Redskins great LaVar Arrington can’t market himself as a Redskins greatDan Steinberg“The Washington Redskins announced today the 10 members of the organization selected to join the 70 Greatest Redskins named in 2002 and complete the 80 Greatest Redskins of All-Time,” the team’s Web site announced in the summer of 2012. That’s a bunch of greatness in one sentence. Former linebacker LaVar Arrington was among the 10 men “selected by fans and a blue ribbon panel” to join that list of great Redskins.
But being named a Redskins great is different than marketing yourself as a Redskins great, and so the team recently sent Arrington a cease-and-desist letter about a flier for his football tackling camps that refers to him as a “Redskins great” and includes a photo of him in a Redskins uniform.
Arrington — a Washington Post contributor and someone I consider a friend — wrote about the incident on Twitter Thursday from New York, where he’s contributing to NFL Network’s draft coverage. He confirmed in a text message that the above image is the one that caught the Redskins’ attention.
A Redskins spokesman declined to comment. Arrington, in an interview with Chad Dukes on 106.7 The Fan, said he respected the legal implications and that he hadn’t prepared the flier himself, but joked that using the Redskins name and colors would not have helped camp attendance much.
“They won three games last year, man,” Arrington said on the show. “I mean, it’s not like saying ‘Redskins great’ is going to sell out my camp. … I mean, we didn’t win very many games when I was there, so I just thought I was doing them a favor.”
He said his tweets were “all in good fun,” but also poked fun at the Redskins, who did not have a pick in Thursday’s first round.
“I guess since they’re not picking anybody tonight, I guess they figured they’d concentrate on other things,” he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/05/09/redskins-great-lavar-arrington-cant-market-himself-as-a-redskins-great/++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
