Redskins are officially gone, what comes next?

The Washington Redskins nickname is no more, as it is being retired.

July 13 will be the last day the Washington Redskins will exist.

No, the iconic NFL franchise isn’t folding, but rather, the highly offensive nickname towards Native Americans will no longer be associated with the organization. A press release was sent out on Monday morning regarding the organization’s plans to retire the nickname and come up with something better and non-offensive.

“On July 3rd, we announce the commencement of a thorough review of the team’s name. That review has begun in earnest. As part of this process, we want to keep out sponsors, fans and community apprised of our thinking as we go forward.”

“Today we are announcing we will be retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of this review.”

“[Owner] Dan Snyder and [Head] Coach [Ron] Rivera are working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years.”

The Washington Redskins will have a new nickname, logo to be proud of soon.

It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing, but my god, did this take forever. Of all the team nicknames of North American professional sports teams that don’t depict Native Americans in a positive light, Washington was the most shamelessly egregious about it. By the team’s press release, it’s abundantly clear why they are doing this: The group they named first, sponsors.

Once you can no longer sell merchandise on places like Amazon and have FedEx threaten to pull its sponsorship of the stadium on which the Washington professional team plays on, you have major, major issues as an owner. Snyder has owned the franchise since 1999 and had every opportunity to change the nickname. I guess dollars and cents are greater than common sense.

It should be noted new head coach Ron Rivera is one of four minority head coaches in the NFL this season, along with Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins, Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers and Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even though the social justice movement is at the epicenter of the team nickname change, it’s better to be painfully late than never, I suppose.

In the not-so distant future, fans of the Washington professional team will be able to buy jerseys, gear, etc. of the newly rebranded franchise. Snyder will be cashing in unlike ever before. It’s a big reason why bad teams re-do their jerseys all the time, to add some spice to a not great football product. Let’s hope that whatever Rivera and Snyder come up with is something to be proud of.

It’s a dawn of a new day in a new era of Washington football, and we could not be more exited.