10, 2013: Snyder’s letter to fans 2020 NFL offseason I don't want to detract from the wonderful Redskins fans that are here. Obama also said: “I don't know whether our attachment to a particular name should override the real legitimate concerns that people have about these things. He told The Associated Press: “If I were the owner of the team and I knew that there was a name of my team - even if it had a storied history - that was offending a sizable group of people, I’d think about changing it.” But he became the latest politician to discuss the matter. President Barack Obama stopped short of saying that the name should be changed. Bank Stadium before the game between the Redskins and Vikings in October. Several days before the Packers game, Brandon Stevens, an Oneida Nation official, told the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel: 'The warrior image is not the image we want to be portrayed.' Protesters rallied outside U.S. the Vikings, when hundreds of protesters marched the streets to the stadium. Perhaps the biggest protest occurred in Minnesota before a game vs. The group protested at every road game that season. The Oneida Indian Nation kicked off a season-long protest campaign when Washington played at the Green Bay Packers. Washington was coming off a 10-6 season under rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III.ĭuring an interview with USA Today, Snyder said, 'We'll never change the name. Snyder’s strongest comment on the name happened during the 2013 offseason, as focus returned to the topic, perhaps spurred by more winning. The first one, decided in 2005, was unsuccessful. It was the second time that Blackhorse was part of a suit challenging a trademark that protected the Redskins’ name. 11, 2006: Suit challenges Redskins' trademarkĪmanda Blackhorse became the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that challenged the trademark of Washington’s nickname, saying it disparaged Native Americans. Here’s a look at some of the challenges to the Redskins' nickname during Snyder’s tenure:Īug. The team put out a statement Friday saying it is going to “undergo a thorough review of the team name.” That marks the first time under Dan Snyder, who has owned the team since 1999, that the franchise has gone to this extent. Washington's NFL team might become part of that change. The protests that followed led to monuments being felled, the Mississippi state flag's retirement and countless other changes throughout the nation. Then came George Floyd’s death on May 25 at the hands of Minneapolis police. Now is the time to rename Washington's NFL team.Stadium sponsor FedEx asks Redskins to change nickname.Redskins to undergo 'thorough review' of nickname.The arc is similar each time: an initial wave of support for a name change, the Redskins holding firm and, finally, waning attention to the issue. The issue faded in both instances, but every so often, it comes up again. 'I like the name, and it's not a derogatory name.'Ī few years later, protesters picketed against the nickname at the Super Bowl following the 1991 season.

The Washington Redskins' nickname has been mired in controversy for decades.įormer team owner Jack Kent Cooke said in 1988: 'There is not a single, solitary jot, tittle, whit chance in the world' that the Redskins change their nickname.

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