MIAMI, FL - OCTOBER 4: Washington Redskins linebacker Carl Banks (R) tackles Miami Dolphins running back Terry Kirby after Kirby gained a first down in the first quarter of their 04 October 1993 football game. The Dolphins beat the Redskins 17-10. (Photo credit should read DOUG COLLIER/AFP via Getty Images)
The Washington Redskins are no more. They’re now the Washington Football team.
“I’m okay with it,” former Washington Redskin, Carl Banks told Brian Mazique and myself on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“It was time – listen if a race of people that are a part of humanity is upset because they find that offensive, I think you change it. I just didn’t…when we played, we didn’t give too much thought of the racial undertones or connotations of what that Redskin Indian was and nobody really brought it to the forefront. So I think the awakening culturally in our society is a good thing, because the things that we accept – like, I’ll give you another case in point… when I was a kid and the Dukes of Hazzard was on, and the General Lee was the name of the car with the Confederate Flag on it, I never thought twice about it until someone said because you know, I have family from the South and they’re like, ‘You can’t watch this! Uh-uh! Cut that mess off!’ And I didn’t know because they were just accepted norms and so, I guess the voices weren’t loud enough society-wise to you know, where we as players thought twice about it.”
Back in the summer, the team announced that they would be conducting a “thorough review” of their team’s name.
“In light of recent events around our country and feedback from our community, the Washington Redskins are announcing the team will undergo a thorough review of the team’s name,” the team expressed in a released statement.
“This review formalizes the initial discussions the team has been having with the league in recent weeks,” the Redskins said in a released statement.
“We believe this review can and will be conducted with the best interest of all in mind.”
Hate it or love it, for now they are the 0-1 Washington Football Team who will take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon.
“The awakening culturally in our society is a good thing,” Carl Banks Heavy Live With Scoop B.
“We can’t continue to do things that are offensive to humanity. But most of that product – because name changes are opportunities also to get things into the market and they’re going to give you two opportunities because right now they have the “W” and then once they settle on a real logo, then that’ll change again. But what we’ve found is that the product that we were just ready willing and able to just cancel to burn, retailers are like, ‘No. Send us the product anyway.’ And the reason being is because they’re now collectors’ items. I mean, we live in this world of collectibles; I doubt if you see people wear them, but five to ten years from now they’ll be up and going for a lot of money because there’s an official name change that used to be called this and people will have them as collectibles.”