Redskins to remove their founder’s name from the team’s Ring of Fame. They still won’t change their name
Less than a week after a monument to the founder of the Washington Redskins was removed over his racist past, the football team told CNN that George Preston Marshall’s tainted legacy would be erased even further.
Marshall’s name will also be removed from the Ring of Fame, the history wall at Redskins Park, and any mention of him on the Redskins’ website will also be deleted, the team said.
Marshall was well-known for opposing integration in the NFL and didn’t sign an African American to the Redskin roster until 1962 — 16 years after the league began signing Black players. The team cutting ties with Marshall’s name comes amid the nationwide discourse on racial inequality sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The Ring of Fame, which is displayed on the inside facade of FedEx Field, pays tribute to “51 members of the organization whose contributions still resonate and reverberate through franchise history,” according to the Redskins’ website.
Last week, Marshall’s statue outside the Redskins’ former home, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, was removed by Events DC, the city’s convention and sports authority.
“This symbol of a person who didn’t believe all men and women were created equal and who actually worked against integration is counter to all that we as people, a city, and nation represent,” Events DC’s top executives said in a statement at the time.
The statue is gone. But the name will remain.
Despite the Redskins’ efforts to further themselves from their founder’s racist past, the team has not newly addressed the years-long criticism by Native American groups and others for continuing to call themselves the Redskins.
Many consider the term to be an offensive racial slur to Native American communities.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser earlier this month told a local radio show that “it’s past time for the team to deal with [a name that] offends so many people.”
“This is a great franchise with a great history that’s beloved in history and it deserves a name that reflects the affection that we feel for the team,” Bowser told the Doc & Galdi Show.
And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on the team to change its name when it tweeted a black square on Blackout Tuesday, showing solidarity with those protesting the George Floyd killing by members of the Minneapolis police.
In 2013, owner Dan Snyder told USA Today that he will “never” change the name.
“When I consider the Washington Redskins name, I think of what it stands for. I think of the Washington Redskins traditions and pride I want to share with my three children, just as my father shared with me,” Snyder wrote in a letter to fans later that year.
CNN has reached out to the Redskins for further comment.
