Jeff Green normally concerns himself more with the hardwood than the gridiron, but he did offer an opinion on one of the NFL’s most controversial topics.
When asked this week if the Washington Redskins should change their nickname, the Boston Celtics forward and D.C.-area native said he believes they should not.
“I mean, I really have no say so in it, but the Redskins has been a trademark name in the NFL for a long time now,” Green said, via the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett. “It’d be hard to let the name go. I don’t call any shots, but I’d definitely miss the name.
“I don’t look into any of the stereotypes, the racial stereotype that comes with it. I don’t see that.
“But it is a big part of D.C., whatever they call it is what they call it. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
The nickname has been decried as racially insensitive, but Green, who grew up just outside of Washington and played his college ball at Georgetown, doesn’t see it that way.
“Well, I mean, that’s just like us (players) being bothered with silly questions,” he said. “People have their own opinion. People say what they want to say, and people get offended by certain things. That’s life. That’s society. Sometimes you’ve just got to deal with some of the things that’s being said.
“I hope they don’t (change the name). I hope they don’t, but, like I said, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Photo via Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
