He once declared that he would never do it, to “put it in all caps” that he would never surrender the name of his team. But after relentless pressure from giant left-wing corporate sponsors, Dan Snyder, owner of the NFL’s Washington Redskins, has relinquished the moniker that defined the franchise for 88 years.
And so, as statues of great Americans are toppled, corporate America gets down with the cause of Black Lives Matter, and chaos envelops urban America, another cultural icon bites the dust.
The team’s rabid fan base overwhelmingly favored maintaining the name that has defined the team for almost a century and through three Super Bowl victories in the 1980s and ‘90s. Thus, this decision is likely to mark Snyder, the already reviled owner of the team, as the great villain of franchise history, the man who broke his promise and turned over the crown jewel.
Money, in the form of a chain reaction of left-wing pressure, caused the Redskins’ owner to break. And everyone around Redskins-crazy D.C. knows that money is the driver, perhaps the only driver, of the Snyder bus.
Reports indicate that dozens of shareholders and investors with a total net worth of more than $600 billion demanded that the corporations involved insist on the surrender of the name, lest the investments be withdrawn. Hence, the “requests” -- read threats -- from three gigantic sponsors of the franchise -- Nike (of course), FedEx, and Pepsi -- to terminate their invaluable sponsorships of the team.
Head coaches come and go, while a name lasts forever (or at least 88 years). And yet new Redskins’ coach Ron Rivera apparently has been assigned to join Snyder in the selection of a new name that will long outlast his own tenure on the sidelines. The fact that any coach would be involved in a permanent decision that has always rested in the hands of the owner and fans can likely be explained by the fact that Rivera is of Puerto Rican descent and thus will undoubtedly provide demographic cover for whatever new name Snyder chooses.
So how will the Redskins’ owner respond to the inevitable barrage of criticism for his decision? Some reports indicate that he is leaning toward some sort of military-themed alternative name, which would also allow him to signal the dual virtues of respecting the suffering of Native Americans (after defending the nickname Redskins for 21 years) and the sacrifices of men and women in uniform.
When does this end? The answer is not anytime soon. Rest assured they will soon be coming for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, MLB’s Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves, perhaps the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. And there are more than 2,000 additional high school and college teams across the land with Indian-themed nicknames that will have to be publicly shamed. And then it is onward to conquer new frontiers of white supremacy.
The goal is to remove every last remnant of a civilization the rebels clearly believe is irredeemable. And no one associated with it is spared. Abolitionists? A president who gave his life to end slavery? Dedicated sports fans who never for a moment took racial meaning, but always pride, from their team’s name? All various forms of roadkill in the progressives’ march on America.
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