One day after the Cleveland Indians announced they would no longer use Chief Wahoo as a symbol after this season, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he did not see anything changing with the Washington Redskins nickname.
Redskins owner Dan Snyder has remained firm in his desire to keep the nickname and Goodell said on the Golic & Wingo show, "I don't see him changing that perspective."
Despite increasing pressure the last several years, Snyder hasn't budged, once telling USA Today that he'll never change the nickname and "you can use caps." Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred supported the Indians' decision and had reportedly been pushing the team over the last year to go in that direction. Goodell does not sound inclined to do the same.
"The interesting thing is that Dan Snyder has really worked in the Native American community to understand better their perspective," Goodell told Golic & Wingo. "And it's reflected mostly in a Washington Post poll that came out [in May 2016] that said nine out of 10 Native Americans do not take that in a negative fashion, the Redskins' logo or the Redskins' name, and they support it."
In 2016, the Washington Post polled 504 Native Americans and found that 10 percent deemed the name as offensive. The results were similar to one 12 years earlier by the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
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The Cleveland Indians are removing the divisive Chief Wahoo logo from their jerseys and caps starting in the 2019 season.
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After the Cleveland Indians announced on Monday they were removing the Chief Wahoo logo from their uniforms in 2019, the Change the Mascot campaign called on the Washington Redskins to follow suit by doing away with their own "hurtful" nickname.
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After the Indians announced their decision Monday, The Change the Mascot campaign issued a statement by Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter wanting the Redskins to follow suit.
The statement said in part, "Cleveland's decision should finally compel the Washington football team to make the same honorable decision. For too long, people of color have been stereotyped with these kinds of hurtful symbols -- and no symbol is more hurtful than the football team in the nation's capital using a dictionary- defined racial slur as its team name. Washington Owner Dan Snyder needs to look at Cleveland's move and then look in the mirror and ask whether he wants to be forever known as the most famous purveyor of bigotry in modern sports, or if he wants to finally stand on the right side of history and change his team's name. We hope he chooses the latter."
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that a trademark law barring disparaging terms infringes on free speech rights, providing a boost to the Redskins. Team president Bruce Allen also said in 2015 they wouldn't change the name even if it helped them secure a new stadium in the District of Columbia. They're also discussing sites in Maryland, where they currently play, and Virginia, where they train. Their lease expires in 2027.
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