There's no more "if it happens" or "when it happens." It has now happened.
Washington's football team will not play the 2020 season, or any season beyond that, as the Redskins.
At 9 a.m. on Monday, the team put out a press release announcing the review that they launched on July 3 has led them to retire their previous name and logo (well, perhaps that should say "retire"... more on that in a second).
Here's the full, momentous statement, one that's so significant that you absolutely deserve to read it yourself:
Official. No more Redskins. pic.twitter.com/i6Y1yHeCnX
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) July 13, 2020
A few things stand out from the message:
1) The fact that "sponsors" are listed before "fans" and the "community." Many have been saying all along that the financial pressure from sponsors and companies like FedEx and Nike have been the main reason this move is finally happening.
2) Washington's desire to come up with a new name and design approach that lasts "the next 100 years." They clearly don't want to run into any sort of controversy like this again. No one would.
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3) The release still coming out with a Redskins letterhead even when it says they're going to retire the name and logo just a few inches below that letterhead. A team spokesperson later clarified they're "still the Redskins" until they officially settle on the next name. So, it might've looked strange, and it could be strange for the next few days, but that's the reasoning.
With just three brief paragraphs, football in this area has been completely altered. Now the wait begins to see where things go from here.
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