Native American group files lawsuit against Washington Commanders over 'fake' group claims

Asher Notheis

September 25, 02:24 PM September 25, 02:24 PM

A Native American group filed a lawsuit against the Washington Commanders after the team alleged the group, which is advocating that the team revert to its "Redskins" title, was "fake."

The group, the Native American Guardians Association, filed its defamation lawsuit in North Dakota federal court, highlighting efforts made by the Washington Commanders and its leaders to defame NAGA, according to a press release from the group. The filing of this lawsuit comes after a sales manager for the Commanders, Matthew Laux, claimed the group was "fake" in a text message sent in August.

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"This coordinated effort by the Commanders to defame NAGA in their attempt of cancel culture meets the legal requirements of defamation, among other damages," said Chad Laveglia, the group's attorney. "Given the Commanders are an NFL Team with extensive resources, a basic Google search that anyone can perform proves NAGA is, in fact, a legitimate entity. The Commanders' alleged intent to defame and slander them is actionable. We are thankful for the whistleblowers that have come forward and we anticipate many more will."

A Washington Commanders spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that NAGA's complaint is "without merit" and that the situation will be addressed in court.

NAGA's lawsuit claims that in calling the group "fake," Laux was "attacking the very identity" of the group's members and calling them "fake native Americans."

Laux had been discussing NAGA's petition, which is asking the team to readopt its title of the Washington Redskins, when he claimed the group was "fake." The team's spokesperson has since issued a statement saying Laux does not speak for the organization.

As of Monday, NAGA's petition to have the team revert to the "Washington Redskins" has over 132,000 signatures.

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Eunice Davidson, the group's president, wrote a letter to the Washington Commanders in August, in which she pointed to a poll that found 90% of Native Americans did not find the Redskins name offensive. The group also noted other sports teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Blackhawks, have kept their Native American-inspired names while recognizing the names carry "an obligation of honor and respect."

However, the team's leadership does not share the same interest in changing its name to its previous one, with Mitchell Rales, the top partner in Josh Harris's ownership group, saying the team is "not going to re-litigate the past." In July, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, one of the Commanders' co-owners, hinted the team could change its name again, with the new name coming as soon as next year.

It was foolish to think the Washington Commanders new ownership group would bring back Redskins

Christopher Tremoglie

September 08, 02:46 PM September 08, 02:46 PM

After former team owner Daniel Snyder sold the Washington Commanders, many people foolishly hoped that the new ownership group would entertain the idea of returning the longtime Redskins name to the franchise. This wishful thinking was egged on after a group known as the Native American Guardian’s Association created a petition that has nearly 131,000 signatures to bring back the glorious Redskins moniker.

But, it appears it was all for naught, as new ownership publicly stated it has rejected that idea.

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“That ship has sailed,” said Mitchell Rales, one of the top partners within Josh Harris’s ownership group, the Washington Examiner reported on Wednesday. “We’re not going to re-litigate the past. We’re about the future. We’re about building the future and not having a divisive culture that we’re engaged in. We’re going to look at everything come the end of the year and think about a lot of different things and do a lot of testing and see what people think.”

But apparently, that won’t include a return to the beloved former team name. While the news is unfortunate, it really should shock no one.

First, consider the political climate in the country. Returning to the Redskins name would have taken an immeasurable amount of courage. However, such bravado would counter left-wing cultural objectives, and Mitchell Rales is a longtime donor to political candidates from the Democratic Party. And while other donation records showed he also donated to various Republican candidates, most of his donations seemed to favor Democrats.

Returning to the political side, the person who led the purchase, Josh Harris, at least based on recent contributions, is a staunch supporter of left-wing criminal justice reform initiatives. Harris made a “six-figure donation to REFORM Alliance,” a nonprofit founded by hip-hop artist Meek Mill focused on so-called “sentencing reform.” Mills has a criminal record involving drug dealing, weapon charges, and accusations that he once pointed a gun at a police officer.

Now, Harris and Rales can donate to any political candidate or organization they want. That is their right. And, to be fair, Harris does have a history of also donating to some Republican political candidates. But there was no way Harris would support the team returning to the Redskins name if he donated to groups that support left-wing criminal justice reforms.

