The Washington Commanders have unveiled a new mascot, Major Tuddy, a 6-foot, 5-inch tall hog from Upper Marlboaro. The mascot is an homage to the “HOGS” offensive line that dominated the NFL in Washington during the 1980s and 1990s. The slanted elements of the stripes bordering the “W” are inspired by military rank insignia, helping to infuse the familiar mark with elements of the team’s new name. The Washington Commanders have returned to a striped helmet, using just one gold stripe down the center. The team’s new W logo is on both sides of the helmet.
The Washington Redskins name controversy involved the name and logo previously used by the Washington Commanders, a National Football League (NFL) franchise. The team has named the mascot “Major Tuddy”, a hog, which is an homage to the “HOGS” offensive line that dominated the NFL in Washington during the 1980s and 1990s.
Some tribal members rejoice the team’s decision to drop “Redskins” as its mascot, while others argue that the logo, which has ties to the Blackfeet, has ties to the Blackfeet tribe. High schools still carry the Redskins name, with 48 high schools in the United States having the Redskins mascot.
📹 We Are Not Your Mascots: Washington NFL Team Removes Racist Name After Years of Indigenous Protests
The Washington NFL team, whose name and mascot have been a slur against Native Americans for nearly 90 years, announced …
Why did the Redskins change their name to Commanders?
Washington Nationals faced opposition from Native American groups and individuals for decades, leading to the team’s decision to change its offensive name. After 40, 000 suggestions, the team chose the Commanders, a “homage to the U. S. capital’s connection to the military”. The team’s helmets now feature a gold W with a burgundy background. Other sports teams, such as the Indians and Cleveland, have also changed their names and logos to be politically correct. In Cleveland, discussions with fans, stakeholders, and Native American groups led to the switch in 2022.
What do Hogs have to do with redskins?
The Hogettes, a group of fans of the Washington Redskins, were founded in 1983 by Michael Torbert. They wore women’s dresses, garden party hats, and pig snouts and became a regular fixture at Redskins games for nearly 30 years. When the group announced its retirement in 2012, it had over 20 members, including three featured in an exhibit at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The group’s high profile is largely due to their outrageous costumes and their frequent work for charitable organizations.
They have appeared in a national advertising campaign for Visa and provided support for various charities, raising over $100 million for these causes. The Hogettes were formed when Torbert attended his grandmother’s retirement home wearing one of her dresses as a costume. They attended their first Washington Redskins football game in full drag, adding pig snout masks, in reference to the nickname of the Redskins offensive line players in the 1980s.
Do Native Americans want the Redskins back?
The National Football League team underwent a name change one year ago, amidst allegations of racism and the exploitation of Native American culture.
What are the Redskins called now?
The Washington Football Team, under the direction of General Manager Adam Peters and Head Coach Dan Quinn, has a history that spans several iterations, including the Boston Braves, Boston Redskins (1933-1936), Washington Redskins (1937-2019), Washington Football Team (2020-2021), and Washington Commanders (2022-present). The team has been victorious in two National Football League (NFL) championships, both in 1937 and 1942, prior to the 1970 merger between the American Football League (AFL) and the NFL.
What is the Washington national mascot?
Screech, the official mascot of the Washington Nationals, made his Major League debut on April 17, 2005. As baseball returned to Washington, D. C., the team began refurbishing RFK Memorial Stadium for the new team. In January 2005, a large egg was found beneath the stands, requiring a crew of ten men to carry it to safety. Zoologists from around the world examined the egg, hoping to determine its contents. The Nationals kept the egg a secret, caring for it day and night until the hatching day.
The cold weather of DC did not help, and the zoologists and Washington Nationals players eagerly awaited the hatching of the egg in spring. Screech continues to entertain fans at Nationals Park and around the Washington, D. C. area.
Why did Washington change their mascot?
The Washington Redskins, formerly known as the Washington Football Team, has been criticized by many Indigenous people as an offensive slur and stereotype. The team’s name change, which was welcomed by Native American activists, was seen as a denigrating move towards their identity and culture. The former “Redskins” nickname was seen as a slur and a disparaging stereotype rooted in America’s history of violence against Native peoples. The announcement of the Washington Commanders’ official name change brought closure to a dark chapter for many Native Americans.
Why haven’t the chiefs changed their name?
The Chiefs team’s name has no connection to American Indian culture, but early promotional activities heavily used racially insensitive imagery and messaging. The nickname “Lone Bear” was given to Bartle, who wore a chicken-feather headdress and referred to himself as “Lone Bear”. The word “chief” is not inherently offensive, but it is tied to Native American imagery and stereotypes, making it difficult to untie the association. The team’s name, “Fire Chiefs”, could be a Dalmatian or a combination of both, but the association with Native American imagery and stereotypes makes it difficult to untie.
Why are the Commanders hogs?
“The Hogs” was a term coined by offensive line coach Joe Bugel during training camp in 1982. The original Hogs consisted of center Jeff Bostic, left guard Russ Grimm, right guard Mark May, left tackle Joe Jacoby, right tackle George Starke, guard Fred Dean, tight ends Don Warren, and Rick Walker. The line weighed 273 pounds in 1982, with Jacoby weighing around 300 pounds. The Hogs provided cover for running back John Riggins and quarterback Joe Theismann, who was accepted as an “Honorary Hog”.
