Art Monk lining up against the San Francisco 49ers in 1991. (Getty Images)
The Washington football team begins training camp in Richmond this week, but while Dan Snyder, Mike Shanahan, Robert Griffin’s III knee, and the rest of the organization are planning for the new NFL season, the conversation about whether the team should do something about its name continues.
And two of the greatest players in the franchise’s history now say the team should at least consider the argument that its name is a racial slur and possibly rebrand itself. Speaking on WTOP today, Art Monk and Darrell Green, who led the Washington NFL team during its heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said the franchise should think about what its nickname means to some people.
“If Native Americans feel like Redskins or the Chiefs or [another] name is offensive to them, then who are we to say to them ‘No, it’s not’?” Monk, a wide receiver who was part of three Super Bowl-winning squads and set an NFL record for catches in a single season, said. (The Kansas City Chiefs, while using an arrowhead and other American Indian iconography for their public image, actually derive their name from a nickname used by former Kansas City, Mo. Mayor Harold Roe Bartle.)
Both Monk and Green, a cornerback who played for Washington from 1983 to 2002, are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and perhaps the highest-profile individuals in the team’s history to say that it should at least be receptive to complaints about its name. “It deserves and warrants conversation because somebody is saying, ‘Hey, this offends me,'” Green told WTOP.
Green also noted that using a team name that many consider to be a racial slur can lead to a lot of legal headaches. In March, the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board heard a lawsuit that seeks to strip the Washington football team of its exclusive trademark of its name. A group in the House of Representatives, including Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), have also presented legislation that would strip the team of its trademark.
Despite their prominent places in team history, though, Monk and Green are unlikely to have much of an effect, given the team’s often-obnoxious defense of its name. Snyder has said he will “NEVER” (emphasis his) change the name, while NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has backed Snyder up, claiming the Washington football team’s name is one of “strength, courage, pride, and respect.”
Still, having Monk and Green open to a name change is a big step. No active NFL player has publicly commented on the hurtful impact the team’s name carries, but having a pair of franchise legends weigh in could be a start.
And for what it’s worth, if the team were to ever change its name, it would not cost the franchise anything by way of fandom. A poll published last month by The Washington Post found that while 79 percent of fans say the team should not adopt a new moniker, 81 percent also said that if it did, they would support the team just as much.
