The NFL’s descent into ugliness over the past two weeks taught the sports world the power and import of the whole truth, something apparently lost on the crisis-management team Ron Washington hired. The bizarre, uncomfortable news conference Washington held Thursday to shed light on his resignation from the Texas Rangers offered no such thing. It only prompted further questions, one of which will continue to linger: If Ron Washington is willing to stand in front of a dais and embarrass his wife of 42 years publicly by admitting he wronged her, just how ugly is the truth he’s not willing to tell?

Maybe this goes away. Secrets can vanish these days. Such instances are rare, and if this was Washington’s attempt to squelch rumors about the true reason, it failed miserably. Further confirming this were sources close to Washington who told Yahoo Sports that his apparent infidelity – he said he "was not true" to his wife, Gerry – was not the entire reason behind his resignation.

View photos Former Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington walks away from the lecturn Thursday. (AP) More

What was remains a mystery, a particularly odd one, seeing as the Rangers haven’t exactly distanced themselves from Washington nor have they come to his defense. The organization is essentially floating alongside a ship being steered by people who don’t know how to steer, a dangerous place for any team to find itself.

Those people, remember, considered it prudent for Washington to rent out a conference room in a hotel, walk out with his wife, stand in front of microphones and cameras, talk about "a very low time in my life," not take a single question and think it would suffice.

Ache and heartbreak were evident in Washington’s voice, and they were warranted. He threw away his dream job. He threatened to throw away his marriage. And yet as one person close to Washington mused: "Imagine if everyone who cheated on their wife up and resigned."

Half the jobs in baseball would be open. They aren’t. Something prompted the admission of Washington's apparent infidelity to his wife, and perhaps that is the smoking gun that would better explain why the manager who twice took the Rangers to the World Series spent nearly two weeks in silence after leaving his job and offering only a Dear John letter in explanation.

The truth is, Washington owed no such explanation. He could have faded away, a mystery for history, and soon enough the curiosity would have pivoted elsewhere. Washington wants back into baseball, though, and considering the near-unanimous response of executives and general managers in the immediate aftermath of his press conference – "What the hell was that?" one asked – his job prospects depend on the answers he offers to deep questioning.

No team wants to hire someone who left his most recent job under mysterious circumstances for fear of that mystery surfacing and those circumstances attaching themselves to his new employer. If Washington's employment prospects were questionable before, he's radioactive as a manager now and a risk even as a coach.

View photos Ron Washington, right, arrives at Thursday's news conference followed by wife Gerry. (AP) More

Story continues