The Redskins Name Is Never Coming Back—Here’s Why
The Washington Commanders will NEVER change their name back to Redskins. I’m not saying that to hurt your feelings if you’re someone who misses the Redskins moniker. I’m saying that because there’s a simple business factor that makes it impossible for the return to the former name to happen.
The Redskins changed their name because FedEx, Nike, and Pepsi pressured them to after the UC Berkley/Michigan study came out, claiming 67% of people who identify strongly as Native American find the name “Redskins” offensive. This contradicted a Washington Post study from 2016 that claimed 90% of Native Americans didn’t mind the team being named the Redskins. Look no further than the timeline to confirm why former Commanders’ owner Dee Snyder changed the name.
· Late 2019: UC Berkley/Michigan Study Comes out
· May-June 2020: George Floyd protests (Racism in branding becomes a hot topic (Aunt Jemimah, Uncle Bens’, Redskins)
· July 1st, 2020: 87 Investors pressure Nike, FedEx, and Pepsi to stop endorsing the Redskins
· July 2nd, 2020: FedEx demands Redskins change their name. Nike removes all Washington Redskins merchandise from their website.
· July 3rd, 2020: Redskins announce they’ll conduct a “thorough review” of their team name.
· July 13th, 2020: Washington drops the name “Redskins”
From the time that investors pressured Nike, FedEx, and Pepsi – it took two weeks for Washington to drop the Redskins name. That’s why it’s never coming back. It’s not about whether or not the name and logo are actually offensive to Native Americans. It’s about the perception that it could be.
Not to mention – there’s no motivation for the new ownership group, led by Josh Harris, to change the name back. When Washington dropped the “Redskins” name and went with the ridiculous nickname of “Football Team”, fans still filled the stadium and watched the games. When they changed the nickname to “Commanders” (Which does suck), fans still filled the stadium and watched the games.
I’m not judging Commanders fans, by the way. If the Seahawks changed their name to the “Pink Unicorns” I’d throw a pink horn on my dogs head every Sunday. #GoCorns!
Bottom line, no matter what President Trump, Aaron Rodgers, or any conservative news outlets call for, the Commanders are never changing their name back to Redskins. Ever.