Art Monk, Darrell Green: Redskins Name Change Should Be Considered

Art Monk and Darrell Green, two Washington Redskins Hall of Fame players, weighed in on the team's name controversy, saying that the team should discuss the possibility of changing it because it offends some Native Americans.

Monk and Green explained their stance on July 18 during an interview with WTOP-FM in Washington, D.C.

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"(If) Native Americans feel like Redskins or the Chiefs or (another) name is offensive to them, then who are we to say to them 'No, it's not'?" Monk said.

Green, who played with the Redskins for 20 years and competed in three Super Bowls, agreed.

"It deserves and warrants conversation because somebody is saying, 'Hey, this offends me,'" Green said.

Despite that many have echoed Monk and Green's sentiments over the years, Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder said he will never change the name of the team.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell defended the name to a group of Congressmen in a letter last month, according to CBS Sports.

"The Washington Redskins name has ... from its origin represented a positive meaning distinct from any disparagement that could be viewed in some other context," Goodell wrote. "For the team's millions of fans and customers, who represent one of America's most ethnically and geographically diverse fan bases, the name is a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect."

A diverse group of 10 Congressmen that included Tom Cole (R.-Oklahoma) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.-District of Columbia) joined the May letter by Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, from American Somoa, urging Snyder to change the team's name, according to the Washington Post.

"Native Americans throughout the country consider the 'R-word' a racial, derogatory slur akin to the 'N-word' among African-Americans or the 'W-word' among Latinos," Faleomavaega said in the letter, which also went to all other NFL owners and Goodell.

"Such offensive epithets would no doubt draw widespread disapproval among the NFL’s fan base. Yet the national coverage of Washington’s NFL football team profits from a term that is equally disparaging to Native Americans," Faleomavaega added.

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