Washington Redskins reportedly are planning to drop team name
Washington’s NFL team will get rid of the name Redskins on Monday, according to multiple reports.
It’s unclear when a new name will be revealed for one of the league’s oldest franchises.
USA Today, ESPN, the Washington Post, the Washington Times and the Sports Business Journal reported Sunday night that owner Dan Snyder is set to “retire” the name. On Saturday, Yahoo reported a name change was imminent.
The team launched a thorough review of the name July 3 that the NFL supported. That came in the aftermath of prominent sponsors FedEx, Nike, PepsiCo and Bank of America asking the team to change the name.
In the weeks since George Floyd’s death, amid nationwide protest the sports world was forced to revisit a legacy of insensitive mascots, songs and cheers.
FedEx is the title sponsor of the team’s stadium in Landover, Md., and chief executive Frederick Smith is a minority owner. Nike and other companies pulled team gear from their online stores.
More than a dozen Native American leaders and organizations wrote to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week demanding an immediate end to Washington’s use of the name. In the letter that was obtained by the Associated Press, they said they “expect the NFL to engage in a robust, meaningful reconciliation process with Native American movement leaders, tribes, and organizations to repair the decades of emotional violence and other serious harms this racist team name has caused to Native Peoples.”
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