Major League Baseball has pressured the Cleveland Indians into retiring their Chief Wahoo logo, but the NFL has no plans to do the same with the Washington team and its controversial name.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on ESPN Radio this morning that it remains up to team owner Dan Snyder, who has said repeatedly that he has no plans to change his team’s name.
“Dan Snyder has really worked in the Native American community to understand their perspective, and I think it’s really reflected in a Washington Post poll that showed that nine out of 10 Native Americans do not take that as disrespectful,” Goodell said. “I don’t see him changing that perspective.”
Goodell referenced a 2016 poll that asked Native Americans the question, “The professional football team in Washington calls itself the Washington Redskins. As a Native American, do you find that name offensive, or doesn’t it bother you?” The response was overwhelming: 90 percent said it does not bother them, 9 percent found it offensive, and 1 percent said they had no opinion on the matter.
That poll gave Snyder some cover at a time when the team’s name had become a major national controversy. The story seems to be getting less attention recently, and even if there’s more scrutiny on the NFL as a result of MLB’s actions, neither Snyder nor Goodell seems inclined to make a change.