Giants avoided using Washington’s team name for all of 37 minutes

While the controversy surrounding the nickname of Washington’s NFL franchise continues, the NFL and other teams have mostly stayed out of it. Prior to Tuesday the only symbol of a NFL team objecting to the name is when the Eagles left it out of their media guide last season. The Eagles later relented on their stance and went back to using the name.

It would appear the New York Giants joined the Eagles in a temporary boycott, but it was even shorter than Philadelphia’s. The NFL schedule was released on Thursday and the Giants announced their 16-game slate with this graphic on Twitter.

You’ll notice that every team nickname is used, except Washington’s. That’s a highly unlikely coincidence. But, if it was the Giants taking a stand against the name, it lasted for only 37 minutes. In a follow up tweet, the team name was back on the graphic.

That graphic initially appeared on the team website as just Washington before being altered and swapped later.

The fact a team would reverse course isn’t necessarily surprising. The NFL has remain steadfast in its support of Washington, including Roger Goodell.

“It’s the name of a football team,” Goodell said in 2015, via the Washington Post. “I grew up as a Washington Redskins fan. I always looked at that as something we were proud of. In that context, it’s not being used as a racial slur.”

Maybe the NFL played a role with the Giants, maybe it didn’t. But it is becoming more and more curious as teams appear to intentionally avoid the name, only to change course very quickly after doing so.