Quarterback Joe Theismann was never named an “honorary piglet” due to his inability to hit a blocking dummy daily. Bugel did not want a quarterback in the gang, but Theismann has said he did make it into “The Hogs” as a “Piglet”.
Their successes inspired a group of male fans known as the “Hogettes”, who attended games dressed in “old lady” drag and wearing plastic pig snouts. The Hogettes cheered on the Redskins for 30 years before announcing their retirement in 2013.
Do Native Americans want the Washington Redskins back?
The National Football League team underwent a name change one year ago, amidst allegations of racism and the exploitation of Native American culture.
Who is the Washington Redskins Indian?
In the 1970s, the Washington Redskins sought a Native American icon to represent their team. They championed the image of Chief White Calf, championed by Blackfeet tribal leader Walter “Blackie” Wetzel. The Redskins first used a portrait of White Calf on team helmets in 1972, with similarities to the face on the logo, black-tipped white feathers, and braided hair hanging over the ear. The face of White Calf gained support from Native communities across the country, including the NCAI.
Does Washington NFL team have a mascot?
Major Tuddy is the mascot of the Washington Commanders, an anthropomorphic pig who wears a combat helmet and team uniform. Introduced during the team’s rebrand in 2022, he is a homage to the Hogs, Washington’s famed offensive line in the 1980s. “Tuddy” is a slang term derived from the abbreviation of a touchdown (TD). Major Tuddy was introduced on January 1, 2023, and is a large anthropomorphic pig who wears a combat helmet and team uniform.
The term “Tuddy” is derived from the abbreviation of a touchdown (TD). Major Tuddy’s controversial nature has been discussed in various sources, including Sports Illustrated, NBC 4 Washington, and MSN. WUSA9.
📹 Proud To Be (Mascots)
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VICTORY! Love and Prayers to Indigenous Peoples of U.S. and Canada!!! You stand up for the Earth against those that seek to destroy her! With environmentalists, and often at very great cost, you stand, to protect the Air and the Water and this Land. I stand with you, and I wish to thank you. This is a dream come true! 🕊 PROTECT THIS EARTH! 🕊 🕊 PROTECT ANIMALS! 🕊
I’ve been around Natives all my life and all my kids are part Native American. This whole time I have heard Native American males of various tribes call EACH OTHER AND THEMSELVES “Redskin”, or “Skin”, especially if they’ve been in the prison system. I seriously doubt most Natives have gave a shit about this issue on a day to day basis. Change the name of a team? Change the quality of life on The Rez- for struggling Natives period-then you’re actually doing something.
Native Americans have fought school districts for equality, our people have fought many injustices that have never been publicized…we are fighting to get clean drinking water, something so fundamentally necessary for life. We should be called by our tribes name or just say “the people” it’s important to use proper terminology when addressing a group of people. My brother is proud to be called red people, but that to me denotes what our grandparents and ancestors were called after they were slaughtered.
The term “red-skin” was, in fact used in conjunction with scalp hunting in the 19th century. In 1863 a Winona, Minnesota, newspaper, the Daily Republican, printed an announcement: “The state reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory. This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth.” A news story published by the Atchison Daily Champion in Atchison, Kansas, on October 9, 1885, tells of the settlers’ “hunt for redskins, with a view of obtaining their scalps”, worth $250. In his early career as the owner of a newspaper in South Dakota, L. Frank Baum wrote an editorial upon the death of Chief Sitting Bull in which he advocates the annihilation of all remaining R-dsk-ns in order to secure the safety of white settlers, and because “better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are.”
Now we’ve just got to get the Cleveland Indians to change their name and mascot and the Chicago Blackhawks to change their mascot as well. If there are any other teams that I am missing those must also be changed! I was really hoping this would happen and I’m glad to see it finally being changed even if it’s only a cosmetic change.
Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, a Blackfeet leader, designed the Redskins logo in 1972, inspired by Chief Two Guns White Calf. “It made us all so proud to have an Indian on a big time team. It’s only a small group of radicals who oppose those names. Indians are proud of Indians.” – Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, 2002, Washington Post
I was perusal a series of interviews earlier today on the subject of the name change, broadcast by the Russian based news organisation : Ruptly. These interviews were all with Black men. What I found disturbing was that none of the interviewees found any problem with the present name, when I considered that were there a football team based in the deep South with the ‘N’ word in the name, they would very likely be supportive of a name change. As a Humanist I believe that we should all take responsibility for our actions or lack thereof, and while BLM is being recognised not before time, it is easy for the people claiming their right to freedom to be blinded towards the self-same desire in others not of their ethnic background. The people who have been fucked over worse than anyone else in America, are it’s original inhabitants. Don’t get caught up in thinking that I’m a racist because I have criticised the actions of a few Black people, that is an equally dangerous road to go down as the form of racism we are hopefully moving away from.
