Political blogger BEN TRIBBETT, who was "hired by the Redskins last month to defend the team’s name, tweeted his resignation Monday night," according to Fred Barbash of the WASHINGTON POST. Tribbett said that "'political attacks' against him since he took the job had turned personal and that he didn’t want to be a 'distraction to the team.'" He gave "a brief interview" with The Washington Post last night. Tribbett said, “Things got a little out of control on Twitter.” He added his resignation “was not reflective of me changing my position on this at all" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 7/8). POLITICO's Jonathan Topaz notes the Redskins hired Tribbett to "help the franchise navigate its public relations battle over its controversial name." But Tribbett, who "shut down his blog when he joined the team, has been under fire from many on the left for siding with the Washington franchise on an issue that puts him at odds with a large chunk of the democratic party" (POLITICO.com, 7/8). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio notes the "catalyst for the resignation possibly was the discovery by the Indian Country Today Media Network of a series of tweets posted by Tribbett while gambling in Las Vegas" in '10. Tribbett in a tweet wrote, "An older native american guy just accused me of cheating and pulled some stuff out of his pocked to put some kind of spell on me. Epic." Florio writes, "And so the Tribbett blink-of-an-eye hiring-and-resignation officially becomes the latest, and potentially greatest, blunder committed by the franchise during the last two years, when the opposition to the name has been fueled in large part by the manner in which the team has opted to defend it" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 7/8).
