Report: Ryan Vermillion placed on leave after raid at the facility involving criminal investigation

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The Washington Football Team never stays out of the headlines for the wrong reasons for long. Grant Paulsen, JP Finlay, and Julie Carey broke the story this afternoon that Head Athletic Trainer Ryan Vermillion is under criminal investigation, and the team’s training facility was raided on Friday by the DEA and local authorities. They did not report on the nature of the investigation.

The team issued a statement and Vermillion has been placed on administrative leave. He also didn’t travel with the team to Atlanta, and the multiple injuries to Washington players were handled by assistants. Vermillion and Head Coach Ron Rivera seem very close, and worked together for Rivera’s entire time in Carolina.

This is a breaking story and updates will be added as they are reported…

Ryan Vermillion’s Washington Football Team Bio:

Ryan Vermillion enters his second season as Washington’s head athletic trainer in 2021. Prior to coming to Washington, he spent 18 seasons as the head athletic trainer for the Carolina Panthers, nine of which he worked under former Panther head coach and current Washington Head Coach Ron Rivera.

Vermillion is the club’s Infectious Control Officer and manages all health and safety measures for the team as it relates to the protocols surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

During his tenure with Carolina, Vermillion was responsible for the coordination of all aspects of healthcare for the Panthers. He managed the athletic training room, including all full-time and season-long trainers and is experienced in risk management and injury prevention along with pathology of injuries and illnesses and rehabilitation. Vermillion is also well versed in the nutritional aspects of injury and illness. He was given the Fain-Cain Memorial Award for Outstanding NFL Trainer of the Year in 2016 and in 2003 he led the training staff of the year as voted on by his fellow NFL colleagues.

Prior to working in Carolina, Vermillion was the Director of Rehabilitation for the Washington Redskins and will now return to the team after 18 seasons. Prior to his one season in Washington, he spent nine seasons working under Hall of Fame Head Coach Don Shula with the Miami Dolphins. In Miami he spent four seasons as the head athletic trainer and five seasons as the director of rehabilitation and associate athletic trainer. Vermillion was a 1987 graduate of the University of Miami (Fla.) and spent four years as a student athletic trainer.