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Furthermore, the onslaught against sports team names that honor Native Americans under the guise of social justice should not be discounted. In addition to the Redskins, Cleveland's professional baseball team changed their name to the Guardians because of this, and other minor league baseball teams have followed suit with such franchise name changes.

Essentially, because white people named these franchises in honor of indigenous tribes, contemporary radical and left-wing agenda-driven activists have created a toxic environment that views any team name that includes something to do with Native Americans as racist. That is probably the main reason the name had little to no chance of returning. Unfortunately, it seems the Redskins name was thrown into the ash heap of history, never to return.

Native American organization wants to make ‘Redskins’ name great again

Christopher Tremoglie

August 16, 01:20 PM August 16, 01:20 PM

Left-wing activists may have fueled the movement to change the name of Washington’s NFL franchise. However, an indigenous organization known as the Native American Guardian’s Association is trying to resurrect its former moniker and make Washington’s football team the “Redskins” again. Now known as the Commanders, the team changed its name in 2020 to appease a fanatical mob of social justice warriors and white guilt apologists who claimed the name and logo were racist.

It was the franchise's name since its inception in Boston in 1933. Furthermore, the Redskins logo was actually designed by Walter Wetzel, a former councilman and chairman of the Blackfeet Nation and president of the National Congress of American Indians. Nevertheless, white, wealthy, left-wing ideologues told Native Americans what was best for them. Some agreed with them. However, many Native Americans were against this sentiment and the subsequent decision to change the name. One such group was NAGA.

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NAGA decided to fight back. The self-described nonprofit and advocacy group's stated cause is to seek “increased education about Native Americans, especially in public educational institutions, and greater recognition of Native American Heritage through the high profile venues of sports and other public platforms.” NAGA started a petition to bring back the Redskins name and logo, and more than 101,000 people have signed it.

“The name 'Redskins' carries deep cultural, historical, and emotional significance, honoring the bravery, resilience, and warrior spirit associated with Native American culture,” the petition reads. “It was never intended as a derogatory or offensive term but as a symbol of respect and admiration. Changing the name abruptly disregards the positive legacy that the Redskins name has built over the years and disorients the passionate fans who have invested their emotions, time, and unwavering support in the team.”

NAGA identified a critical part of the name change fiasco. It is little more than a virtue signaling activity by left-wing political sycophants who feel they have to atone for the past sins of white people. But, by doing so, these decision-makers ignored the cultural significance of the Redskins name. Moreover, they ignored the multitudes of Native Americans who were not offended by the football team’s name, as this poll published by the Washington Post revealed.

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“The change to ‘Commanders’ dilutes our team’s identity and weakens the connection with its devoted fanbase. By restoring the Redskins name, we reinstate a symbol of unity, strength, and shared identity that has inspired generations of fans,” the petition states. The NFL and Washington’s new ownership should at least listen to NAGA’s gripes. In doing so, they can help correct a wrong cultural decision, a decision that should never have happened in the first place.

“As fans, we seek unity, respect, and inclusivity,” the petition states. “We believe that the name Redskins can be a catalyst for positive change, fostering understanding and appreciation for Native American heritage through community outreach, education, and collaboration.”

My heart beats with Dan Snyder

Armin Rosen

March 24, 02:06 AM March 24, 08:37 AM

I have accumulated an increasingly soul-numbing feeling of waste and moral injury from caring about the football team Dan Snyder has blackened over the past quarter-century. Under Snyder, Washington’s once-proud NFL franchise has won a piddling two playoff games over the course of 24 years, which is the same number of times it changed its nickname during that period. Now, with the most hated owner in the NFL selling his Potomac estate and cleaning out of his office at team headquarters in Ashburn in anticipation of an over $6 billion sale, Snyder is primed to be the least-missed Washington fixture since James Comey.

The case against Snyder has been made and remade so many times that it’s practically a banality. Your Assads and Khameneis have real admirers in Washington; Snyder is so cretinous that it comes across as trollish even to try to explain him or to contend that this dough-faced imp could ever have stood for something other than maximum venality and implacable greed. To defend him seems beyond the very bounds of believability, much less decency. This is why it is important for me to assure you the following argument for Snyder is entirely sincere.

