Washington Football Team President [Jason Wright] was interviewed by Axios on HBO. In the Interview, Wright was asked if he thought the Washington Football Team name was weird. Wright responded by stating the following “I don’t think it’s that weird, but it’s definitely some mixed views on this…Because I think the thinking prior was ‘Hey, we need to get a great placeholder.’ But, there’s also precedent for a team that is named after the place it’s in.”
Wright was also asked if he felt the former Washington Football Team name was racist. The team president responded by stating the following “I come from this bubble that definitely had that mindset, ‘Oh this is definitely a derogatory term,'” he said. “I had all the analogies in my head for what it would be for a Black person, all that stuff. That was the broad narrative… As I jumped into this role, I found out that the debate of folks much more closer to it was a lot more nuanced … I think we can all agree that the right thing is to move forward to a new name, brand, and identity that captures the best parts of our history and allows us to innovate and move into the future.”
How Can the Washington Football Team Change Their Identity?
The Washington Football Team cannot change its identity until Dan Snyder sells the team. According to Eric Brady of USA Today, Snyder once stated “We will never change the name of the team.” Then in 2020, the team name changed.
So did Snyder suddenly have a change of heart, and come to believe the team name was racist? No, what caused this name change was a pandemic that shut down virtually every business in the United States. During this pandemic, people were given enough time to see what was truly going on in the world. When the footage of the George Floyd tragedy spread throughout the United States, American citizens had enough time to reflect on everything they thought they knew about the world long enough to know that change was necessary throughout the United States. Thus, rose the Black Lives Matter movement.
Snyder Contradicts Himself
During this movement, companies were forced into a corner. While in this corner, companies could either choose to support the Black Lives Matter movement or go against it. This was an important moment for these companies. As these companies could either lose or gain large sums of money. The money was gained or lost through the way in which these companies chose to develop their brand image. Many of the companies that helped sponsor the Washington Football Team told the organization that they would potentially back out of the sponsorship. This would only happen if the Washington NFL team name remained the same. It was hard to tell if these companies really supported the Black Lives Matter movement. As some companies said they did so for the opportunity to make financial gains.
In this moment, Snyder chose to change the name of his football team. However, Snyder did not publicly apologize for supporting the usage of a racial slur as his team’s name. The reason for this is because Snyder does not care about creating a culture change. Rather, Snyder only cares about creating a publicly perceived culture change, as this will help keep his franchise profitable for years to come. This is why Snyder chose to hire Jennifer King as the NFL’s first black full-time Assistant Coach. For the same reason, Snyder chose to hire Jason Wright as the NFL’s first black team president. This is not to say that these people are not qualified for the job. However, Snyder is only hiring them because he believes this will improve the team’s perceived image, and as a result, make more money in the long run. This is wrong.
How Could Daniel Snyder Lose His Job?
When you eat an apple, the apple cannot be considered ripe if its core is rotten. When you attempt to change the culture of a football team you must remove everyone who is at the core of the organization that promotes a negative company image.
Unfortunately, you cannot fire an NFL team’s owner. However, Roger Goodell has the power to order an NFL team owner to sell their team. This can only happen if the owner is guilty of conduct detrimental to the welfare of the league or professional football. In the past, Snyder has faced sexual misconduct allegations.
Given Snyder’s sketchy past, one can assume that Snyder will eventually act in a manner that is detrimental to the well-being of the NFL. If the NFL actually cares about promoting racial equality, they will take advantage of Snyder’s future errant ways in order to promote a more positive league image. If the NFL does not take action, they will be silently admitting that they do not stand for racial equality. Rather, they only stand for perceived racial equality.
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