When Washington announced on Friday that a “thorough review” of the team’s name would occur, owner Daniel Snyder listed “alumni” as one of the groups that would be consulted.
Some alumni accept that change is inevitable. Some don’t like it. Some aren’t saying jack squat.
Tucked near the bottom of an article from Matthew Paras of the Washington Times is a telling tidbit regarding two of the most popular Washington players of the last 40 years: Joe Theismann declined comment, and the team declined to make Doug Williams available for comment.
Other players had plenty to say, including former cornerback Fred Smoot {pictured), who has known that this day was coming for nearly two decades. As a rookie in 2001, he noticed protesters outside FedEx Field. Teammate Champ Bailey told Smoot that Native Americans were protesting the name, because they find it offensive.
“I realized one day, we’re going to have to face this giant,” Smoot told the Times.
Face it they are, with years of denial suddenly replaced by an urgency that borders on the impractical. That’s the price, however, of taking an all-caps-never approach to the potential abandonment of a slur.
Former Washington running back Brian Mitchell is trying not to get too caught up in the name applied to the team.
“I played for the organization,” Mitchell said, “I played particularly for the fans, I played for my family, I played for my pride. I don’t know if I necessarily played for a name, you get what I’m saying? . . . Do you cheer for a name or do you cheer for the players?”
Mitchell added that, in his view, it would be “ridiculous” for fans to ditch the team simply because the team changes its name. The more likely reality, frankly, is that many fans will refuse to accept a new name, clinging to the old name and logo for as long as they can.
How long could that last? Think about that the next time you see someone flying a Confederate flag from the back of a pickup truck.
Other former players would prefer to keep the name. Offensive lineman Mark May believes that name shouldn’t change in response to a “mob mentality” that’s pushing the team to do it. May told the Times he’ll get behind a new name but that he’s in a “difficult position.”
Former kicker Mark Moseley, who somehow became the league MVP in the strike-shortened season of 1982, told the Times that he believes “most” former players would prefer to keep the name as it is, and that a change would “take away” from the efforts and achievements of players like Darrell Green and Art Monk.
Regardless, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the name will go. Smoot knew it was going 19 years ago. In many respects, it’s amazing it’s taken so long for the reckoning to arrive.