Many people have called for the Washington Redskins to change their team name, arguing that the nickname is racist and disrespectful to Native Americans.
Former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs isn’t one of those people.
Gibbs, who coached the team for 16 seasons, told FoxSports.com on Saturday that he didn’t want the franchise to change its nickname, pointing out that the name brought back positive memories for himself.
“I grew up in North Carolina. The only team we could get on TV in the late ’40s was the Redskins,” Gibbs said at a Joe Gibbs Racing team announcement at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday. “I pulled for ’em my whole life. Never thought I had a dream of coaching ’em.”
The three-time Super Bowl champion says that he never heard anyone complain about the team’s name during his time with the organization.
“For the whole time I was there — 15 years — and Cindy told me the other day, my secretary who was there for the last four years, never once did I hear anybody ever say anything negative about the name ‘Redskins,'” said Gibbs. “It was always prideful. It was courage involved. We have a song, ‘Hail To The Redskins.’ And so everything, everything about that name has been positive for me in my past.”
Gibbs was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
Photo via Twitter/@FOXSports
