NFL exec: Redsksin name ‘not a slur’

The Washington Redskins controversy seems to come up and catch a lot of steam and then quiet down, before the cycle repeating itself. After 50 United States Senators sent a letter urging the team to change its name, the debate is back at a fever pitch.

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Redskins general manager Bruce Allen said the nickname has a “deep and purposeful meaning” while civil rights groups have urged NFL players to speak out agains the name. Now a league executive has came out and defended the name.

“The team name is not a slur,” NFL V.P. of labor policy and government affairs Adolpho Birch said in a phone appearance on ESPN’s Outside the Lines.

“The team name is the team name as it has been for 80-plus years,” Birch said. “And what we need to do is get beyond sort of understanding this as a point-blank situation and understand it more as a variety of perspectives that all need to be addressed, that all need to be given some weight, so that at the end of it we can come to some understanding that is appropriate and reflects the opinions of all.”

In the meantime, the civil rights groups calling for players to take action, much like the Los Angeles Clippers and NBA did after the release of owner Donald Sterling’s comments, have gotten the support of Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association DeMaurice Smith.

“I have conveyed my thoughts on this issue both to Roger and to the team. They understand our position and I believe that those conversations are most effective when they can remain private,” Smith said. “As I have stated publicly, though, I do not believe anyone should inflict pain, embarrass or insult, especially given the racial insensitivity of the term ‘Redskin.’ As you know, I grew up here and like all Washingtonians I became a fan of this team. The beauty of sports and of the Washington football franchise is that it will always have the ability to bring this community together, regardless of what decision is made about the team name”