Say what you will about the Washington Post's editorial/opinion sections, but the Post has been a staple of journalistic integrity in this country for decades. When they have a story you know that they will have reliable sources, the facts will be checked, and the writing will be of the highest quality, but that wasn't enough this time.
Speculation around a "bombshell" article from the Washington Post grew and grew this past week. Verified reporters came out with super vague "I know something you don't know" tweets in reference to a damning article.
There was an air of I can't be the one to say this, all day Thursday. Even on wildly popular shows like the Pat McAfee show, the host who is known for his loud mouth was stunned into silence over a text message he received. Watch this.
We would find out what some of these allegations were on Twitter. The next tweet is from a sports podcast that clearly got a ton of clicks for this tweet.
While the sources are unknown, this tweet was a good representation of all of the rumors that surrounded the Redskins. If the Post had told that story, we as gossip hounds would have never recovered from our gluttonous devouring of the story, but that's not what we got.
Instead the Washington Post put out a solid, well written article with plenty of sources about the toxic workplace for women inside the Redskins organization. It talked about how long time employees were fired or retired the past week without mention because they were some of the worst offenders. It shined a light on the gross underbelly of working for that NFL team.
But it didn't satiate us.
We wanted Jay Gruden boning a cheerleader and snorting cocaine, we wanted Alex Smith's career ending injury to be because of a spat of lust, we wanted Hollywood levels of gross. We were infatuated by the idea. Now that we have the reality, to some it doesn't look that bad. "These awful acts aren't as bad as the ones in my head, so now I'm disappointed," says Twitter.
I applaud the reporters who wrote this story for still releasing it even though the impact was ruined by fake journalists and gossip wannabes. It was ruined by our need for glamour and irrational seedy behavior. I hope that justice is still brought down harshly on Dan Snyder, the staff members who committed the foul acts, and I hope the women who bravely told their story get commended for bravely speaking out in a terrible storm.