The Twitter account @WashRedskinsNFL, which carried a blue verified checkmark, was posting content and video highlights from the Washington football franchise, most of which was from when the team played under the name it used until 2020, and advocated for the team to return to its old moniker.
The account appears to have lost its verified checkmark at some point on Wednesday, which came after the owner of the account tweeted on Tuesday an alleged communication with the Washington Commanders' official Twitter account – which went viral. The team wrote: "We love your enthusiasm for our team history on your account and all the throwback highlights you've been churning out -- really awesome stuff and the fans have been loving it1 We wanted to reach out, though, to ask you to add something to your Twitter name so it doesn't appear solely as 'Washington Redskins'–i.e. adding 'unofficial' or 'fan'– in order to avoid fans thinking your account is an official account of ours. If you'd rather talk about this further offline, we're happy to as well. Just let us know where and how we can reach you."
Kevin Sheehan indicates the account appeared to grow rapidly in popularity after the team's alleged communication.
The question becomes, did the team do anything wrong here? Producer Denton Day, who said he enjoyed watching the account's old highlights, thinks the Commanders were reasonable in their request and that adding 'fan' would have done nothing to change the account's appeal.
Sheehan thought it was foolish of the team to do this at this time with the sale coming in a week and if he were a public relations consultant in the room at the time he would have suggested they "pick some different battles" than DM with a Twitter account that at the time had 1000 or so followers.
"But at the same time, I didn't think the request was unreasonable," Sheehan said. "Because the truth is it does look like something official. Now, it's not the team name anymore, so that should be the first hint that it's not official."
Of course, the team could have been putting this out because there is still a push within the organization to move on from the old team's name, which had been labeled as "offensive" and "racist" by Native American groups for many decades.
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While some argued that Dan Snyder and the team framed the old name as an honorific, the National Congress of American Indians had long argued that framing was false.
"Despite the team’s arguments to the contrary, the R-word is not a term of honor or respect, but rather, a term that still connotes racism and genocide for Native peoples and for all others who know of this history and recognize that it is wrong to characterize people by the color of their skin," the NCAI said.
"The use of the R-word as the name and mascot of the Washington National Football League team is offensive and hurtful to American Indian and Alaska Native people and causes direct, harmful effects on the physical and mental health and academic achievement of the American Indian and Alaska Native populations, particularly youth."
And in July 2020, when the team announced they would undergo a review of the nickname, NCAI president Fawn Sharp said, "This moment has been 87 years in the making, and we have reached this moment thanks to decades of tireless efforts by tribal leaders, advocates, citizens, and partners to educate America about the origins and meaning of the R-word."
A comprehensive study published in early 2020 by academics at the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley surveyed more than 1,000 Native Americans, and roughly half of the participants said they were offended by the Redskins’ name. The survey also said 65 percent of respondents were offended by sports fans performing a “tomahawk chop,” and 73 percent said they were offended by fans imitating Native American dances, per the Washingtonian.
Is it possible the team and the new ownership group have plans to go back to the old name? "I would bet so much money that that old name is gone forever," Sheehan said. "The issue is whether or not they look at a new name and rebranding."
Follow @BenKrimmel for more.
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