Last year, the Eagles avoided using the Washington team name in advance of a Week Four game against their NFC East rivals. Until people noticed and the Eagles did an about-face.
Another NFC East about-face could be in the offing.
The official Giants schedule posted at the team’s official Twitter page lists the team name of every opponent except one: Washington.
It’s in there twice: at Cowboys, Saints, Washington, at Vikings, at Packers, Ravens, at Rams (London), Eagles, Bengals, Bears, at Browns, at Steelers, Cowboys, Lions, at Eagles, at Washington.
The same schedule, as posted at the team’s official website, includes the Washington team name.
It surely wasn’t a mistake or a fluke that the schedule released via Twitter doesn’t use a nickname that continues to be the subject of plenty of controversy. And whoever did it may have some tough questions to answer.
But if the person did it because the person believes the nickname is inappropriate -- and/or because the person declines to use the name out of respect for those Native Americans who are genuinely offended by it -- it’s an admirable position that hopefully won’t result in unemployment.
UPDATED 9:23 p.m. ET: And there’s the about face. A version of the schedule posted on Twitter after this item was published now includes the Washington team name. Which only makes the prior omission more glaring.