Goodell’s comments come one day after Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Indians announced the team would no longer use the Chief Wahoo mascot on their uniforms starting in the 2019 season.
When asked about Redskins owner Dan Snyder and a possible change to the Redskins name, Goodell said on ESPN Radio, “I don’t see him changing that perspective.”
Snyder has repeatedly said that he will not change the nickname despite the opposition.
“The interesting thing is that Dan Snyder has really worked in the Native American community to understand better their perspective,” Goodell said. “And it’s reflected mostly in a Washington Post poll that came out that said nine out of 10 Native Americans do not take that in a negative fashion, the Redskins’ logo or the Redskins’ name, and they support it.”
The team has used the “Redskins” name since 1932.
In June 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office canceled six federal trademark registrations for the Redskins, saying the nickname is “disparaging to Native Americans” and cannot be trademarked under federal law that prohibits trademark protection on offensive or disparaging language.
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the Redskins trademark case in October 2016, but the following June, the Court ruled in favor of an Asian-American rock band that was denied a trademark on the grounds that it disparages Asians.
The ruling was basically a victory for the Redskins as the court said that the federal government’s ban on offensive trademark registrations violates the First Amendment.
Article Appeared @https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/01/30/roger-goodell-washington-redskins-nickname