Bullying, sexual abuse, lack of respect: the accusations against the Washington football team are many. Yet the franchise decides to honour its former player Sean Taylor on Sunday. This is causing criticism from many fans.

Washington/Munich – Yeah, it sucks. Like, really annoying. The fans of the Washington football team are fed up, to put it in good German.

The headlines about the abuse scandal don’t stop, day after day new details come to light.

And what is the Washington football team doing? The franchise proudly announced earlier this week that they had something to celebrate at Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Washington never wants to give Taylor number again

A ceremony will be held to honour the achievements of former player Sean Taylor. His shirt number 21, the franchise announced, will never be issued again. He is only the third player in team history to receive the honour.

He played for the franchise between 2004 and 2007, considered one of the most talented defensive players in recent memory. His career came to a horrific end then, when he was shot by burglars during a robbery in Miami.

Fans express incomprehension at the timing chosen

Nearly 14 years ago now, the sudden announcement as early as Sunday to finally retire Taylor’s act caused a lot of criticism from many supporters who couldn’t get tickets at such short notice.

And at the same time, the timing also caused incomprehension.

The accusation: the franchise is using the Taylor celebrations to distract from the recent fallout of the sexism scandal.

Emotional apology from team president Wright

Team President Jason Wright already apologized, emotionally proclaiming, “I was the one who wanted us to honour players better and differently. I’m angry and sad that we ruined your opportunity to honour Sean in person this weekend.”

He said he had a “sinking feeling in my stomach because I know we let so many of you down.”

Nevertheless, the tribute is to go ahead as planned.

New details put Washington and the NFL in explanatory trouble

The franchise has been at the centre of serious abuse and bullying allegations for weeks. In the wake of the scandal surrounding ex-Raiders coach Jon Gruden, new details have recently come to light.

Allegedly, lawyers for the franchise had been asked to silence ex-employees with hush money.

Furthermore, it has now become known that NFL lawyer Jeff Pash, who was also responsible for the investigation against the franchise, among other things, maintains a close friendship with Washington’s former general manager Bruce Allen.

The two sent numerous emails back and forth to each other, joking about Latino fans, sharing their frustration with a black NFL lobbyist and downplaying sexual abuse against cheerleaders.

Verbatim, Pash wrote of the latter: “I know you care and wouldn’t tolerate anything inappropriate. “