Plan to ax 'Redskins' from NFL Thursday Night game
By Paul Bedard | September 25, 2014 | 12:04 pm
Even South Park mocked the Redskins.
The mounting attacks on the Washington Redskins name is having a huge impact on network broadcasters who are calling the football team “Washington” more than twice as much as last year, according to a review of NFL broadcast scripts.
The growing trend will become even more apparent Thursday night when the Redskins play the New York Giants in the nationally televised game during which broadcaster Phil Simms has vowed to avoid using “Redskins.” The show "South Park" also made headlines this week with a segment that mocked the Redskins.
The switch comes as the NFL and Redskins face mounting legal and political challenges to using the name that some call racist and the team calls honorable.
A chief antagonist, George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf, said “It can't just be a coincidence or a random event.”
Banzhaf has challenged the FCC license renewal of one of Redskins owner Daniel Snyder’s radio stations and believes the challenges are helping change the language used by broadcasters.
He cited a Deadspin survey of the first two weekends of games that found a dramatic drop in the use of “Redskins” vs. “Washington” by broadcasters.
The survey said that in 2013, “Redskins” was used 186 times, “Washington” 156 times. This year, “Washington” was the winner over “Redskins” 169 times to 67.
Deadspin noted that the 2013 numbers were higher because the Redskins played in a Monday night game, which is nationally televised. Tonight’s game should even up the numbers because it is a national broadcast.
Banzhaf said the percentages matter more than the actual numbers. “In 2013, ‘Redskins’ was said almost 20 percent more often than ‘Washington.’ But only one year later, ‘Washington’ was said more than two and a half times as often as ‘Redskins,’” he said.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/plan-to-ax-redskins-from-nfl-thursday-night-game/article/2553934