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As a Redskins fan, I chose to spend many of the precious idle moments of my expiring youth watching and caring about this team, which means that reckoning with Snyder is really another way of reckoning with my own choices and values. I know I’m not entirely bad. How could Snyder be? In fact, it’s a civic necessity to argue Snyder’s side. In the interest of inoculating ourselves against error, we citizens of a democratic society should never be so arrogant as to believe that the consensus view is automatically the correct one.

A Maryland-born college dropout-turned-advertising entrepreneur and fan-turned-history’s youngest buyer of an NFL team, Snyder is a misunderstood striver who destroyed a proud NFL franchise in quest of something nobler than his own enrichment. Snyder’s sabotaging inner need for control reflected something other than mere ego, and his serial distortions in judgment don’t point to megalomania but to a force even darker and more destructive: love.

Snyder lived a twisted version of every supporter’s dream, ascending the owner’s box only to discover he loved a thing he couldn’t fix, a thing that was actually worsened through his care. Steve Spurrier phoning in his resignation as head coach from a golf course, Robert Griffin III’s exploding knee, and the brisk deterioration of FedEx Field into a barely functional modern ruin became earthly expressions of the cosmic verdict that Snyder must be punished for his devotion. In 2012, ESPN reported that Snyder would sulk in the owner’s box after tough losses, which there were a lot of, slamming pizzas and cheeseburgers in a self-lacerating binge until 4 a.m. This is the true Snyder, a grotesque subsumption of the team into a single schlubby and desperate fan. If only he’d been less desperate.

There are, broadly speaking, two types of terrible sports owners: the ones who destroy teams very slowly through neglect and the ones who destroy them much more rapidly because they care too much. For the first 20 years of his ownership of the Redskins, Snyder belonged firmly to the latter category. In the early years, he spent extravagantly on washed-up free agents, Deion Sanders being the shiniest jewel in Snyder’s cabinet of cubic zirconia. He ran coaches and quarterbacks out of town with the abandon of someone certain they were one ingenious decision away from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Snyder’s fragile ego never permitted him to hire a general manager or keep any talented personnel executive around for very long. Actual football knowledge was an unendurable threat to Snyder’s sense of self, as his campaign to smear the fired possible franchise savior Scot McCloughan as a relapsed alcoholic in 2016 rather cruelly demonstrated.

In his final half-decade as owner, love curdled into nihilism, and Snyder reverted to a much more ordinary terribleness. Most of Snyder’s alleged misdeeds from this period are overstated or could even count in his favor. That he allegedly stiffed his fellow owners on shared league revenue is actually kind of cool because, while stealing and lying are both bad, I cannot in good conscience oppose anything that hurts the Eagles, Cowboys, or Giants. Rejecting an invitation from a panel of congressional hyenas looking into that aforementioned alleged theft, as well as into the franchise’s supposed culture of sexual harassment, only improved Snyder’s growing outlaw cred — with me, at least. His refusal to sell the team to Jeff Bezos, eschewing easy billions and inviting an increasingly plausible scenario in which the NFL might strip Snyder of ownership, is a supreme act of principle in this stupid day and age.

But principle hasn’t figured into much of anything else for Snyder lately. In 2020, Snyder capitulated to threats from FedEx and a host of other corporate partners and changed the team’s name from “Redskins,” breaking a long-standing promise and siding with corporate money against some large percentage of his team’s dwindling fan base. Snyder has twice disrespected the memory of franchise icon Sean Taylor in recent years, retiring his number in an awkward ceremony announced just days before and unveiling a ghastly statue of the murdered safety that immediately became an internet meme. A survey of NFL players recently found that Washington has by far the worst practice and training facilities and overall player services in the league. No one was surprised by this.

As for the dollars and cents: Snyder is reportedly one of the only owners in the league who pays himself a salary — $10 million annually, as opposed to the traditional $0 — and who charges the team for the use of his private aircraft. The Commanders now resemble one of those late-stage autocratic regimes that have finally jettisoned any sense of larger purpose and exist only to extend the ruling clique’s hold on wealth and power.

