For most NFL teams, the controlling owner provides the public face and voice for the franchise, and the limited partners stay out of the spotlight.
In Washington, that might not be the case.
Josh Harris is the new owner of the Commanders. He has a group of limited partners that includes Magic Johnson. But it was Johnson, not Harris, who sat down with Craig Melvin for an interview that will debut Friday morning on Today.
On Thursday’s NBC Nightly News, a clip of the interview was played. Johnson was asked how the franchise will move beyond its past toxic culture.
“Well, first of all, you have to let the employees know that you respect them, and it will be a safe place to work,” Johnson said. “And we want you to have a winning attitude, too. See, the owners just can’t have a winning attitude. It’s got to trickle down to the employees. And then it’s got to trickle down to the coaches. And trickle down to the players.”
Johnson has acquired a reputation for comically stating the obvious on Twitter. His response to Melvin was as obvious as anything Magic has ever tweeted.
The less obvious question is whether Johnson, who holds only four percent of the team, will try to have more than four percent of the public and/or private influence over the franchise — and whether he will be spending more than four percent of his own time in active management of the team.
Related and perhaps more important is whether his partners, starting with Harris, have any qualms with Magic Johnson acting as if he owns a lot more than four percent of the team.
