Mike Ditka is telling it like it is regarding the controversy over the name “Redskins,” saying that it is “so much horse sh*t, it is incredible,” in an interview with Redskins historian & freelance writer Mike Richman.
Ditka said he hoped that Redskins owner Dan Snyder would continue to stand against pressure to change the name.
Earlier this month, Snyder told ESPN’s John Barr,
“It’s just historical truths, and I’d like them to understand, as I think most do, that the name really means honor, respect.”
However, many progressive politicians are calling for a name change:
- In 2013, President Obama said, “I don’t know whether our attachment to a particular name should override the real legitimate concerns that people have about these things.”
- In May, 49 senators (all Democrats) wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pressuring them to change the name, noting that “The N.F.L. can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur…”
- In a seriously political move, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled the team’s trademarks in June on the basis that it is “disparaging to Native Americans.”
- In July, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “I think the name ought to be changed. I think it is an offensive name…”
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “I think it’s insensitive and I think that there’s no reason for it to continue as the name of a team in our nation’s capital.”
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “[T]he Redskins no longer have trademarks. They are gone…Daniel Snyder may be the last person in the world to realize this, but it’s just a matter of time until he is forced to do the right thing and change the name.”
Watch Harry Reid’s comments here:
Watch Hillary Clinton’s comments here:
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley tweeted earlier this month that “it is probably time for the Washington Redskins to change their team name.”
I was asked earlier today and answered that I do believe it is probably time for the Washington Redskins to change their team name.
— Martin O’Malley (@GovernorOMalley) August 5, 2014
Ditka continued,
“This is so stupid it’s appalling, and I hope that owner keeps fighting for it and never changes it, because the Redskins are part of an American football history, and it should never be anything but the Washington Redskins. That’s the way it is.”
[…]
“Its been the name of the team since the beginning of football,” Ditka said. “It has nothing to do with something that happened lately, or something that somebody dreamed up. This was the name, period. Leave it alone. These people are silly — asinine, actually, in my opinion.”
This author agrees with Ditka, of course. Unlike the treatment of conservatives by the IRS and the Benghazi cover-up, this really is a “phony scandal.”
Watch Redskins Owner Dan Snyder defend the use of the team name.
