One day after a Washington Post columnist suggested the Redskins’ team name created ‘bad karma’ that helped lead to Robert Griffin III’s knee injury, the mayor of Washington has weighed in on a possible name change.
DC Mayor Mayor Vincent C. Gray suggested that if the team is serious about moving back inside the city, a name change may have to be part of the deal, according to The Washington Post.
“I think that if they get serious with the team coming back to Washington, there’s no doubt there’s going to have to be a discussion about that,” he said after a news conference, “and of course the team is going to have to work with us around that issue.”
Gray noted that many sports team — including the Washington Bullets — have discarded offensive names and/or mascots.
“I think it has become a lightning rod, and I would be love to be able to sit down with the team … and see if a change should be made,” he said. “There’s a precedent for this, and I think there needs to be a dispassionate discussion about this, and do the right thing.”
