How did the Redskins get their name? – IOTW Report

How did the Redskins get their name?

PHenry writes:

George Preston Marshall started the Boston Braves football team. One of his head coaches was a man named Lone Star Dietz.
When the team moved to Washington they had to disassociate themselves from the Boston Braves sports franchise, which included baseball.  
So George Preston Marshall named the team the Redskins, in honor of Lone Star Dietz, who was Sioux.  
Why haven’t the Redskins ever told this story?   They could have put this controversy to bed long ago.  
Perhaps it’s a ham-handed tribute, but a tribute just the same.  

Story

16 Comments on How did the Redskins get their name?

  1. And, here in Tallahassee we have the Seminoles, which has blessings of the tribe.
    Most of the players now are a lot darker skinned as they could’ve been considered pale faces when I was out a student in the 1960s.

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  2. This is an additional reason that Washington needs to change the name of the team in order to continue America’s trend of flushing all memories of our native Americans down the memory hole. If the Redskins change the name of the team to something more politically correct – perhaps something like “The Environmentally Friendly Gender Fluid Football Team Designed To Distract Americans From Realizing Our Politicians Are Incompetent and Greedy Dolts” – we can get rid of “Redskins,” “Lone Star Dietz” and “Sioux” in one fell swoop.

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  3. Sioux were very red in color…recessive gene but about 25 miles from Oaxaca in a town that worships a tree you can see them when they come in to town from their enclave…been there, very striking deep red color..

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  4. Although this story is frequently given as the origin for the name Redskins, many have wondered why an American Indian would have a surname like Dietz. It turns out he was actually Jewish, and a direct descendant of the Sosiouxme, one of the Lost Tribes of Israel.

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  5. ….and the University of Norte Dakota dropped the moniker fighting Sioux…..

    I was watching a hockey game at the University of Denver vs the Fighting Sioux back in the day and a cute little coed from DU kept yelling “SIOUX SUCKS”….I kept asking her who sioux was cuz I’d like to meet her….crickets, but she kept yelling “SIOUX SUCKS”….I never did get to meet Sue….

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  6. They could change their name to the Bended Knees, Hate All Americans, Fumble Bums, Empty Seats, Washington Grifters, Bureaucrat Bumblers, IRS Finaglers, or the Head Trauma Specialists!

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