Quotables: Bruce Allen defends Redskins name ... again

-Bruce Allen, Washington GM

A letter signed by 50 United States senators to the Washington Redskins in support of changing the team’s name has fallen on deaf ears. Washington is sticking to its guns, firing off another response in record time, as noted by CBS Sports. This one is from Washington general manager Bruce Allen and addressed to Senate majority leader Harry Reid. Allen says that the Washington team name “continues to carry a deep and purposeful meaning.”

Once again, Washington claims that the name is not racist, they have plenty of Native American people that told them so and that there’s simply too much history to change the name. In the original letter to Washington, the senators drew comparisons to Donald Sterling, who was banned from the NBA for his racist remarks. “We believe this conversation is an opportunity for the NFL to take action to remove the racial slur from the name of one of its marquee franchises.”

Whatever the case, Washington is sticking to its guns. Roger Goodell has deferred the decision to Dan Snyder, saying it’s the owner’s call one way or another. It would likely take Goodell changing that tune to get something done.

-Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are coming out in full support of team director of player personnel Matt Russell, as noted by The Denver Post. After being sentenced to seven months of jail time and pleading guilty to driving under the influence, careless drive and possession of an open container of alcohol, the team released a statement showing support for Russell, who will remain with the organization.

“We are pleased with the commitment Matt Russell has shown to making positive changes in his life since this incident occurred nearly a year ago. In addition to his successful completion of a month-long inpatient treatment program last summer, he has taken full advantage of outpatient counseling resources and passed every substance abuse test administered as part of his reinstatement to this organization,” the team said in a release, “We will continue to support Matt as a member of the Denver Broncos and this community.”

Russell will be eligible for work release and can get a day-for-day credit based on his time served, which means he can complete his service in 3.5 months.

“Yeah, the fact that it shows that it validates that having a first-class, world-class venue like this makes it that much more attractive, and hearing from others that that’s the kind of facility we’re building is helpful,” Wilf said. “Hopefully [the naming rights are sold] soon. We’re working on it, and I think having an event like the Super Bowl will help us with the sponsorship.”

Naming rights can be a huge boon for NFL teams, especially when they’re putting up a good deal of the money. They can bring in hundreds of millions of dollars alone, and smart money is on the Vikings getting a deal done sooner rather than later.

“The three things -- and Lovie and I were in complete agreement on this -- are toughness, intelligence and accuracy,” Licht said, “And then arm strength is a distant fourth.” Bucs head coach Lovie Smith recently named Glennon his starting quarterback heading into 2014. “Mike showed during this process that he has those three things and he scored very high on those three things,” Licht said.

Many thought the Bucs would go in a different direction after signing veteran Josh McCown. That’s because there’s a new coaching staff, and generally, those coaches want to bring in their own guy at the quarterback position. But the Bucs appear committed to Glennon despite having McCown on board.