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Redskins name change? Congressmen get involved.

Redskins name change urged by 10 members of Congress, saying it's considered a racial slur. A Redskins name change is at the heart of a long legal battle.  

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Nick Wass/AP/File
The Washington Redskins logo (shown here on the field in Landover, Md., in 2009) is the subject of a long-running legal battle. Now, 10 members of Congress have sent letters urging a Redskins name change.
  • By Associated Press

| WASHINGTON

Ten members of Congress are urging the Washington Redskins to change their name because it is offensive to many Native Americans.

The representatives said Tuesday they've sent letters to Redskins owner Dan Snyder, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Redskins sponsor FedEx and the other 31 NFL franchises.

The letter to Snyder says that "Native Americans throughout the country consider the 'R-word' a racial, derogatory slur akin to the 'N-word' among African Americans or the 'W-word' among Latinos."

Among the group sending the letters are the leaders of the Congressional Native American Caucus: Tom Cole, R-Okla., and Betty McCollum, D-Minn.

The nickname is the subject of a long-running legal challenge from a group seeking to have the team lose its trademark protection.

Snyder has vowed that he will never change the name.

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