Snyder has contributed generously to fighting cancer, which is admirable enough. But, in Washington, the owner is better known for chopping down the federally protected trees blocking his mansion’s view of the Potomac than he is for building much of anything. People forgave Abe Pollin for presiding over decades of mediocre hockey and basketball because he transformed downtown Washington and was an ever-present benefactor to seemingly every major institution in town. Snyder leaves no comparable legacy. In time, it will be as if he was never even here.

Can’t the same be said for almost all of us, though? How many of you even know who Abe Pollin is? Maybe Snyder’s disgusting twilight years as owner reveal the evil glimmer of self-knowledge.

Perhaps he understood that a sports owner is measured only through whether they can bring a championship, that cathartic ultimate victory that absolves every past and future sin. Snyder descended into nihilism only when he accepted the fact that he couldn’t make his dreams real or our dreams real. The dreams are stupid, he eventually decided, perhaps while signing a $10 million check to himself.

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But it’s clear to me he didn’t always believe that. He’s a man with a broken soul, which is different from being a soulless man and might even be worse. For most of his life, Snyder was the kind of person capable of being tormented by his failures. And he is only 58 years old, weeks or even days away from a projected $6 billion windfall. He will likely spend his remaining decades continuing to discover how little it all really buys in the end.

Armin Rosen is a New York-based reporter at large for Tablet.

WATCH: Chicago Bears player dramatically flops after shove

Jack Birle

October 13, 09:40 PM October 13, 09:40 PM

Chicago Bears offensive lineman Sam Mustipher fell backwards in a dramatic fashion after an apparent light shove by Washington Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne during a game Thursday night.

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The flop happened after a 5-yard rush by Bears running back David Montgomery late in the first quarter. No penalty was given for the shove by Payne or the flop by Mustipher.

The flop is in stark contrast to recent headlines out of Thursday Night Football games this season, with scary apparent head injuries sidelining players in consecutive weeks.

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The NFL and NFL Players Association recently agreed to update the league's concussion protocol after questions surrounding the Miami Dolphins’ handling of two apparent head injuries to their quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Washington Commanders announce return of marching band in 2022

Julia Johnson

May 05, 02:38 PM May 05, 02:38 PM

The Washington Commanders announced on Thursday that its marching band would make a return for the 2022 season.

"We are very excited to bring back the marching band with a new sound as we enter the inaugural season of the Washington Commanders," said Joey Colby-Begovich, the Commanders' vice president of guest experience.

"We have continually emphasized the return of traditions that have lived with the Franchise for decades, and this is something we have prioritized in the rebrand process with the hiring of Maestro Jeffrey Sean Dokken, the team's first ever Music Director, and Brittney Lynn, the Band Director, who will work together to oversee efforts for enhancing the fan experience on gameday through creating and combining new and old music traditions."

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The ensemble will consist of 60 members and be composed of various instruments, including woodwinds, brass, and percussion. The band, in its latest iteration, will "debut at the Commanders Training Camp this summer."

The team is also offering an open invitation for local musicians to audition for the group.

"The return of the marching band is part of the next phase of the team's rebrand process, during which the team will work closely with fans to pull forward traditions under a new banner, including new, and newly revived, musical traditions," the Commanders said.

Founded in 1937, it is the oldest marching band in the NFL. It was once an "all-volunteer ensemble that pioneered halftime entertainment."

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The band will also don newly designed uniforms, according to the team.

School board in Michigan votes to change name from ‘Chiefs’

Charles Hilu

May 30, 09:00 AM May 30, 09:00 AM

The Okemos school board in Michigan voted Monday to drop its teams' name, no longer calling them the “Chiefs.”

The name was adopted to honor Chief Okemos, a regional leader of the Saginaw Chippewa tribe during the War of 1812, who serves as the city’s namesake, but school officials have been battling over the name since 1989.

“It values and respects indigenous people, and it offers an opportunity to improve our relationship with the community that nicknames that we have used negatively impact,” 2017 Okemos High School graduate Adanya Gilmore said of the decision.

Gilmore was part of a committee the district appointed to issue a recommendation on whether the name should be changed.

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The name is set to be updated in 2023, but it's unclear if any names have been taken into consideration.

