Redskins Launch New Campaign Involving Former Players To Defend Moniker

The Redskins have "launched a new campaign to defend the moniker" called Redskins Facts that is "headed by popular former players who traveled to Indian country this week," according to Dan Steinberg of the WASHINGTON POST. Ads for RedskinsFacts.com have "begun appearing" on the web sites of SI, the Washington Times and the Washington Post "in recent days." The site lists a "five-man steering committee of former players" -- Gary Clark, Chris Cooley, Mark Moseley, Ray Schoenke and Roy Jefferson. Clark, Cooley and Moseley "traveled to the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in Montana on Monday and Tuesday." Cooley said that he and other players "voiced frustration with the debate over the team’s name during Moseley’s golf tournament last month." He said that he "brought the idea" of visiting Native American regions to Redskins President & GM Bruce Allen, and they "put together this week’s trip." Cooley said that the team "is funding the RedskinsFacts.com ad campaign." Steinberg notes RedskinsFacts.com has "published several video interviews with Native Americans who say they like the team and its name." The interviews were "conducted by Cooley; more are on the way" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/30). Moseley said Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder "gets lambasted a lot in the press, but he takes a lot of pride in the name." USA TODAY's Erik Brady notes the Chippewa Cree Tribe is "getting a new burgandy-and-gold playground, complete with team logos, set to open this week." Its cost of "roughly $200,000 was paid for" by the Original Americans Foundation (USA TODAY, 7/30).

MORE PRESSURE FROM THE HILL: Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday became the latest political figure to suggest the Redskins change their name. She said to Fusion's Jorge Ramos, "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. I would love to see the owners think hard about what they could substitute" (“America with Jorge Ramos,” Fusion, 7/29). POLITICO's Jonathan Topaz notes Clinton's comments come after 50 U.S. senators wrote NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "to urge the league to change the name" (POLITICO.com, 7/30). Clinton joins a "growing list of Democratic leaders who have called for a name change," including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) (THEHILL.com, 7/29).

THE TIME HAS COME: A WASHINGTON POST editorial stated it is "clear that momentum to rid the team of its offensive name is only growing and a name change is a matter of when and how, not if." Lest anyone think that it is "just a word at issue, a new report by the Center for American Progress detailed the real-life impacts of native mascots on Native American youth." These include "hostile learning environments, low self-esteem and record suicide rates." Every "new objection to the use of the word makes it harder for Mr. Snyder to kid himself that he's helping his team or fans by holding onto a name that, at bottom, is a racial slur with no place in civilized society" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/29).