On Saturday, a major sector of the United Church of Christ voted to urge its 40,000 members to boycott the Washington Football Team. Half of the U.S. Senate recently wrote letters to the NFL urging a change, one of the letters stating that “racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports.” D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray suggested Wednesday the name will almost certainly have to change if the team ever wants to build a new stadium in the city.
Snyder, who has vowed repeatedly never to change the name, declined comment as he walked off the field after a minicamp practice Wednesday. Washington Football Team players have mostly avoided the topic, aware of a potential conflict because they are employed by the team.
“Our job as players is to focus on what we can on this field day-in and day-out and let the legal people take care of that stuff,” quarterback Robert Griffin III said after practice. “And when it’s the right time, then we can voice whatever it is we know about the situation.”
The Washington Football Team have responded to critics by creating an Original Americans Foundation to give financial support to Native American tribes. Suzan Shown Harjo, a lead figure in the trademark case, called the foundation “somewhere between a PR assault and bribery.”
Supporters of a name change quickly hailed the decision.
“Daniel Snyder may be the last person in the world to realize this,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor, “but it is just a matter of time until he is forced to do the right thing.”
(Photo: AP)
