Mike Ditka knows football. As a long time player, coach of the 1985 World Champion Chicago Bears, and current ESPN NFL analyst, Ditka is genuinely part of the fabric of all that makes football great. So when the Coach throws his two cents into the Washington Redskins name debate, of course it would be in true Ditka fashion.
In a recent interview with Redskins Historian , Ditka explained to Mike Richman his thoughts on the controversy that has dogged the Redskins for the last two decades–coincidentally beginning with the “Politically Correct” movement that took form in the early 1990s. As reported in The Washington Post , Ditka made his thoughts on the subject crystal clear.
“What’s all the stink over the Redskin name? It’s so much [expletive] it’s incredible. We’re going to let the liberals of the world run this world. It was said out of reverence, out of pride to the American Indian. Even though it was called a Redskin, what are you going to call them, a Brownskin? This is so stupid it’s appalling, and I hope that owner keeps fighting for it and never changes it, because the Redskins are part of an American football history, and it should never be anything but the Washington Redskins. That’s the way it is.”
Mike Ditka took it a step further blaming the far left for making an issue out of something they have no control over.
“It’s all the political correct idiots in America, that’s all it is.”
Ditka even went so far to throw his support behind embattled Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, who has said that he will never change the name. As USA Today reports , Ditka spoke highly of Snyder, and said that he “admires” Snyder for fighting back against the folks clamoring for the name change.
Recently, CBS NFL announcer, and former New York Giant quarterback Phil Simms said that he would consider no longer using the term “redskins” on air, which prompted inquiries to other NFL personalities and announcers and analysts to essentially choose sides on the matter. Earlier this summer, as reported here on The Inquisitr , the US Patent and Trademark Office cancelled the Redskins trademark registrations in hopes that the move would force Snyder to relent. But, according to ESPN, the team has already appealed the ruling, which means the trademark protections will stand during the appeal. This wasn’t the first time that the US Trademark protections have been removed as the same thing happened in 1999 and they were later reinstated in 2003. To put it bluntly, the Redskins organization is well prepared to keep fighting to keep the name they’ve had since 1937.
If owner Daniel Snyder has to continue to fight these absurd calls to keep the name of the team that he privately owns, having a personality like Iron Mike Ditka on his side is always a good thing. After all, we are talking about a football team, and Mike Ditka knows football.
