FedExField's lower bowl is now the Bobby Mitchell Level, not the George Preston Marshall LevelGETTY IMAGES
The Redskins announced that they "would remove" founding Owner George Preston Marshall's "name from all official team material, including their Ring of Fame, history wall and website," according to Sam Fortier of the WASHINGTON POST. This move comes five days after the city removed Marshall's statue outside RFK Stadium. Marshall was the "last NFL owner to integrate his team's roster, and the removal of his statue followed years of lobbying by residents who opposed memorializing an owner who was against desegregation." The franchise also "renamed FedExField's lower seating bowl from the George Preston Marshall Level to the Bobby Mitchell Level," after the team's first black player, who became a scout and a front office exec before he died in April. Marshall "pioneered parts of the NFL -- halftime show, fight song, forward pass -- but refused to integrate" for many years (WASHINGTON POST, 6/25).
ALL IN THE NAME: In N.Y., Ken Belson notes the controversy over the Redskins' name is "perhaps the most fraught in American sports," yet Owner Dan Snyder has for years "resisted calls to change it." But calls for the NFL to remove the name have "grown in recent weeks amid heightened scrutiny of racism in American society." Some political leaders in DC also have "pushed for a change in recent weeks." City officials have said that "until the name is changed they will not agree to the team building a new stadium and headquarters inside the city." The removal of Marshall's name and image from team assets "may be a way to soothe critics" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/25). In N.Y., Charles McDonald goes with the header, "Washington's Removal Of George Preston Marshall From The Ring Of Honor Is Hollow Until It Changes The Name Of The Team." Synder has been unwilling to change the name, and the public "should be unwilling to give him props for scrubbing Marshall's name and honoring Mitchell until he does so" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/25).