Changing uniforms, branding, and equipment would cost at least $400,000, officials estimated, according to the Lansing State Journal.

One community member concerned by the change is Deborah Guthrie, who designed the school’s logo in 2011, into which she incorporated the outgoing nickname.

“I appreciate history, and I appreciate the truth, not eliminating history,” Guthrie said, according to the Associated Press.

The change would take a burden off of Native American students, leaders in the community said.

“This is a learning moment, a teaching moment that we need to use continuously and not just for this group of students who will be impacted,” said school board member Katie Cavanaugh.

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Other schools across Michigan, as well as some professional teams nationally, continue to eliminate nicknames that refer to indigenous people. The former Washington Redskins of the National Football League call themselves the Washington Football Team while they search for a name.

'Hail to the No-Names' — how to lose to cancel culture without surrendering

Washington Examiner

July 26, 12:00 AM July 26, 12:00 AM

The first thing any reader needs to know is that the vast, vast majority of Native Americans were never offended by the Washington Redskins' mascot or logo. Certainly, there are offensive ways of representing Native Americans in sports and in other areas — Chief Wahoo comes to mind, as do mocking versions of native dances and rituals. But the Redskins did not engage in those, and people noticed.

A 2016 poll conducted by the Washington Post, the very organization most active in campaigning for the Redskins' demise, found by a 10-to-1 ratio that Native American respondents were not offended. In fact, surveys have suggested that the most common emotion the name inspires is pride. They are proud that Washington's football team wanted to associate itself with and commemorate the ferocious, courageous reputation of the "braves on the warpath" who once terrorized their enemies wearing (at least in some tribes) the red warpaint that originally gave rise to the name "Redskin."

This all stands to reason — after all, no one names their team after something they think is stupid, inferior, or weak. They name their team after something they think is awesome.

Native Americans' positive attitudes toward his organization allowed Redskins owner Dan Snyder to resist years of crusading and "white-knighting" by academics and activist-journalists at the Post. But Snyder finally met his match this summer, when FedEx, the Redskins' major sponsor and namesake of their stadium in Landover, Maryland, tried to get out ahead of the zeitgeist by demanding that the Redskins' name be dropped. At that point, Snyder had little choice.

It must have been a frustrating defeat — to have to watch self-indulgent, smug white people soothing their own egos in this manner. But in the end, money is money. Football teams exist to make a profit, not to make a point.

Still, whether intentionally or not, Snyder may have stumbled upon something wonderful when he decided what the team will be called in the coming season. In fact, we hope he sticks with the chosen new name permanently. This is how you lose a battle against political correctness without giving up the war.

The Washington Football Team (or as most people will call them all season, the Redskins) probably won't enjoy any more success on the field than they usually do. But their bland, no-frills name will stand out. It will remind everyone how easy it is to be offended if you want to be. Every name will soon be on the chopping block (the Braves, the Rangers, the Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, the Cowboys, the Vikings, the Rebels, the Fighting Irish, the Aggies), and nothing will be safe in the long run. Even animal and inanimate names will be deemed offensive. Weren't broncos used to transport slaves? Don't hurricanes kill women and non-whites disproportionately?

So, why not get out ahead of all this and have no name at all?

Like the all-consuming Nothing devouring the world of The Neverending Story, the forces of political correctness threaten to obliterate every cultural and historical or even just interesting reference in modern life — even in an area as lighthearted as sport. And those demanding it are invariably society's most privileged and most ignorant of anything that matters.

This is why the mob's demands must never be honored with sincerity. Its sensibilities must never be legitimized, because they are fake. A mob that is willing to tear down the statue of an abolitionist just because it is old is a mob too ignorant to be offended about anything.

That's why Snyder's choice of "Washington Football Team," which mirrors the name the Post had already been using for years, sets exactly the right tone. It takes the mob's culture-less, ideologically rigid mentality to its ultimate conclusion. Washington has no name, and soon, no one else will, either. We hope that the Redskins stick to their new name rather than coming up with something else that will just offend someone eventually anyway. It's easier than dealing with the perpetually pretend-offended.

