Members of the Oneida Indian Nation left a meeting with NFL officials "disappointed" with the league's position on the name of the Washington Redskins, according to ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. The tribe -- native to upstate New York -- has called for the league to sanction Redskins owner Dan Snyder due to the racist nature of his team's mascot.
Oneida Indian Nation meets with Redskins about name change, disappointed by outcome
The league refuses to budge on what has become the defining issue of 2013.
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
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The meeting was held in New York City and attended by members of the Nation and three NFL officials. Snyder and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell were not in attendance, something the tribe hopes the league rectifies in future sessions.
Goodell isn’t the first NFL commissioner to skirt around the issue. His predecessor Paul Tagliabue came under fire in 1992 when he dismissed the concerns of Native American tribes, citing the association of the name Redskins with Washington’s players rather than a racial parody.
Only taking into account the words of Snyder and Goodell, it doesn’t appear Washington’s namesake is in trouble. But the fact that the two held a private meeting indicates the commissioner is aware of the public relations aspect of the issue. With sports blogs, prominent media members and President Obama second-guessing the decisions of the league, it shouldn’t be long before the groundswell is too much for the country’s most profitable sports league to overcome.
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