Breaking down the situation surrounding the Redskins name
By Ian Cummings
Recap of Thursday’s events
As we wrote in response to the news on Thursday afternoon, FedEx, the stadium sponsor of the Washington Redskins, and the company whose CEO is a minority owner of the team, announced that they had asked the Redskins to change their mascot. It was not presented as an ultimatum, but the monetary implications of non-compliance should not be underestimated.
Once FedEx dropped their statement, the ball started rolling. Several high-profile sports figures, including the Los Angeles Lakers, spoke out against the current name, and Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal expressed satisfaction at the possibility of a name change.
Additionally, and perhaps most notably, Nike pulled all of their Redskins gear from their website. Pepsi released a similar statement, asking for a name change. Shareholders have asked these companies to terminate their business relationships with the Redskins, barring a name change. Lots of money is on the line. And it’s not only Washington, but the NFL itself, that feels the impact financially. Consequently, it’s not brash to believe that the NFL might get involved at some point, also considering how vocal they’ve been about social issues in recent months.
Dan Snyder has yet to fold, but some players and former players are coming to terms with the possibility of a name change. In an NBC Sports article by Ryan Homler, former Redskins star Brian Mitchell spoke at length about the name change discussion. Mitchell emphasized the need to be open-minded and adaptable in times like these, and expressed understanding for the current state of the name.
“Everybody wasn’t offended,” Mitchell said of his past teammates and coaches, in regards to the name. “But guess what? Those words left. You stopped using those words. If something is offensive, we have to get to the point where we think of that all the same. In this life, things change, whether we want it or not sometimes. But I’ve always been told by my coaches when I played sports, you have to adjust. I think the same thing has to happen in life.”
“What needs to happen is you need to have adults to sit down, and have a conversation. An educated, mature conversation, and then come up with a decision. You don’t go into the decision with a closed mind. You don’t go into a conversation with a closed mind. You go into it with an open mind and just listen.”
Dan Snyder has avoided that very conversation for a long time. But with what’s at stake now, a conversation may ultimately be inevitable.