Bob Costas Calls NFL's Washington Redskins Name a 'Slur' and 'Insult'
Famed sports announcer Bob Costas of NBC Sports took time during Sunday Night Football's halftime show to lend his views to the ongoing debate surround the Washington Redskins team name.
"Think for a moment about the term 'Redskins' and how it truly differs from [other team nicknames based on Native American images]," Costas said. "Ask yourself what the equivalent would be, if directed [at] African-Americans. Hispanics. Asians. Or members of any other ethnic group. When considered that way, 'Redskins' can't possibly honor a heritage, or a noble character trait, nor can it possibly be considered a neutral term."
"It is an insult, a slur, no matter now benign the present-day intent," Costas continued.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
But it is not just athletes and media figures giving their opinions regarding the controversial name.
Over the summer several members of Congress sent a signed letter to the team's owner urging that the name be changed.
10 members of Congress sent the letter requesting Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to change the name of his lucrative NFL franchise because of its negative connotations to the Native American community.
The Congress members revealed that multiple letters have been sent to Snyder, Redskins sponsor FedEx, 31 NFL franchises and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
"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," the 10 members of Congress wrote in the letter.
As the controversy continues to brew over the derogatory nature of the naming of the Redskins, the team's quarterback, Robert Griffin III, previously complained that America is being held hostage by political correctness.
"In a land of freedom we are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness," Griffin previously posted on Twitter.
He then followed up with another tweet that offered a definition of tyranny. "Tyranny – 'a condition imposed by some outside agency or force.'"
