Brittney Griner to undergo evaluation at military hospital, WNBA future TBD I The Rush
Brittney Griner is expected to land at a San Antonio military hospital to undergo evaluation upon her release from a Russian penal colony, after a prisoner exchange for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout. Russian media captured parts of Griner’s voyage from Russia to the United Arab Emirates, which included the exchange with Bout on the tarmac. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert made a statement on Griner’s release and what the next steps are for the Phoenix Mercury star with regard to her basketball career. In the NFL, Baker Mayfield made his debut for the Rams and led L.A. to a late comeback win over the Raiders while Congress exposed details of Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder’s reported misconduct, ranging from allegations that he wanted to hire a private investigator to look into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and that made the most stereotypical “rich guy villain” move to evade being served a subpoena.
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Your flight back home to the US.
- [INAUDIBLE]
- OK.
- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
- Everything will be fine.
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- After 294 days as a political prisoner in Russian detention, Brittney Griner is headed home. Griner was recently convicted on drug possession after a hashish vape cartridge was found in her luggage at a Russian airport in February. The Biden administration negotiated a prisoner swap surrendering notorious arms dealer, Viktor Bout to Russia in exchange for the Phoenix Mercury star's release from a remote Russian hard labor prison.
Brittney's wife Cherelle was given the good news by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after months of immense public pressure on the administration to bring BG home. Next to Cherelle, nobody was more persistent and outspoken than the WNBA, whose players and staff brought attention to their sister's plight every single day on the court and via the media.
Griner's journey back to US soil was documented in Russia as she boarded a plane to the United Arab Emirates, where upon landing, she and Bout crossed paths on the tarmac, like something out of a spy thriller. Once she lands in the US, Griner is expected to undergo evaluations at an army hospital in San Antonio, and beyond that, we just don't know.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that she's going to give Griner space and let the players take the lead on re-engagement with the league. There's no sports league tighter than the WNBA, so you know this is going to be one hell of a reunion. Welcome home, Brittney. Welcome home.
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The NFL is heating up in more ways than one, like quarterback Baker Mayfield taking the field less than 48 hours after being claimed off waivers by the Rams. And shockingly, he left the Rams to a comeback victory over the Raiders. Didn't have that one on my 2022 bingo card.
- Nobody did.
- The Raiders were in the news even before Thursday night football kicked off. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a 79-page report about shady [BLEEP] Dan Snyder which revealed a lot of things. Like that the Washington Commanders leaked the emails written by Jon Gruden, which led to his ouster as the head coach of the Raiders.
And that's just the tip of a gigantic iceberg of findings which includes Snyder contributing to a toxic workplace rife with sexual misconduct and bull [BLEEP] his way through testifying in front of Congress. Allegedly Snyder offered hush money to keep former employees quiet, hired private investigators to tell witnesses, and he wanted to put a PI on Commissioner Roger Goodell.
My favorite nugget though was Snyder was doing the most stereotypical rich guy villain thing ever. He hid on his yacht to avoid being served a subpoena. Oh. Do you know that there's a Dan Snyder yacht tracker Twitter account, ran by disgruntled commander fan? And I wonder if he knew he was hiding from the law [INAUDIBLE] because you know what? Somebody should still be able to go on water. Right? Somebody on a jet ski should be able to come over and throw the subpoena in like a bottle, and you throw it to Dan Snyder, that way he can't hide. I mean, he probably wouldn't catch it, because he's the leader of the Commanders and they can't win a football game.