'It takes away from the Native Americans': Son of Redskins logo designer denounces rebranding

Carly Ortiz-Lytle

July 16, 09:50 AM July 16, 09:50 AM

The Washington Redskins branding change isn’t sitting well with everyone.

The son of Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, the Native American man who designed the Redskins’s current logo, called the change “hard to take.” The logo has been used by the team since 1971.

"Everyone was pretty upset [about the change]. Everyone understood the name change. We were all on board with that,” Lance Wetzel said. “Once they weren't going to use the logo, it was hard. It takes away from the Native Americans. When I see that logo, I take pride in it. You look at the depiction of the Redskins logo, and it’s of a true Native American. I always felt it was representing my people. That's not gone."

Blackie Wetzel, a member of the National Congress of American Indians, was raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, according to WUSA9. The Redskins logo is a depiction of John "Two Guns" White Calf, a Blackfeet chief.

Lance Wetzel said the logo reminded football fans that Native Americans, a “forgotten people,” exist.

“The Native Americans were forgotten people. That logo lets people know these people exist," Wetzel said. "If it were changed and it removed any derogatory feelings toward any person, then I think it’s a win. I don’t want that logo to be associated in a negative way, ever.”

The Redskins have made efforts to educate fans on Blackfeet history, including highlighting indigenous singers and honoring Blackie Wetzel at a game in 2018.

The Redskins announced Monday that the name and logo depicting a Native American would be retired but have not announced a replacement for either.

The Navajo Nation has suggested the name be changed to the “Washington Code Talkers” in honor of the indigenous soldiers who used their languages to help the United States win World War II.

Washington Redskins to change team name

Mike Brest

July 13, 09:05 AM July 13, 10:43 AM

The Washington Redskins will change their team name.

The team, which has gone by the old name since the 1930s, announced on Monday that it will no longer use the term "Redskins" after critics have claimed it was racist and insensitive to Native Americans. In a statement team owner Dan Snyder and head coach Ron Rivera said they are “working closely to develop a new name and design," which have not yet been revealed. The Washington Post reported that the team is unable to reveal the new name because there is an ongoing trademark dispute.

Synder, who purchased the team in 1999, has repeatedly refused to change the team name and defended it in previous years, but calls for the team to change its name were renewed following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Protests, which were mostly peaceful, have spread across the country, demanding an end to systemic racism and police brutality. Some cities are still having demonstrations six weeks after his death.

The majority owner announced on July 3 that the team would be undergoing a "thorough review" of its name. The decision came after a number of organizations that partner with the team called on it to change the name. Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Nike have also taken Redskins merchandise off their sites amid the push.

"We have communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name," FedEx, which has naming rights over the team's stadium, said in a statement.

The pressure from partners contributed to Snyder's decision to back down after years of refusing to do so, but he also faced it from the Washington, D.C., government, which control Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in the city.

"We will never change the name of the team," Snyder told USA Today Sports in 2013. "As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season."

"We'll never change the name," he said. "It's that simple. NEVER — you can use caps."

Later that year, Snyder was invited to visit the Oneida Indian Nation in Central New York, who at the time was waging a campaign to get the team's name changed.

Ray Halbritter, a representative of the Oneida Nation, said at the time, "During his visit, we will organize a special meeting of Oneida Nation families where Mr. Snyder can personally explain to them why he believes they deserve to be called 'Redskins.' He can then hear directly from them why that term is so painful."

The invitation to visit the Native American group came after the owner sent a letter to season ticket holders about the team name.

"I respect the opinions of those who disagree," Snyder wrote. "I want them to know that I do hear them, and I will continue to listen and learn. But we cannot ignore our 81 year history, or the strong feelings of most of our fans as well as Native Americans throughout the country. After 81 years, the team name 'Redskins' continues to hold the memories and meaning of where we came from, who we are, and who we want to be in years to come."

"I respect the feelings of those who are offended by the team name," he continued. "But I hope such individuals also try to respect what the name means, not only for all of us in the extended Washington Redskins family, but among Native Americans too."

The NFL met with the Oneida Indian Nation later that year, but the team name was not changed at the time.

With Washington deciding to change their team name, that will likely apply additional pressure to other professional sports teams that have controversial team names like the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Braves — all of whom all use Native American imagery in their branding.