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The same day the Raiders officially hired a new president, team owner Mark Davis addressed the deepest issues that have led to an organizational upheaval. Davis, in comments to Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, first discussed the allegations of dysfunction and hostility in the workplace that have emerged in recent weeks.
“The culture of this organization is very important to me,” Davis told Akers. “From the articles that came out, not only in the New York Times, but in the [Review-Journal] . . . I take them very seriously. So we did some research on all of these things and we listened to the people who work in the organization and I think we started making the necessary changes to get the culture back to where we believe we can all be positive. ”
The fact that the Raiders have done their own investigation will evoke memories of Commissioner Roger Goodell’s February explanation that a team (in this case, the commanders) cannot be investigated. The role of the league, if any, in this process remains unknown.
Efforts have culminated in the hiring of Sandra Douglass Morgan to become the team’s new president. The Raiders have also hired Heather DeSanto to be the team’s new human resources vice president.
“[Morgan] he understands that people come first and that’s the kind of culture we’re going to build, ”Davis said.“ He wants to meet all the members of the organization, one by one, to get to know them and get their feedback. and start rebuilding that family culture. “
One of the team’s strongest critics, HR ex Nicole Adams, celebrates the change, if anything other than the showcase.
“I think it’s a wonderful step [Davis] he’s trying to improve the team’s image, but hiring the first black president doesn’t necessarily mean things will change, ”Adams told Akers by text message.“ I just hope the new president is the person who will really improve the team culture, not just a bow figure set up to take the heat out of them. “
Davis obviously believes that staff changes will lead to changes in culture.
“We started to be more corporate in the organization where a title was more important than the person holding the title,” Davis told Akers. “It got to the point where people could be replaceable. ‘We can get there [a senior vice president] that’s why anywhere. ‘ This has never been what the Raiders organization has been. It has always been about people and family first. . . . We were never able to start the Las Vegas Raiders with a culture that had momentum. “
That momentum must begin now. And while it will be great if things change for the better, the question becomes what exactly happened in the past and whether there will be any real responsibility for it.
This is the only thread that shares the Raiders ’situation with past problems in Washington. Things are changing, hopefully for the better. But it’s not like applying a new coat of paint to an old wall. The imperfections of the past must be well understood, and the team and the league must make sure that those responsible for the misconduct achieve something more that they will not do again.
Hopefully, the Raiders will appreciate it. Hopefully, they won’t adopt the same outrage that has emanated from the commanders over the past few weeks, with the property attacking those who still have unanswered questions about what really happened and what will be done about it.