Native Americans protest before the Minnesota Vikings and Washington game in Minneapolis. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

An ESPN survey of NFL players found the majority polled don’t think the Washington football team should change its name. But 42 percent do think so, according to the poll of 286 players conducted during the offseason and training camp.

ESPN’s NFL Nation also asked 51 Washington football team players what they think of the name. Twenty-six players said they want to keep it, while 24 declined to answer the question. (Smart.)

While the [team’s] public relations department was aware of the poll, no player said he was not allowed to answer or told what he should say. Some players laughed and walked away when asked the question, not wanting any attachment to the debate.

Not all did, of course.

“I’m not into that PC [politically correct] stuff,” one player said.

And one … player, who answered neither yes or no, called the issue too complicated and said he sees both sides of the issue, although he talked more about the benefits of keeping the name.

ESPN’s Outside The Lines will broadcast “Washington’s Nickname: An NFL Dilemma” tonight at 8 p.m. Team owner Dan Snyder will defend the name at-length with old chestnuts like, “I’d like them to understand, as I think most do, that the name really means honor, respect. … Taken out of context, you can take things out of context all over the place. But in this particular case, it is what it is. It’s very obvious.”

A survey was conducted by Langer Research for the ESPN program and found that 71 percent of the 1,019 people polled favor keeping the name. Dissent increased by nine percent in the last year.