While the term Redskins is offensive, it should be acknowledged as a simple truth that most all use of Native American themes in sports teams is done in reverence. You don’t see sports teams named after groups of women or Blacks or Asians, and there is a reason for that. When the Chiefs fans or the Florida State Seminoles are doing the tomahawk chop, they are invoking their take on the fighting spirit of the Native American. They are not dishonoring Native Americans. Why can’t we use a little nuance here? Get rid of the name Redskins. Get rid of the Cleveland Indians symbol. Leave the Chiefs alone because it isn’t offensive in any way. I would oppose a team called the New York N Words. I would like a team to be called the Carolina Zulus, in reverence of an African tribe who fought the British colonizers. Why is this distinction lost?
Native Americans deserve all the upright respect and honor from white people in modern society. Since the beginning of American history indigenous people have been victims of hate, harassment, oppression, exploitation, racism, bigotry violence, injustices, assaults on personal and cultural moral values and human dignity, structural violence and cultural genocide all at the hands of white people. White people have stripped the sacred cultural traditions and spiritual practices from the sovereign nations that protected and served the lands and natural ecosystem for thousands & thousands of years so well that Americans now get to call that same land that indigenous people protected home. The American society wouldn’t of been possible without the First Nations and all the work and respect the native communities upheld for the land that America was built upon and rests on to this day through their cultural and spiritual and socioemotional values and traditions and beliefs and moral practices of indigenous people for thousands of years long before colonization started. White people and modern society are obligated and owe to give indigenous people bothing but to give the upright most respect, honor, gratitude, acknowledgement, credit, thanks and respect to all indigenous people throughout the country and world wide. White people learn ways of healing ways of living and ways of being from native tribes. All pharmaceuticals and medicine in western society comes from the rainforest, and we have learned which plants and organisms can be used to make medicinal remedies and medicine from the indigenous tribes and the wisdom and knowledge of the tribes and the medicine healers traditions and teachings.
I think all sports fans and most everybody else will get a kick out of this letter written to the Chicago Tribune. No matter which side you are on in the matter of renaming the Washington Redskins, this is funny. This guy is hilarious… This is an e-mail sent to Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune after an article he published concerning a name change for the Washington Redskins Dear Mr. Page: I agree with our Native American population. I am highly jilted by the racially charged name of the Washington Redskins. One might argue that to name a professional football team after Native Americans would exalt them as fine warriors, but nay, nay. We must be careful not to offend, and in the spirit of political correctness and courtesy, we must move forward. Let’s ditch the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians. If your shorts are in a wad because of the reference the name Redskins makes to skin color, then we need to get rid of the Cleveland Browns. The Carolina Panthers obviously were named to keep the memory of militant Blacks from the 60’s alive. Gone. It’s offensive to us white folk. The New York Yankees offend the Southern population. Do you see a team named for the Confederacy? No! There is no room for any reference to that tragic war that cost this country so many young men’s lives. I am also offended by the blatant references to the Catholic religion among our sports team names. Totally inappropriate to have the New Orleans Saints, the Los Angeles Angels or the San Diego Padres.
We do not say American Indian, you might, if you think your not a free and independent people, you choice to switch sides to the colonizers. We are not American and citizenship can not be forced on another nation. She is wrong and a traitor to her ancestors if she believes she is American. N’ai Aln8bak! Wawana w8bimadah8do Mindojigalasi
I find it highly doubtful that the team would continue to use, sponsor, promote or utilize any references to native peoples or indigenous populaces after its been shown that its going to effect the bottom line and create financial penalties. As others have pointed out the name ” RedTails” is a reference to the 1st Black Military Aviators from the Army Air Corps in WW2. That might be about as inoffensive a name as you could think of. You could have a P-51 Mustang fighter with its rear painted crimson just like those pilots from that bygone era as the mascot. No need to continue to create division among potential fans,.even ones hyper sensitive and used to being marginalized. Lets see what happens.
I have always had great respect for all cultures but I fail to see why mascots representing Native Americans are considered racist. I’m Scots-Irish and I am not offended by Notre Dame’s mascot (the Fighting Irish). I don’t think any Greeks are offended by Michigan State’s mascot (the Spartans) and no people of Scandinavian descent are offended by the Minnesota Vikings’ mascot. There are so many other more important issues concerning Native Americans that we shouldn’t be wasting time jousting with windmills.
U know it’s strange, that Couch acts like he’s owns the name or team, he’ll retire or pass one day & really won’t matter. Some people don’t like change or can’t deal with change easily, it’s time to Move-on & move into the 2020s & have an Open Mind about Life, Labels, It’s all about the Game, the Sport & how U play it. It’s time for Change.
Teams are only named in reverence, not ever is disparagement. Localities want their teams to win, in other words. Yes, some names and symbols need to be swapped out here and there, but this whole movement against cultural appropriation is the apotheosis of the dumdum Left. Cultural appropriation is a great thing. White people wearing dreads and listening to “Black” music is a great thing. In fact it’s the only hope on which to build a multi-cultural society. Black people learning highly detailed information about coffee drinks and kraft beers is a good thing. This is what gives people of different cultures a basis on which to relate to each other and recognize their common humanity. Just STOP IT with this cultural exclusivity nonsense. It’s the most regressive device imaginable!