Grosso

The D.C. Council will finally vote next week on a ceremonial resolution calling for the Washington football team to change its name, as Mike DeBonis at the Post first reported.

The resolution was first introduced by Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) in April and included a suggestion that the team change its name to the Redtails. That suggestion, or any other, is gone from the new draft. Indeed, the resolution that will be voted on Tuesday is a bit toned down.

The original states its purpose, “To declare … that the local Professional Football Club immediately change its designation so as to avoid using the derogatory identification or nickname of [The Actual Name.]” Now: “To declare … that the Washington National Football League Team change its name.”

Also out from the resolution is the (awesome) sentence, “The Council is empowered to educate, inform, and counsel team owner Dan Snyder, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell … of their unacknowledged duty to accept national standards and change the name both for the sake of decency, and to rectify this ongoing insult to America’s First Nations, to the District, and to the memory of President Washington.” The new draft, which the Post says was written in part by Council Chair Phil Mendelson, instead says, “Out of respect for the multi-racial and cultural makeup of this nation, our city, and the team’s fans, the Washington NFL team should change its name; Changing the name of a National Football League franchise, while not a simple task, is the right and prudent thing to do in this case; and the owner of the Washington NFL team is hereby urged to change the name of the football team to a name that is not offensive to Native Americans or any other ethnic group.”

Doesn’t have quite the same punch.

The new draft of the resolution also includes comments from President Obama (“If I were the owner of the team … I’d think about changing it.”) and NBC sportscaster Bob Costas (“It’s an insult, a slur.”)

Aaron Pritchard, Grosso’s chief of staff, said that the Councilmember requested that the terms “racist” and “derogatory” be retained in the final draft.

The resolution was co-introduced by eight Councilmembers in addition to Grosso, so it’s expected to pass. But don’t expect it to make a difference. As the Oneida Indian Nation found out yesterday during a meeting with NFL representatives, the league plans to continue defending the name.