NFL: Washington Redskins change team name, media reports

After years of criticism from indigenous people, the NFL team of the Washington Redskins (German: Rothäute) wants to separate from its name according to US media reports. As the portal ESPN and “USA Today” write among others, the decision will be announced on Monday morning.

As a result of ongoing protests against racism, sponsors have recently called for a change of name. Among other things, the stadium’s name sponsor has been pushing for the Redskins nickname since the beginning of July. Other sponsors followed the call, suppliers and retail chains took jerseys and other fan articles from their offers. The team then announced that the name would be reviewed.

Native Americans have been campaigning for decades to stop using the racist name. The state of California had already announced in 2015 that the term should be banned in schools. In addition to the name, the team’s logo is considered disparaging, it shows an aborigine with feather headdress.

Donald Trump against renaming

Washington’s trainer Ron Riveira also spoke in favor of a name change. However, US President Donald Trump criticized a possible renaming. Trump also doesn’t like the fact that the Cleveland Indians baseball team is considering a new name.

The Washington football team was founded in 1932 under the name Boston Braves. In 1933 the company was renamed Redskins and in 1937 it moved to the US capital. The team won the Super Bowl in 1982, 1987 and 1991.

In June, the team removed the name and a statue of former owner George Preston Marshall from his “Ring of Fame”. Marshall kept showing off his racist ideas and refused to sign black players for many years.