'Redskins' Might Be On Way Out

In a society that has been juggling with the controversy of race relations of late, the Washington Redskins -- after years upon years of debate -- are now strongly considering removing the name 'Redskins' as the teams identity and branding.

The discussion comes up as racial tensions are at its highest peak in the United States in the months since George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis. Since that time not only has the Country seen peaceful protest calling for reforms to policing, but complete and total anarchy in the streets that have bordered on lawlessness, and with it a cancel culture mentality that is leaving nothing and nobody to chance.

The 'Redskins' controversy is now front and center.

For years there has been outside pressure for the 'Skins to change the teams name to anything that doesn't remind people of the racist sensibilities of the phrase "Redskins." Owner Dan Snyder has been stringent in his resolve to not change the name, but it appears that now, he has finally shown a willingness to make the move.

A big reason why is the fact that FedEx, which has naming rights to the 'Skins stadium for $205 million through 2025 wants the name gone. Nike and Pepsi Co have now joined the calls for the name 'Redskins' to be abolished. Nike even took a step farther but removing Redskins gear from its website.

Welcome to the world of Cancel Culture 2020, Dan Snyder.

As a result the 'Skins and the NFL are sending out statement that they will consider a name change.

"This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise, but also the input from all alumni ... and the local community ...", Snyder said in a statement.

In other words, the name "Redskins" is history.

But what will replace it? The team was once known as the Braves, when they were formed in Boston back in 1932. It would make sense to simply switch to that name since it would the nod to the franchise's history and past would be maintained.

Even the name Warriors would be a good name to use as well with a nod to the franchise's history. In either case, the 'Skins could (I would imagine) keep their colors, uniforms and logo and just change the name. They could even bring back the spear logo that they once used as an alternate throwback in the early 2000s. I don't think anyone would have an issue if they were simply re-branded the team Washington Braves or Washington Warriors and kept everything else the same.

The 'Skins uniforms is one of the classic looks of the NFL -- one that has been part of plenty of successful seasons and Super Bowl runs. It would be nice if they kept it.

Then again there could be a total re-branding (i.e. Washington Hawks, or Washington Generals or Washington Senators) -- which considering the amount of time and effort teams put into changing uniforms, might take some time to get completed -- especially, since we are just weeks away from training camp.

It wouldn't be unusual to see a total rebrand, we've seen it before. The Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens, only because the city of Cleveland sued to keep the teams name, color and uniform in Cleveland when the team left for Maryland following the 1995 season. The Tennessee Titans were the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Oilers before rebranding in 1999. Now you can't find anything related to the Oilers with the Tennessee franchise except for a couple of murals to Eddie George and Steve McNair. 

Snyder could meet people halfway, change the name to Braves now, leave the uniform and logo alone and say the franchise would consider a new uniform and logo design for 2021 at the earliest.