"Boo This Man" Moment of the Week: Dan Snyder

So if you read my February 28th post (if you haven't read it, then click here), then you already know how I feel about the nickname of what used to be my favorite sports team of all time, Washington's NFL team.   I've come to grips with the fact that their name will never change and that my outward support of the team will never again mirror the fervor of old.  In my heart of hearts, I can't be a hardcore fan of another team and won't cheer against Washington's team if another team plays them because burgundy and gold is still in my blood.  Aight, that's enough of that sentimental ish...

In his first public statement about this issue in an interview with USA Today, Dan Snyder did something that neither I nor anyone who takes issue with the team's nickname needed him to do: be so "openly defiant" about it as Stephen A. Smith put it on ESPN's First Take.  To be fair, this was one of Snyder's better quotes:

We will never change the name of the team.  As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season.

Okay, not so bad...he could've ended his statement there.  However, he kept going and this is when keeping it real goes wrong: "We'll never change the name.  It's that simple. NEVER -- you can use caps."  Really, Danny  Boy?!?!  I think you're holding back...why don't you tell us former fans and the section of the Native American community that takes issue with the nickname how you really feel. 

Although I might be in the minority in the midst of so many die-hard fans in the Washington, D.C. area of our local pro football team, I will still say with conviction:

I don't need to rehash my entire argument from my February post, so I'll try to be brief.  Considering that this is Snyder's first public statement about such a controversial topic, you would think that he'd be a bit more sensitive.  Maybe he'd at least make mention of the Native American community and a possible level of understanding of their frustration.  Try this possible PR move on for size: "I apologize if keeping the 'Redskins' name offends anyone because it is not my intent to do so, but because of the rich tradition behind this team that so many people in the D.C. area and United States love so much, I cannot conceivably change the name."  (I know, right...I totally should get paid for that.)  However, he did none of that.  In fact, he said in so many words that even if the latest Native American group wins the lawsuit, he's still not changing the name.  I believe that his more incendiary quote can be translated like this: "Yo slim, I got money to make, fans to keep happy and next season to worry about, so eff y'all feelings.  Your reach ain't long enough, dunny.  Your peeps ain't strong enough, f*cka."  (Of course I had to throw a Jay-Z quote in there.  Like I tell one of my co-workers all the time, there's always a good time to use a Jay-Z quote.) 

I get it...Dan Snyder is only continuing the trend that Jack Kent Cooke set before him because he was just as adamant about keeping the namesake.  In fact, Snyder has an Associated Press-GFK poll to back up his point in which 79 percent of America is in favor of the name staying the same--although Cooke had 89 percent of America (via a Washington Post/ABC poll) supporting his stance in 1992 right before they won Super Bowl XXVI.  I know so many fans that couldn't care less if Washington's storied football franchise changes or keeps the name because the name of the team has less to do with the spirit of its players.  I could go on for days about this topic, but I'm done trying to get people to see it from the other side because I understand how hard it is to let go of habits and tradition--even if that tradition involves ostracizing and offending another group of people.  I guess this is where the difference between acceptance and tolerance comes into play.  At any rate, as owner of the fifth most valuable sports franchise on the entire planet, have some respect and class about it, Danny Boy.  If you're so bold as to say "NEVER -- you can use caps", then you might as well give 'em a buck 50 across the face, pour salt in the wound and say, "And you better not flinch or I'll cut you even deeper!"