Sports Illustrated recently dropped this longform article which I've been marveling at for a couple days, and I thought it was worthy of its own thread instead of being tucked into N/V to receive a couple comments before the latest slapfight takes over the thread. https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/12/10/ex-chaplain-jack-easterby-houston-texans-chaos-after-power-struggle-daily-cover We've known for a while that Easterby somehow worked his way up from "Patriots chaplain" to "Texas front office insider" but this is the first deep dive I've seen into how exactly that happened. It starts out mundane, even boring, at first but gets deeply weird as the story continues digging. Some excerpts from the article, which I strongly recommend everyone read in full: quote:Easterby was well-liked, even loved, by most at South Carolina. There he earned the ear of Eric Hyman, the Gamecocks’ athletic director from 2005 to ’12. Hyman echoes Odom, saying Easterby was years ahead of the now-pervasive trend toward holistic care and mental health for athletes, acting as an all-around problem-solver. “He was sort of like an ombudsman,” Hyman says. But the unprecedented character coach role sometimes put Easterby’s short-term responsibilities and long-term goals in conflict. He was expected to serve the role of a selfless team chaplain, but he was also a young assistant who understood what he had to do to get ahead: Altruism and ambition don’t always sync. One lower-level athletic department staffer during Easterby’s time at South Carolina put it this way: “When it was just us, he’d want to know how you were doing and wanted to help you in any way he could.” But if an important coach or player walked into the room, “it was like, all of the sudden, you didn’t exist.” quote:Easterby was returning to New England two months after he was hired by the Texans, joining his colleagues turned rivals on the sprawling backyard lawn set up for the outdoor reception hosted by Kraft. Sometime after the cocktail hour started and before drivers took guests home, Easterby was seen huddled with Caserio, New England’s top personnel executive, long enough to draw attention. Fewer than 24 hours later, back in Houston, Gaine was abruptly fired; the Texans then requested an interview with Caserio. (Gaine declined to comment to SI.). A few days following the dismissal, news broke that the Patriots were filing tampering charges against the Texans for the improper pursuit of Caserio. quote:The Texans, ultimately, did not hire a GM; instead, both O’Brien and Easterby took on more responsibilities—and gained more power. Some of Easterby’s work during his first season fell under his team development title. Austin Exford, a defensive back from Appalachian State who signed with the Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2019, describes Easterby as a positive, guiding force who helped the team’s rookies transition to the professional ranks. “He took a personal responsibility to make sure that these are the best rookies in the NFL,” says Exford, who was released from the practice squad in October 2019. Easterby held weekly meetings with the rookies, Exford says, leading exercises in which he’d ask each player to evaluate the personal circle in his life or discuss how he’d handle off-the-field situations involving players who were in the news. After that latest quote block, and particularly the bolded parts, I'm going to reach back to the very beginning of the article for this: quote:General manager Brian Gaine was Robb Stark, the intended future King of the North, who was murdered by the end of Season 3. (Gaine would be fired after only 17 months as GM.) Coach Bill O’Brien was compared to King Joffrey Baratheon, a hot-headed ruler prone to screaming and chopping off heads, only to be poisoned in Season 4. (O’Brien would be fired in October of this year.) It turns out Easterby was also involved in the Jovan Belcher incident, after-the-fact: quote:Easterby bolstered his value to the Chiefs under unthinkable circumstances. In December 2012, Jovan Belcher, a 25-year-old linebacker, killed the mother of his infant child, drove to team headquarters and shot himself in front of Pioli, coach Romeo Crennel and assistant Gary Gibbs. In the aftermath, lines formed outside the conference room where Easterby met with players and coaches. Pioli, Crennel and Gibbs in particular spent hours with him. Executives began to pay for his weekly flights into town. “I know,” Cassel says, “that he had a lot to do with starting the healing process.” In light of that, it's interesting that Romeo Crennel is now interim HC of the Texans. Easterby continues to be involved in a surprising amount of the NFL's recent character dramas: quote:As had happened in Kansas City, the Patriots would need Easterby. When tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested and charged with murder in June of Easterby’s first year, a new team turned to its character coach for guidance. When New England traded for Josh Gordon, an All-Pro talent with a long history of drug and addiction issues, Easterby was more than an influence—he became more like a minder, the person who checked in with Gordon every morning, making sure the wideout made it to work and went to meetings. When the Patriots won Super Bowls in the 2014, ’16 and ’18 seasons, the character coach basked in some of the credit. quote:O’Brien, who assumed the GM title nine months