While some big money around the nation is calling on the Washington Redskins to change their name, a few NFL personalities are speaking up about the issue as well, detailing how they’ve dealt with the name over the years, and what they wish to happen going forward.
One of the most notable people to do so is NFL analyst and former NFL head coach Tony Dungy. In an interview with The Undefeated, Dungy stated that he won’t say the name ‘Redskins’ on air anymore.
“It’s not hard to change the name,” Dungy said. “When I’m on the air, I try to just refer to them as Washington. I think it’s appropriate. If the team doesn’t want to change, the least I can do is try not to use it.”
While Dungy and some other people have voiced their opinion on the matter, it will likely take a bigger statement to get Dan Snyder to go through with a name change. It was released on Wednesday that numerous investors have reportedly urged Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo to end their relationships with the franchise unless the name is changed.
Several government officials have also reportedly denied Washington from potentially moving to RFK stadium in the future if they remain the Redskins.
“You can say, ‘This has been a historic name and we’ve used it for this team for X number of years, but in this day and age, it’s offensive to some people, so we’re going to change it.’ I don’t think that’s hard,” Dungy said.
Years ago, Snyder declared that he would “NEVER” change the Redskins name, but the pressure to do so has increased exponentially. We’ll see if he reconsiders that declaration going forward.
