Amid political cries to change the name of Washington, D.C.’s NFL football team, at least one A-list celebrity doesn’t want see the moniker and logo go.
Actor Matthew McConaughey, recent star of HBO’s “True Detective” who claims to have been a fan of the Redskins since he was 4 years old, said in a recent GQ article that he supports the team’s name and logo, according to USA Today.
“It’s not going to hurt me. It’s just … I love the emblem. I dig it. It gives me a little fire and some oomph. But now that it’s in the court of public opinion, it’s going to change. I wish it wouldn’t, but it will,” he said in the GQ article.
Mr. McConaughey said he knows Native Americans who have no problem with the name, though he doubts they will speak up. He likened his feelings about the Redskins’ name to his feelings about another controversial topic.
“It’s like my feeling about gun control: ’I get it. You have the right to have guns. But look, let’s forget that right. Let’s forget the pleasure you get safely on your range, because it’s in the wrong hands in other places,” Mr. McConaughey said, according to USA Today.
Not everyone is in favor of D.C.’s football team keeping its name. On Capitol Hill, Sen. Maria Cantwell has said she plans to introduce a bill to strip the NFL of its tax-exempt status if it continues to allow the use of the name “Redskins.”
“We can no longer tolerate this attitude toward Native Americans,” the Washington state Democrat said during a press conference hosted by the Change the Mascot campaign on Capitol Hill in September. “It’s not about tradition, it’s about what’s right and wrong.”
However, an ESPN poll conducted earlier this year found that three out of four Americans thought the Redskins team should keep the name.
• Jennifer Pompi can be reached at jpompi@washingtontimes.com.
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