before being fired, took the brunt of the backlash for Hopkins’s unpopular trade, which has proved to be lopsided. While O’Brien negotiated the terms—the consensus was that the coach wanted to trade Hopkins as well—the same sources who recounted Easterby’s perceived coldness to Hopkins say it went further: They describe Easterby as the first, and most persistent, advocate for the team’s trading the receiver out of Houston. One of these people recalls hearing Easterby saying about Hopkins in front of small groups of people on multiple occasions in 2019, “We need to move on from that person,” without using his name. Another recalls learning that the Texans discussed trading Hopkins as early as the summer of 2019. quote:Easterby also began occasionally addressing the team on the nights preceding games, turning the meeting room into his pulpit. But some of his efforts to relate to the majority-Black roster occasionally failed him; in some cases he even caused offense. During one Saturday-night meeting in 2019, Easterby, who is white and cites Martin Luther King Jr. as a role model, asked players to think back to when they were growing up “playing ball with Ray-Ray and Ki-Ki and them,” according to three people in the room for these meetings. Some saw the language as more of a misguided attempt to fit in—players often called Easterby a “try-hard.” But at least one person was bothered enough by what they saw as a use of Black stereotypes that they debated saying something to Easterby. (They decided not to take on that conversation with a game the next day.) A few weeks later, one of the sources says, Easterby used similar language again. That last part about the player suspected he was being followed, after the excerpt about Easterby being involved in the counseling for the Belcher murder-suicide, makes me recall another bombshell story from some years ago, about how Scott Pioli had turned the Chiefs organization into a deeply paranoid and suspicious workplace. Anyone remember the asides about Todd Haley insisting his cell phone was bugged and how the staff would close all the blinds because they were convinced they were being observed? More recent drama, Easterby-involved! quote:Even in an industry known for high turnover, many of the changes made during Easterby’s tenure sent shockwaves through the organization. J.J. Moses, a well-liked former player serving as the team’s player engagement director, was dismissed after the 2019 season, along with several other staff members. Amy Palcic, who led an award-winning p.r. staff, was fired midseason for not being a “culture fit”; the move raised more questions than answers about the kind of culture the team was trying to build. (Both Moses and Palcic declined to comment. As part of a statement provided to SI by a team spokesperson on McNair’s behalf, the owner said, “I am the one that made the decision to part ways with our GM and head coach. … I will not get into specifics about any decisions made regarding former employees of the Texans other than to say that I was aware of and approved every decision, and I hold the responsibility and accountability for each one.”) quote:Just like Gaine had been isolated and fired, just like Hopkins had been traded, just like the roster had been made over, another domino would fall. Nine months removed from a close playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs, as the Texans worked their way to an 0–4 start, one player was approached by Easterby. The executive had foreshadowed a coaching change, the player told a person close to him, and asked for the player’s support when it happened. The day after a loss to the Vikings, Easterby wandered aimlessly around the office in a way that struck others as unusual, while telling colleagues that he had spoken to McNair after the defeat. Several hours later, O’Brien was fired (O’Brien, through his agent, declined multiple requests for comment). quote:Last November, the Texans boarded their team charter for a 10-hour trip home after a game against the Jaguars in London. Mid-flight, several players gathered around a table in the galley area, playing cards and sharing laughs after their sixth win of the season. Nearby, Easterby knelt in an aisle, speaking in a low voice to McNair. The volume of the card game grew, and Easterby took his stand. He rose and made a move toward the galley, shushing the players, demanding quiet—imploring them that Mr. McNair needs his sleep. Then he returned to his post, by the owner’s side, the one voice in his ear. Anyway I'll end this with another Houston Texans-related story that dropped a couple days prior to this SI article, plus a few goon comments: https://twitter.com/McClain_on_NFL/status/1336319114730762241 Impossibly Perfect Sphere posted:I'm sure you'll end up with someone who has great Christian morals and is a real Leader of Men™. wyoak posted:they've been getting heat for Easterby being too powerful and basically a BoB who out-BoB'd the actual BoB, it's probably a way to deflect some of that heat while letting Easterby consolidate more power behind the scenes Impossibly Perfect Sphere posted:Tony Dungy is literally going to make sure this dude is an Evangelical Christian. That will be his contribution. Ehud posted:Tony Dungy was on the Miami Dolphins bullygate task force committee and we haven't had a single bullying issue since! Parallelwoody posted:I always thought he had strong "I'm in a cult" energy.
