Headlines were made yesterday when the Raiders released a statement from owner Mark Davis that team president Dan Ventrelle was “no longer with the Raiders organization.” Ventrelle had been promoted from executive vice president and interim president, after the resignation of Marc Badain, following the conclusion of the 2021 NFL season.
In an article from The Athletic, we learned that Ventrelle alleged he had been fired in retaliation for telling the NFL about concerns over a hostile workplace environment. Ventrelle’s statement was as follows:
“I have committed almost 18 years of my life to the success of the Raiders as General Counsel and President. I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why multiple written complaints from employees that (Davis) created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct caused me grave concern.
“When Mark was confronted about these issues, he was dismissive and did not demonstrate the warranted level of concern. Given this, I informed the NFL of these issues of Mark’s unacceptable response. Soon thereafter, I was fired in retaliation for raising these concerns.”
Here are a few more notes from around the NFL, starting with another note from Sin City:
- Despite the loss of the team president, Las Vegas has been busy filling out their front office staff. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer tweeted out that Las Vegas was working towards bringing in Patriots national scout Brandon Yeargan to replace Jim Abrams as the team’s new college scouting director. Also, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported the addition of Dolphins college scout Lenny McGill to serve as the new Raiders west coast national scout. Yeargan follows new Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler and new head coach Josh McDaniels from New England after making the leap to the NFL back in 2013. McGill has spent 21 years scouting in the NFL for the Packers, Broncos, and Dolphins. He’ll add the Raiders to his list.
- The Patriots are looking to restock their losses with the addition of Buccaneers area scout Tony Kinkela, according to Neil Stratton of Inside the League. Kinkela made the move to the NFL after working with Tulane and Washington State at the college level. He’s spent 13 years in Tampa Bay’s front office, earning a Super Bowl ring during his tenure. Kinkela will be headed towards a more senior role in New England.
- New Giants general manager Joe Schoen is changing things up in an effort to make the front office his own, according to tweets from Jordan Raanan of ESPN and Dan Duggan of The Athletic, with credit to Stratton from above. Following the 2022 NFL Draft, the Giants have announced that four high level staff members will not be returning: director of college scouting Chris Pettit, senior personnel executive Kyle O’Brien, senior pro scouting executive Ken Sternfeld, and senior pro scout/football systems analyst Matt Schauger. Pettit, Sternfeld, and Schauger are all long-time New York employees. Pettit has been with the team since 2004, Sternfeld since 2002, and Schauger since 2005. O’Brien had joined the team for the 2021 season. One move, first reported by Stratton, that will address the departures is the addition of Bears area scout Scott Hamel, who is expected to play a role similar to what O’Brien had held, according to Art Stapleton of USA Today.
- New Bears general manager Ryan Poles is making adjustments to his staff, as well. According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, director of college scouting Mark Sadowski will not return. Sadowski has been with the Bears since 2005. Not everyone from the existing staff will be headed out, though, as former-director of pro scouting Jeff King has been promoted to co-director of player personnel, a role he’ll share with Trey Koziol. King started with the Bears as a scouting intern in 2015, rising quickly through the ranks in the past seven years. He was instrumental in many of the Bears’ 13 unrestricted free agents signings from other teams this offseason. Koziol broke into the NFL as an intern with the Titans in 2008. He spent the last nine years in Kansas City, starting as an area scout before working up to assistant director of college scouting this past season. It’s a smart move from Poles to have two co-directors of player personnel: one, King, specialized in pro scouting and one, Koziol, specialized in college scouting.
The hypocrisy of the NFL becomes blatantly clear when players are punished for unacceptable behavior while absolutely nothing meaningful is done when owners like Kraft, Snyder or Davis are guilty of gross misconduct.
Kraft got a little rub and tug at the massage parlor after his wife died. Get over yourself. Snyder is an absolute piece of trash. He has had to give up control of all football operations, and I hope more is to come. He should not own an NFL franchise. Davis at this point is one persons words. Nothing has came out on said accusations… time will tell.
Lmao people can have different opinions than you, skoldad. Sounds like YOU are the one who needs to get over yourself, given you think your opinion is more meaningful than his.
P.S. He’s right and you’re wrong.
P.S. No
No your wrong. Shut the F up!
Kraft broke the law no doubt about it. What is worse he did it in a massage parlor. He can afford an expensive escort and be safe. Have another person make the call if he wants.
You blame it on his wife.dying how many years ago was that? How long does he get a pass for that? He had a girlfriend too.
Davis hostile work place could be his face haircut or both. We don’t know until it comes out. I am not a Davis fan even going back to his dad. We need to wait until it comes out.
It’s hard to not believe the worst about a guy with Mark Davis’s haircut.
First this is political and is out of bounds. I don’t believe any Federal Politicians go in broke and come out rich. They get insider info for stocks they get kick backs from everyone almost. Dem Rep or Ind. No group is innocent.