The Washington Redskins are no more.
The NFL team changed the name to the “Washington Football Team” on Thursday, although it is a temporary name that will only be in place until the team can come up with a more permanent solution, according to ESPN.
The Washington Football Team, which announced that it would no longer be going by the Redskins on July 13, will continue to wear burgundy and gold, but the team’s logo on helmets is being replaced by player numbers.
The team, which had the Redskins name since the 1930s, dropped the moniker in response to mounting criticism by those who claimed it was racist and insensitive to Native Americans. In a statement, team owner Dan Snyder and head coach Ron Rivera said they are “working closely to develop a new name and design,” which have not been revealed yet — leading some to speculate that there’s a trademark dispute.
Synder, who purchased the team in 1999, long resisted changing its name and defended it in years past, but pressure to do so reached a boiling point amid the national reckoning on race following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody. Protests, which were mostly peaceful, have spread across the country, demanding an end to systemic racism and police brutality.
The majority owner announced on July 3 that the team would be undergoing a “thorough review” of its name after a group of organizations that partner with the team called on it to change the name. Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Nike had also taken Redskins merchandise off of their websites.
In addition to the controversy surrounding the team name, more than a dozen women came forward and accused a group of male employees of sexual harassment. Several executives, including Larry Michael, the club’s longtime radio voice, and Alex Santos, the team’s director of pro personnel, resigned in the days before the story broke this month.