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# ? Dec 12, 2020 18:34 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 13:11 |
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I think this was a fascinating story, and not least because faith plays such a big role in it. I have a hard time imagining a similar scenario in any major European sports league, even in the more religious countries. Crossing yourself after scoring is plenty, thank you very much.
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# ? Dec 12, 2020 18:51 |
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the relationship between using religion as a front for worm activities has never been clearer
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# ? Dec 12, 2020 19:00 |
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This guy has either managed to Forrest Gump his way through every recent NFL scandal or he framed Aaron Hernandez, drove Jovan Belcher to murder suicide, and was Josh Gordon’s drug supplier.
YOLOsubmarine fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Dec 12, 2020 |
# ? Dec 12, 2020 19:55 |
There's an interesting B plot here with the Patriots harboring a bunch of charlatans under apparently Belichick's approval (Guerrero and Easterby). I didn't include an excerpt but the article goes into some detail about how Easterby became Belichick's confidant.
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# ? Dec 12, 2020 22:48 |
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Been a while since I had a good long read, thanks for sharing this. I'm curious as to whether he'll be at the Bears game tomorrow and whether he'd try to get a foot in the door with the McCaskey/Phillips duo.
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# ? Dec 13, 2020 03:57 |
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TITTIEKISSER69 posted:Been a while since I had a good long read, thanks for sharing this. I'm curious as to whether he'll be at the Bears game tomorrow and whether he'd try to get a foot in the door with the McCaskey/Phillips duo. Ugh, had a thought about this - he'd probably try to endear himself to McNair by connecting with Allen Robinson.
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# ? Dec 13, 2020 07:25 |
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SKULL.GIF posted:There's an interesting B plot here with the Patriots harboring a bunch of charlatans under apparently Belichick's approval (Guerrero and Easterby). I didn't include an excerpt but the article goes into some detail about how Easterby became Belichick's confidant. Bellichick didn't like Guerrero much and was part of the reason Brady and him grew to have a frosty relationship. Remember there was a big hubub about Bill banning him from certain things a few years back and Brady getting his panties in a knot. Also since he left and started taking over in Houston no one either covering or involved with the team has had anything good to say about Easterby that I can recall either. No one has outright trashed him unsolicited but whenever it's been brought up they are like yeah this guy is a clown I don't understand what they are doing down there and how he's managed to do this
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# ? Dec 13, 2020 16:19 |
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I'm glad my football team is run by competent people and not idiots who took the "hire anyone belichick likes" to its dumbest possible conclusion boy that would be embarrassing if that happened
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# ? Dec 13, 2020 18:11 |
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quote:Last November, the Texans boarded their team charter for a 10-hour trip home after a game against the Jaguars in London. Mid-flight, several players gathered around a table in the galley area, playing cards and sharing laughs after their sixth win of the season. Nearby, Easterby knelt in an aisle, speaking in a low voice to McNair. The volume of the card game grew, and Easterby took his stand. He rose and made a move toward the galley, shushing the players, demanding quiet—imploring them that Mr. McNair needs his sleep. Then he returned to his post, by the owner’s side, the one voice in his ear. Found a photo of this event
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# ? Dec 13, 2020 22:34 |
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At least my Lions have top tier incompetence rather than the blatent manipulation and whatever the gently caress this is. With Caserio and Dungy in the same room the level of cult eyes energy could power most of Texas. No idea what easterby looks like and now I'm a bit hesitant to gaze upon that visage.
