Top sports writers and media members have joined the effort to get the Redskins’ name changed by refusing to use it in reference to the team. Even DC Mayor Vincent Gray has considered condemning it. But Redskins owner Dan Snyder refuses to hear the arguments. “Never,” he told USA Today, “It’s that simple.”
More and more publications and media outlets are going against Snyder’s wishes though. Peter King, new editor-in-chief of the website, The MMQB, said he “can do his job without using” the team’s real name. ESPN’s Bill Simmons, who is editor-in-chief of Grantland’s sports website, is now calling the team the “Washington D.C.’s.” Even Brennan, a writer who once covered the team for The Washington Post, said though she used the name “probably 10,000” times, she will do so no longer.
Monte Burke of Forbes advises that the team change the name right away, before the negative views of the public become insurmountable. Right now, the majority of Americans- 79% to be exact- don’t believe the team needs to change its name. However, it wouldn’t be surprising for that to change in light of all the criticism from some of sports news’ most influential people.
