Dan Snyder is an infamous NFL team owner for plenty of reasons. There's the poor decision-making that's led to a losing record over his tenure as Washington's owner, for example.
Snyder is also reviled in some segments of the public for his refusal to back down on the issue of the team's nickname. Despite numerous public calls for change, Snyder has insisted that the he will never change the name from the Washington Redskins.
But for all the public outrage and criticisms he has taken, Snyder isn't merely fluffing his feathers. He has no intention of changing the Redskins name.
And thanks to his insistence, he might actually be winning this battle.
To be sure, many will say Snyder has already lost on the issue of morality. But that's not what Snyder is concerned about. The team owner is only concerned with preserving 'Redskins' as the team's mascot. And, despite all the backlash he's received, Snyder doesn't appear any closer to losing that fight.
According to recent reporting from Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Mac Engel, part of the problem is the relatively small minority of Native Americans in the United States. Currently, only about 1.7 percent of the U.S. population is of Native American descent. While that equate to more than five million people, such a small group doesn't carry much lobbying weight.
The 'Redskins' issue drew plenty of media attention over the offseason, capped by the U.S. Patent Office's decision to revoke the copyright on the Redskins name and logo. It was a swift decision with huge monetary implications -- and Snyder didn't even blink.
Despite the increasing volume of the issue in the offseason, the moral and ethical issues of the mascot have taken a backseat to news related to the actual game. The team's losing ways -- and the ever-volatile health of quarterback Robert Griffin III -- now get far more attention than what is paid to the 'Redskins' issue.
Engel's column in the Star-Telegram suggests that's a sign of Snyder's inevitable victory. When moral progress is only a seasonal pursuit, is long-term change a viable goal? Or is the Redskins controversy destined to be a song-and-dance ritual quarantined to the offseason as a storyline to pass the time until the next football game?
At this point, the latter seems more likely.