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 07:50 |
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 08:11 |
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Parallelwoody posted:At least my Lions have top tier incompetence rather than the blatent manipulation and whatever the gently caress this is. With Caserio and Dungy in the same room the level of cult eyes energy could power most of Texas. No idea what easterby looks like and now I'm a bit hesitant to gaze upon that visage.
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 08:16 |
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The near perfect symmetry is a bit scary. Uncanny Aryan Valley.
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 08:42 |
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gently caress I looked up easterby. It's crazy eyed cultists all the way down out there. I would absolutely get the gently caress out of texas before they bring in mandatory koolaid and lock the doors.
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 15:14 |
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 15:45 |
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Man looks like he's about to try to sell you on an MLM but if you get in a room with him he eats you.
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 16:04 |
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That's a muppet
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 16:31 |
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General Dog posted:That's a muppet I’d trust Beaker more as a GM.
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# ? Jan 6, 2021 16:33 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7xCR7ZLiws&t=90s Ee-Ee-Easterby Favorite of the Texans king He had rivals but he made them gone Ee-Ee-Easterby Houston sports sadness machine It is a shame how he carries on dirty shrimp money fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Jan 7, 2021 |
# ? Jan 6, 2021 17:59 |
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This was an excellent read. It reads as if he is a dude who, as he gained more power, was ultimately corrupted by it.
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# ? Jan 7, 2021 16:50 |
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Yeah it was really interesting. I dont think the players were that far off comparing it to Game of Thrones.
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# ? Jan 7, 2021 18:36 |
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This is the human version of when you accidentally very slightly tilt your map app off North = top
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# ? Jan 9, 2021 01:23 |
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Yeah, this was a riveting read. I had no idea this weirdo was so involved with my alma mater -- kinda unfortunate.
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# ? Jan 9, 2021 04:43 |
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https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/01/10/report-texans-were-poised-to-hire-omar-khan-as-g-m/quote:Frankly, the disarray traces exclusively to Easterby. He was losing power and influence. Some believed he could end up being fired. The prevailing story in league circles is that, as the team was closing in on hiring one of the Korn Ferry finalists, Easterby went to owner Cal McNair’s house and talked him into hiring Caserio.
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# ? Jan 11, 2021 08:25 |
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The problem is if someone like Easterby can do this then someone else can do it too so I look forward to 40 years of "the Texans were gonna do a correct thing but <worm who has McNair's ear> talked them into doing something else" also obviously Mark Davis is the poster boy of this but how is it that the rich boy sons of owners manage to put off the aura of "being a literal child" despite being 50+. Like I know it's a very sheltered life but you'd think they could at least pose as adults sometimes fast cars loose anus fucked around with this message at 09:19 on Jan 11, 2021 |
# ? Jan 11, 2021 09:17 |
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Please trade Deshawn Watson to a team not run by these assholes
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# ? Jan 11, 2021 12:50 |
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ya'll talking about korn ferry in here?
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# ? Jan 11, 2021 13:43 |
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Relevant stuff today: https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1349091167590359041
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# ? Jan 12, 2021 21:33 |
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The Texans have made themselves a poisonous organization. They'll always be able to get front office personnel and players in free agency because jobs are so scarce, but for example Eberflus declining to even interview with them shows that the sought after guys who are definitely going to get a job somewhere are going to pass I wouldn't be surprised if the reason Bieniemy didn't get an interview is he hung up on them or something
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# ? Jan 12, 2021 22:46 |
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TITTIEKISSER69 posted:https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/01/10/report-texans-were-poised-to-hire-omar-khan-as-g-m/ “you might lose this guy who’s sabotaging your organization!” “oh no!”
