.Peter King's Sports Illustrated NFL site, The MMQB, will reportedly no longer publish the name "Redskins." His thus becomes the first major sports site to ban the offending name of the Washington, D.C., football team.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Robert Klemko told Chris Moore on CBS Sports Radio Thursday,
I know that our site, we’ve talked about it, and we’re not going to use Redskins in our writing. We’re going to say "Washington football team."And it’s not something we’re going to publicize or write about. We’re just not going to do it.
Other sites have also come out this summer saying they will no longer use "Redskins," a term widely considered to be derogatory to Native Americans. Most of them, though, had no real cause to use the team name in the first place — cultural and political publications like Slate, The New Republic, and Mother Jones that rarely delve into sports. Statements from these publications, while well-intentioned, probably don't mean much to the NFL.
And Klemko may have gotten ahead of himself slightly — King told The Big Lead that "no final decision has been made." If King, arguably one of the most influential NFL writers out there, decides to make an official statement, it's likely that other sports journalists would follow suit.
Technically, King wouldn't be the first major sports writer to come out against "Redskins." ESPN columnist Gregg Easterbrook would probably like it to be pointed out that he's been calling the team the "Potomac Drainage Basin Indigenous Persons" for years.