple engage in that specific activity via a livestream from the team’s draft room sparked the settlement, in an effort to keep it all quiet.
It’s unclear how ESPN.com got its hands on the paperwork regarding the payment. The article contends that a former team executive provided the original tip. Ultimately, someone who was supposed to keep the information secret violated the terms of the document -- and the secret is now out.
For that reason, the Cowboys should release the confidentiality provision of the settlement documents, allowing the cheerleaders to tell their stories publicly, if they so choose.
They quite possibly will. As an unnamed source said of the four victims of the alleged voyeurism: “They are still extremely upset. They saw it as a violation of their privacy that went unpunished.”
It’s more than that. It’s a violation of their privacy that went unexplored. Did Dalrymple do it? If so, was he acting alone or at someone’s direction or behest?
The circumstances cry out for more. Either the league can do the right thing and investigate, or the Cowboys can do the right thing and make it easier for the media to investigate by wiping out the NDAs.
And if anyone wants to claim that this is a private business matter that should not be subject to public scrutiny, here’s what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told Bob Costas about Congressional scrutiny of the Washington Commanders, an organization whose long list of actual and/or alleged misconduct included the contention that outtakes from the preparation of a cheerleader video were collected for viewing by owner Daniel Snyder and other executives: “We go out of our way to ask people to look at the NFL. Quit looking away, look at the NFL. We want you to enjoy the nuances of the game. As a matter of fact, on a personal basis, the more transparent, the more you’re behind the scenes, the more you’re involved, to me the more you enjoy the game. I think when we ask the country to be as interested in pro football as you are, then you should expect those kinds of questions. And certainly social issues are a huge part of our lives today.”
There’s the engraved invitation for the NFL to investigate what happened. For Congress to investigate what happened. And for the Cowboys to invalidate the legal document that prevents the kind of questions Jones expects from being answered, especially since (as Jones said) “social issues are a huge part of our lives today.”
So, again, we call on the Cowboys to release the cheerleaders, Dalrymple, and anyone else from the terms of the non-disclosure agreements. And since the Cowboys won’t listen to us, we call on others with far more sway in these matters to make the same call.
