CBS' Phil Simms "reaffirmed he will attempt not to use" the Redskins name during tonight's broadcast of the team's game against the Giants, according to Richard Deitsch of THE MMQB. Simms noted prior to the start of the season he would try not to say the team's name and this week said, "That's still my thought process. ... It offends a certain group of people and I have sympathy for them. So I can have sympathy for them and I am not denigrating the other side." He added, "Will I refer to their nickname? Look, I have already done it. It is a habit. I played for 15 years and they were a bitter rival. There is a chance I could slip." Simms said that he will not have "any notes in front of him in the booth as a reminder not to use the nickname." He added that it is because he "does not want anything that will make him think slower." Simms: "It's not the easiest habit to break. So if I refer to them by their nickname, I'm not going to say, 'Oh, I'm sorry.' It could happen." Deitsch noted there will be a "lot of eyeballs on the game," and any statement by Simms "will draw national attention." Simms' actions tonight also could "set the template for other broadcasters, especially at his own network" (MMQB.SI.com, 9/24). In DC, Dan Steinberg noted Simms during last week's Buccaneers-Falcons Thursday night game "said the word 'Redskins' at least three times" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 9/23).
CHANGING WITH THE TIMES: NBC's Bob Costas on Tuesday restated his stance on the Redskins name, saying he does not believe that anyone in this current time and day "is intentionally disrespecting Native Americans when they root" for the team. He said, "I don’t have any problem with a former Washington player saying, ‘I was proud to play for the team, I’m proud to hear the fight song.’ All that is fine. But things change. And, to me, the argument that trumps all is just grab a dictionary, any dictionary. It is a dictionary-defined insult or slur, pejorative, derogatory, insulting, a slur." Costas continued, "Those who are in favor of keeping the name try to dismiss any objection or any question about it as simply political correctness, and that’s the end of it. But distinctions can be made. And you can be a reasonable person who sneers at stupid political correctness and still say, hey, here’s the dictionary” (
"The Last Word," MSNBC, 9/23).
GOING DOWN TO SOUTH PARK: The Redskins name controversy was one of the main plotpoints on last night's season premiere of Comedy Central's "South Park." THE DAILY has a full recap of the episode.
