Washington Redskins helmet (Photo credit: Shutterstock / Jeff Bukowski)
The NFL team located in Washington, D..C. will no longer be known as the Redskins. On July 23, the franchise announced that it would change its name due to its racist messaging, according to ESPN.
In existence since 1932, the Redskins was initially known as the Boston Braves. But since the city’s Major League Baseball team was the Boston Red Sox, the football team’s owner, George Marshall, changed the team’s name to the Redskins to avoid confusion.
The franchise would eventually move to Washington, D.C. and the team’s most recent logo was proposed in 1972 by a Native American, Walter Weltz. However, Native American groups spoke out against the logo and franchise name and protested for decades.
The team’s current owner, Dan Snyder, said the name change would never occur. But following the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, FedEx announced that it would pull funding from the team if the name was not changed.
As a result, the organization will now be known as the Washington Football Team for the 2020 season with possible changes in 2021.
“Washington will not have any change to its color scheme. It will still use burgundy and gold. The Redskins logo on the helmet will be replaced by the player’s number in gold. The Washington Football Team will debut its home uniforms in week 1 against the Eagles,” the team said in a released statement.
View reactions below:
While the Washington Football Team uses these uniforms and helmets for the 2020 season, it will be seeking the feedback of players, alumni, fans, sponsors and the community for the new team name it will use at some point in the future, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 23, 2020
Even though this name is clearly temporary, I appreciate the organization moving at an accelerated pace towards some progress prior to this @NFL season.
For the love of the game – I vote,
“WASHINGTON BALLERS”
You’re welcoooome!
*sang Maui style
???
https://t.co/6wpmDNAcgY— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) July 23, 2020
Just waking back up from my pregame nap to see about The Washington Football team??? ??????. Is that real?? No way! Oh man they had a thorough intense long board meeting about that one huh. ???♂️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 23, 2020
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