Nike didn’t make a statement. Not yet anyway. But on Thursday night on Nike.com’s NFL page there are links to pages for gear of 31 of the league’s teams - everyone but the Washington Redskins. The alphabetical list goes from the Arizona Cardinals to the Tennessee Titans.
Typing “Redskins” into the search bar on the site also brings back nothing. Only a page that has
“We could not find anything for “redskins”. These popular items might interest you” with links to sneakers.
Was it a glitch? A mistake? A political statement? It’s not clear yet. But Nike is one of three Fortune 100 companies/Redskins sponsors, along with Pepsi and FedEx, who are the target of a coordinated effort. The goal is to use financial and political pressure to force the football team to change it’s racist mascot which has been long been the subject of controversy.
Nike’s Twitter account has two anti-discrimination messages at the top. One celebrates LGBTQ athletes for Pride month and the other is anti-racism video (see below). There was nothing about the Redskins as of 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
According to the Washington Post, FedEx, which paid $205 million in 1999 for a 27-year-deal to name the NFL teams’ home stadium in Landover, Maryland, ‘FedEx Field, issued the following one sentence statement:
“We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name.”
Owner Daniel Snyder has been steadfastly opposed to changing the name claiming it honors native heritage, but he’s facing the most aggressive opposition since he brought the team in 1999. According the Post:
“The company’s request comes less than a week after a group of more than 85 investment firms and shareholders representing $620 billion in assets called on FedEx, Nike, and Pepsi — Fortune 100 companies that do business with the team — to sever ties with the team unless Snyder changes its name.”
So far, Pepsi, which also has an anti-racism video posted, hasn’t made any public statement.
Snyder, who is trying to move the team back inside the D.C. city limits, has had his land acquisition attempts blocked by politicians who oppose the team name.
Snyder is holding fast for now while the climate is changing around him. Following the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota in May, there has been an increased wave of protests and demonstrations aimed at fighting issues of racial injustice. Symbols with historical connections to racism have been defaced and in many cases removed. The Confederate flag has been banned at NASCAR events and the Mississippi State flag has been retired and will be replaced by one that doesn’t include a Confederate Flag.
Naming mascots after Native Americans or Native Americans symbols has been a controversial issue for decades from professional sports down to high schools. The Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians have come under scrutiny and several college programs have changed their mascots to something that doesn’t offend the nation’s indigenous people. Locally both UMass (from Redmen to Minutemen in the 1970s) and UMass-Lowell (from Chiefs to River Hawks) have adjusted.
The Redskins, which originated in Massachusetts, were initially the Boston Braves when they shared Braves Field with the National League baseball team. When they moved to Fenway Park, the home of the Red Sox in 1933, they kept the Native American theme and became the Redskins.
The Redskins moved the team to Washington D.C. in 1937.
Related content:
Redskins name controversy: FedEx asks Washington to rename its football team (report)
NFL to play Black national anthem ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ before all Week 1 games (report)
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