WASHINGTON — The owner of the National Football League’s Washington N-words is standing firm in the face of mounting pressure to change the nickname and mascot of his team.
“Not on my watch,” Snyder Daniels said. “This name connotes a long and storied history.
“It also is a source of pride for many African Americans.”
Daniels named three African Americans who agreed with him. (“There are others,” he insisted.)
Then he pointed to the liberal use of the word by African Americans themselves.
“It’s ubiquitous in rap music,” he said. “It particularly has been embraced by young people. You hear it all the time. And, remember, young people are the future — not to mention a merchandising gold mine.”
He added that his team is a private business and no one — “not outside agitators, not the government, not the U.S. Patent Office — is going to tell me what to do.”
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Daniels said the iconic logo of a black man in dreadlocks on the side of the helmet was “noble and respectful.”
Daniels also noted the latest polls among Washingtonians, which indicate overwhelming popular support for the name.
The poll found of 701 “self-declared” NFL fans found that 71 percent do not find the name offensive.
In addition, 30 percent said they don’t believe the name should be changed and 3 percent were unsure.
If the team decided to change its name, 56 percent would not buy new merchandise related to the franchise.
Daniels said he wouldn’t make the same mistake as the Houston Colt .45s, who, he said, had a perfectly acceptable name before becoming the Astros in 1965.
“Wouldn’t happen today,” he said. “It probably violates the Second Amendment. The right to bear arms certainly implies the right to name your team after one. The NRA and Fox News would be all over them.”
Some critics also complain that some of the traditional trappings of N-words games are racially offensive, including a Native American who dons a dreadlock headdress and leads cheers in the stands as an unofficial and self-appointed team mascot.
“Irony? There’s no irony,” James Running Deer said.
The N-words players, meanwhile, most of whom are African American, just wanted to talk football.
“No politics for me,” said one veteran who didn’t want his name used. “What’s at the top of my mind right now? Beating the Cowboys.”
At the N-words’ training camp in Richmond, Va., fans voiced mixed sentiments, though most favored leaving the name alone. “If it offends you, you don’t have to be a fan,” John Stevenson, 34, said. “Root for somebody else.”
Added Sarah Marshall, 42: “What next? They’re gonna tell me I can’t wear an N-words T-shirt? This was America, last time I looked. What about my rights?”
Then she playfully broke into a rendition of the team fight song, “Hail to the N-Words,” which ended with the battle cry, “Fight for old Dixie!”
Luther Helmsley said fighting to change the name is a frivolous. “With all the issues facing black people — poverty, crime, jobs ... here they are wasting time on a racial slur.”
So, did that mean he agreed that the name is a slur? “I didn’t say that,” he said. “You’re twisting my words. I was just paraphrasing what people like Al Sharpton are saying.”
NAACP spokeswoman Samantha Daniels (no relation to Snyder Daniels), said the name controversy was not a frivolous cause. “We get that a lot,” she said. “It’s as if people believe you can only choose one issue at a time.
And it’s especially rich coming from fans of a league with multiple-choice issues like drugs, domestic abuse and concussions.”
Meanwhile, fan John Smith cited other teams with ethnic mascots. “What about the Vikings? What about the Celtics? What about the Fighting Irish? ”
When it was suggested to him that none of those names were considered slurs, Smith said: “But that’s a matter of opinion, though, isn’t it?”
Finally, Seymour Hopkins said team names are sacred, and that’s why name changes in sports are so rare.
Then he continued to read a copy of the day’s Washington Post, whose sports pages contained stories on the Wizards, who used to be the Bullets, who used to play in Baltimore. And the Washington Nationals, who used to the Expos, who used to play in Canada. And the Minnesota Twins, who used to be the Senators, who once played in Washington.
“Senators?” one fan said. “Now that’s an offensive nickname.”
Contact Editorial Page Editor Allen Johnson at ajohnson@news-record.com or (336) 373-7010.
