Redskins Owner Dan Snyder yesterday met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about the team's name, but Snyder "reiterated to Goodell that he has no plans to change the Redskins' name," according to a source cited by Maske & Jones of the WASHINGTON POST. Another source said that the meeting was designed "for the league to gather information on the team's plan for dealing with the issues involved, including assessing and addressing opposition to the name." One source added that Snyder "shared sentiments similar to those he conveyed in a letter" to Redskins fans three weeks ago. NFL officials today are scheduled to meet with members of the Oneida Indian Nation, the group that "has called the name offensive" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 10/29). ESPN's Ed Werder reported the meeting was designed for the league "to gather information on the team's plans and how they're going to handle this." ESPN's Dan Graziano said, "What I was told about this meeting was it's a lot about perception. There were protests in Denver when the Redskins were there over the weekend. The league has a concern about the extent to which that's going to continue to happen and if so, how the team plans to deal with it, how the league should deal with it, because they're not pressuring Dan Snyder to change the Redskins nickname. They don’t feel it's their place to do so, but they acknowledge that it's an ongoing issue that is flowering up a little bit and they need to figure out how to handle it publicly." ESPN's Wendi Nix added, "The key takeaway here is Daniel Snyder has shown no real initiative to change" ("NFL Insiders," ESPN, 10/29).
