President Barack Obama weighed in on the controversy surrounding the Washington Redskins team name, which prompted a response from the NFL club. Redskins attorney Lanny J. Davis released a statement and suggested the President should go read a poll before commenting on the team changing its name.
"If I were the owner of the team and I knew that the name of my team - even if they've had a storied history - was offending a sizable group of people, I'd think about changing it," Obama said during an interview with the Associated Press over the weekend, via USA Today Sports.
Davis' response questioned whether Obama was aware of several polls which showed that the majority of people were not offended by the name.
"The president made these comments to the Associated Press, but he was apparently unaware that an April 2013 AP poll showed that eight out of ten of all Americans in a national sample don't think the Washington Redskins name should be changed," Davis said in a statement, according to USA Today Sports.
On Monday, Davis continued his defense of the team moniker in an interview on Fox News's "Fox & Friends."
"President Obama has better things to worry about, but he should look at the Chicago Blackhawks who won the Stanley Cup and he's never said a word about them," said Davis, via Politico.com.
Davis added: "He's unaware of the data. He's expressing an opinion. He happens to be wrong in not knowing about the data. If he knew about the data, I'm looking forward to him saying, 'You know, now that I know from Lanny Davis about the data, I favor the Washington Redskins because there is not a sizeable group [offended by the name], by my own criteria.'
"So I don't know why he spoke out at a time like this, but I'm glad he's using that criteria, by that criteria, no name change is necessary."
Washington's name has come under greater scrutiny in the past year. In May, Congresswoman Betty McCollum and nine other congressmen wrote NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and asked for the team to change its name. Goodell declined to take action and called the name "positive."
When asked in September, Goodell said only Redskins owner Daniel Snyder can decide to change the team moniker. Snyder has gone on record as saying he will "never" change the team's name.
Here's the full statement from Davis (via USA Today Sports):
"As a support of President Obama, I am sure the president is not aware that in the highly respected Annenberg Institute poll (taken 2004) with a national sample of Native Americans, 9 out of 10 Native Americans said they were not bothered by the name the 'Washington Redskins.'
"The president made these comments to the Associated Press, but he was apparently unaware that an April 2013 AP poll showed that eight out of ten of all Americans in a national sample don't think the Washington Redskins name should be changed.
"We at the Redskins respect everyone. But like devoted fans of the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Blackhawks (from President Obama's hometown), we love our team and its name and, like those fans, we do not intend to disparage or disrespect a racial or ethnic group.
"The name 'Washington Redskins' is 80 years old - it's our history and legacy and tradition. We Redskins fans sing 'hail to the Redskins' every Sunday as a word of honor not disparagement."
