With Washington Retiring Their Name Could The Kansas City Chiefs Be Next?

The Washington Redskins name and Native American logo are officially retired, is this a sign of things to come for the Chiefs?

The franchise said on July 3 of this month that it was undergoing a thorough review of its 87-year-old name, which is viewed as derogatory. Dan Snyder who is the team owner was already in talks with the league about a possible new name.

Adam Schefter reported that the franchise would not use any Native American imagery. Washington’s logo of an American Indian chief was designed by a Native American in 1971.

Washington will, however, keep the burgundy and gold colors and it’s new team name and logo have been postponed due to trademark issues.

Snyder acted because of Political Correctness & Didn’t Want To Lose Money!

With the tragic death of George Floyd occurring and racial tensions soaring across this country, civil rights groups have really been gaining steam demanding respect and pushing sensitive issues to the forefront. Among them, demands have soared for Confederate statues to be removed and or forcibly torn down by protesters. This was inevitable!

Could you imagine the pressure that may have been mounting on Dan Snyder just by the image of his team alone? If the NFL season happened even a month ago, could this have put heat and driven division amongst its fans or even endangered their safety at the games if they were wearing Washington’s jerseys? I didn’t even mention their players. It’s certainly possible and very likely.

According to the New York Times, some of the team’s biggest sponsors, including FedEx, Nike, and Pepsi, received letters from investors who called on the companies to cut their ties with the team. On July 2, FedEx, which pays about $8 million a year to have its name on the team’s stadium in Landover, Md., told the Redskins in a letter that if the team did not change its name it would ask that its name be taken off the stadium at the end of the coming season.

FedEx said in a statement Monday, “We appreciate the team’s decision to change its name and logo, and we look forward to the outcome of the next step in the process.”  

FedEx has six years left on a 27-year, $205 million naming rights deal for the stadium, signed in 1999.

FedEx founder, chairman and chief executive Frederick W. Smith owns a 10% share of the team, but he and other minority partners reportedly have been trying to sell their shares.

Could Pressure Mount on the Chiefs to Rename?

With all that being said could this mean a name change for the Kansas City Chiefs? Possibly! Not likely!

No, the Chiefs and Redskins are not the same things. This amazing franchise has shown the willingness to listen and change. Indeed the franchise has done plenty of good to erase it’s history when first moving to Kansas City, MO. What drives this argument?

If you’ve ever been to Arrowhead Stadium you’ll know there is no single place like it in sports, the atmosphere, the bbq, the crowd, the cleanliness the team, the loudness, the sea of red, the tomahawk chop….well that’s an issue for some.

The did build a “drum deck” for their pregame ritual that encourages fans to interact with one another and commence a read of red tomahawk chop wave. While fans do indeed join in the tomahawk chop chant it’s never meant to be disrespectful it’s just apart of the game that is able to bring it’s fans to a stand and chant and chop in unison in celebratory fashion for their team.

Maybe if it wasn’t called the “tomahawk chop” it wouldn’t be a problem, the native American connotation seems to bother people especially some people who are Native Americans. Perhaps the Kansas City slice has a better ring to it? If you’ve been to a game at Arrowhead you’ll find out real quick there is never any malicious intent behind it or meant to be for that matter.

On top of this, the Chiefs just so happen to have a horse called Warpaint with fans among fans who do wear Native American headdresses.

Unless the Chiefs get some sort of backlash for any of this by their sponsors in this current climate I don’t see money being an issue especially because they’re coming off an incredible streak of comebacks wins in the playoffs topping it off with a final comeback to win the Super Bowl with the best quarterback on the planet in Patrick Mahomes.

Speaking of Patrick Mahomes he is the most must-see quarterback of this generation who hasn’t even hit his peak yet, but he just got paid over a half a billion dollars to play with Kansas City until 2031. It’s the first half a billion-dollar contract in sports history. Can you believe he was a baseball player who chose to play football but got paid baseball money, the irony?