If a major broadcasting voice refuses to use the name “Redskins” when addressing the Washington football team, anger and venom from fans of said team will flow. That broadcaster would be following a decision made by some who write about the league (most notably, Peter King), but he’d be doing it repeatedly, and in real-time, increasing the impact of his omission.
Soon we might be able to stop talking in “ifs” and hypotheticals, because Phil Simms is thinking about removing a certain contentious team nickname from his vocabulary.
From The Associated Press:
Simms isn’t taking sides in the debate over whether Washington’s nickname is offensive or racist. But he adds he is sensitive to the complaints about the name, and his instincts now are to not use “Redskins” in his announcing.
Simms will be one half of CBS’ broadcast team when they air the Thursday night game between the Redskins and Giants in Week 4 (his partner Jim Nantz has previously said it’s not his job to “take a stance”).
As our very own Brad Gagnon noted over at Awful Announcing, Simms will be taking a stand without taking a stand. You can’t tip-toe around this issue, and most will see Simms’ omission of the word as his stance, even if his intention is rooted in not offending anyone.
So oddly, by trying not to offending anyone, he’ll offend a lot of people. You can’t win here, Phil
