In today's Redskins news update, revered former Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs has stepped forward in defense of the team's nickname, amidst controversy over the racial connotations of its origins.
Per Jeff Gluck of For The Win, "the Redskins name has increasingly been viewed as racist over the last year, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled six trademark registrations owned by the team last week."
However, Gibbs, who won three Super Bowl titles with the Redskins during his tenure as head coach, prefers to accentuate the positives of the name - especially in regard to his legendary career:
“I grew up in North Carolina and the only games we could get on TV in the late ’40s was the Redskins,” Gibbs stated on Saturday at Kentucky Speedway, prior to watching his racing team compete. “I pulled for them my whole life. The whole time I was there — 15 years — never once did I hear anybody say anything negative about the name Redskins.”
“We have a song: ‘Hail to the Redskins,’” he added. “So everything — everything — about that name has been positive for me and my past.”
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