NFL fans "appear to be shunning clothing and other items carrying the Redskins name and team logo" amid the controversy surrounding the moniker, according to Chris Isidore of CNN MONEY. Data from SportsOneSource indicated that sales of Redskins items "plunged 35% in the most recent quarter, despite a 3% rise in sales of NFL merchandise overall." SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell said, "People are having ... second thoughts about wearing a T-shirt with the logo or name that it has now been called racist." Redskins Senior VP/Communications Tony Wyllie said, "Unfortunately, team performance on the field is a major factor in the apparel business, and a 3-13 season doesn't do much to help sales." Isidore noted the Ravens are the only team "that suffered a bigger drop" than the Redskins, but that was "because of the surge in sales a year earlier following its Super Bowl win" (MONEY.CNN.com, 9/4).
TABLOID TAKES A STAND: The N.Y. Daily News on Wednesday said it would no longer use the Redskins name or the team's logo, and the paper's Andy Martino said, "I'm proud of the Daily News on this. To me, it's a no-brainer." Martino said the term is "considered a slur by the majority of Native Americans, so that seems to end the debate for me." The N.Y. Daily News' Bill Madden said of Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder, "Say what you will about this guy -- if he does change it … it's going to cost a lot. This is not a simple name change. You have logos, you have marketing, you have all of these other things that factor in here. And obviously the people in Washington don't seem to be too concerned about it either." Madden: "It has to be up to Daniel Snyder, it should be his decision. He owns the team. He's the one that is going to have to pay whatever it costs to change the team's name." WFAN's Joe Benigno said, "I will continue to call them the Redskins until they're not the Redskins anymore. I understand that it's an offensive name. ... But I really believe this -- I think a lot of people who are on the soap box to get this name out are people that have more of an issue because maybe they don't like Daniel Snyder than with the name itself" ("Daily News Live," SNY, 9/4).
OUT OF HIS CONTROL: Redskins QB Robert Griffin III said the team's name is "not our focus as a football team because we have a job to do and that’s win football games." He said, "I stand by the Native Americans. Whatever the Native Americans want, that’s what we want. ... I don’t know what the percentage is of who wants it, who doesn’t want it." Griffin: "I’m here to play quarterback for the Washington Redskins until someone tells me we have a different name or we have the same name. It’s really not in my hands. It’s in Dan Snyder’s hands, Bruce Allen’s hands and whoever else is involved in that" (CAMPUSINSIDERS.com, 9/4).
