Chief Wahoo is being phased out by the Cleveland Indians, but that hasn't affected the NFL's stance on the Washington Redskins, according to Roger Goodell. The NFL's commissioner told ESPN's Mike Golic and Trey Wingo on Tuesday that there were no imminent plans to change the Redskins' logo or name in the wake of the Indians' decision to abandon the Chief Wahoo logo, and Redskins owner Dan Snyder certainly doesn't plan to do anything about it if the league doesn't.
Goodell said of Snyder on Tuesday: "I don't see him changing that perspective."
Chief Wahoo was initially introduced in 1928, and its most recent iteration was put on jerseys in 1980. It saw several different looks throughout the years, but was slowly being phased out before it was announced that Chief Wahoo would no longer be used on the Indians' uniforms starting in 2019.
The use of "Redskins" has been questioned for decades, though Snyder has steadfastly said that he will not change his stance on rebranding the team.
"Dan Snyder has really worked in the Native American community to understand better their perspective, and I think it's reflected mostly in a Washington Post poll that came out [in May 2016] that said over nine out of 10 Native Americans do not take that in a negative fashion, the Redskins' logo or the Redskins' name, and they support it," Goodell said on the show.
There have been protests and calls for change over the years, including letters from members of Congress. After the Indians announced the change, a statement came down from the Change the Mascot campaign. The intro read:
Cleveland's decision should finally compel the Washington football team to make the same honorable decision. For too long, people of color have been stereotyped with these kinds of hurtful symbols -- and no symbol is more hurtful than the football team in the nation's capital using a dictionary-defined racial slur as its team name.
The statement went on to implore Snyder to change the name.
If the Redskins do elect to change the name, it will have to be of their own volition. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the trademark case against the Redskins -- which would have stripped them of the trademark due to "Redskins" being a disparaging term -- was unconstitutional. However, it isn't looking like the Redskins are particularly phased by the change from the Indians.
The MLB, of course, had been pressuring the Indians to change the name for a while. The Redskins clearly face no such pressure from the NFL.
