Something’s About to Go Down in Washington and It Appears Worse Than a Redskins Name Change
After years of being adamant that he would never change his team’s nickname, Daniel Snyder had caved. The team has announced that it will drop the name Redskins, but still hasn’t announced what the new name will be. Trademark issues have apparently complicated the matter. According to some cryptic tweets recently, the name change is the least of Snyder’s concerns as an unidentified bombshell is about to be dropped.
A new name on the horizon
Daniel Snyder, team owner of the football team formerly known as the Washington Redskins that has no nickname now, is in a mess. He once vehemently announced he would never cave under pressure to change the team nickname viewed by many as a racial slur.
“We’ll never change the name,” Snyder said in a 2013 article in USA Today. “It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps.” After heavy pressure from big-name financial backers such as Fed Ex and Nike, Snyder thought twice. Snyder has agreed to remove the Redskins name and has been looking for a replacement.
The holdup apparently has been a trademark issue. According to Yahoo! Sports, a Virginia man named Philip Martin McCaulay has trademarked many of the potential names that would suit the Redskins. It was two days after Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins said he liked the RedTails that McCaulay had it trademarked.
Name change generates mixed reactions
Christopher Hawthorne, a season ticket holder for the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, told WBAL-TV it might take some getting used to. He said he knows why the name was changed. “The name has changed,” he said. “We’re going to have to adapt to it and I understood why they did it. I’m proud that they did do it because if it’s a discriminatory name, then it needs to be changed.”
“I get it and I also know that it is very hurtful and it is very painful, and it needs to be changed. It needs to be wiped clean and recognize that there is pain in that name,” Wise Whitehead told WBAL-TV. “It might be something that’s financial to you. For other people, it’s about the fact that you are using a slur. You’re lifting that up and you’re celebrating it.”
Former Washington Redskins player Jeff Bostic, however, didn’t approve of the name change. “I’ll always call them the Washington Redskins, I’m sorry,” Bostic told ESPN. “I’ve got great memories, great game scenarios that played out. There are parts of that I’ll never forget the rest of my life. It was an honor for us to put the helmet on that had the Redskins emblem on the sides. This is a political and financial decision. This isn’t what most people want.”
What else is about to go down in Washington D.C.?
According to a Wednesday article in The New York Post, something dramatic is about to go down that will shake the franchise to its core. Local reporters in Washington, have been writing cryptic messages implying that a bombshell is about happen with the franchise. It could happen Thursday and it’s doesn’t involve the new name.
The New York Post speculated that the series of mysterious and vague messages is regarding a story that’s expected to be released Thursday by The Washington Post. On Tuesday, Jason La Canfora, who used to be a beat reporter for the Redskins, posted on Twitter, “The warped and toxic culture of the Washington Football Team is about to be exposed in a sickening fashion…again.”
The New York Post also added, “Though it remains unclear what will surface, several other reporters have also been tipped off to news that could be devastating to the team.”
Stay tuned. Things could get a lot more interesting with the team formerly known as the Redskins.
