NFL's newly renamed 'Washington Redhawks' is fake news.
Rising Hearts Coalition, a native advocacy group out of Washington D.C., pushed an elaborate online hoax to introduce the Washington Redskins' new mascot as the 'Washington Redhawks.'
"It really is that easy," the group said on its Facebook page Wednesday regarding changing the controversial NFL team's mascot.
The group chose the hawk, according to the fake team's official site, to represent the 'strength, speed and courage' of the players, while keeping the Redskins' iconic yellow circle, burgundy and gold colors.
As expected, news of the elaborate fake name change circulated on sports and news sites, including a Twitter account and a website devoted to the 'franchise,' until the Redskins - the real NFL team - issued an official statement on their site:
"This morning, the Redskins organization was made aware of fraudulent websites about our team name.