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# ? Jan 13, 2021 00:52 |
xpost from N/V, for posterity: https://twitter.com/JennyVrentas/status/1350448092282294273 quote:According to multiple sources, Easterby has reached out to several players this week with a personal plea. Often through tears, he’s shared accounts of his receiving death threats and his family’s having to relocate to a hotel. He implored these players to support him to prominent Texans, like Watson, or publicly, these sources say.
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 16:58 |
Holy cats lol how does this clusterfuck become even more entangled??quote:Easterby delivered a speech that was described in multiple direct accounts as a lengthy missive intended to be rousing. The discourse centered almost entirely on Deshaun Watson, the Texans’ star quarterback at the end of a historically great—if wasted—season. Easterby, those sources said, was effusive in his praise for the quarterback, but to the dismay of many, he did not extend the same attention to: J.J. Watt, the team leader and greatest player in franchise history, who was on the verge of completing only his second healthy season in the past five years; the turmoil that engulfed the organization; the midseason firing of coach Bill O’Brien; or the future of a franchise seeking new leadership. quote:Watson hoped McNair would listen to him, but his disappointment went deeper than that: He’d also felt a responsibility to his teammates to use his role as the franchise QB to represent their interests to ownership. Texans players, according to one of those sources, had already decided that Watson should be the person to approach McNair and tell the owner the team needed more unified leadership and a clearer direction. Watson, according to one source close to the QB, met with McNair several times before the season’s end; they huddled almost every week. He asked the owner to include Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy in the coaching search, having heard directly from Patrick Mahomes how Bieniemy had helped steer the Chiefs’ QB onto a Hall of Fame career path. The last meeting happened near the end of the season, before Watson addressed the media. When answering a question about Bieniemy as a coaching prospect, he said: “We just need a whole culture shift. ... We need a leader so we can follow that leader ... too many different ideas and too many people thinking that they have this power, and it’s not like that.” quote:Watson, Baker says, asked him to put the sign down, saying that it was “disrespectful.” Baker, sensing that the request was half-hearted, declined, telling Watson, “I appreciate what you’re doing. You’re the leader of this team, but I’m sorry. I’m over it. He has to go.” Baker lowered it momentarily, and Watson walked away. Whether Watson felt obligated to make this request or was prodded to do so, he found himself in an uncomfortable situation shortly before playing a game. quote:Pro Football Talk reported a “well-timed phone call,” from LaMonte to McNair which, if true, shows how he leveraged his two clients. Easterby did not push Caserio to the Panthers as a candidate, according to a source in Carolina with direct knowledge of the search, but did give a positive recommendation when asked and said Caserio would mesh well with coach Matt Rhule.
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 17:09 |
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How is this real https://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk/status/1350519975417667588?s=19
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 22:08 |
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We've gone beyond Littlefinger and straight into High Sparrow territory
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 22:19 |
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These anecdotes and stories make that workplace sound waaaaaaaay more toxic than I assumed it was.
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 22:26 |
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MoaM posted:These anecdotes and stories make that workplace sound waaaaaaaay more toxic than I assumed it was. If I'm a sought after exec or player I steer clear of the Texans until they completely clean house, maybe even including new ownership Easterby is a huge problem but so is the culture that allowed him to do t his kind of poo poo
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 22:29 |
Benne posted:We've gone beyond Littlefinger and straight into High Sparrow territory How long until Qyburn?
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 22:44 |
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The McNair family is absolute garbage all the way down and that rules
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 23:01 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 13:11 |
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This guy rules lol
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# ? Jan 16, 2021 23:37 |