The statue of former Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, who nicknamed his team the Redskins and was the last NFL owner to integrate his franchise, was removed Friday from outside the team’s former home at RFK Stadium in D.C.
Events DC, the government agency who oversees RFK Stadium, said the removal was an “overdue step on the road to lasting equality and justice.”
After years of resisting, Marshall was forced to integrate the Redskins in 1961 when the franchise faced pressure from the federal government to do so. Interior Secretary Stewart Udall threatened to revoke the lease of D.C. Stadium, which was on federally owned land, unless Washington added a black player.
Bobby Mitchell became Washington’s first black player in 1962 after the Redskins acquired him from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Ernie Davis, a black running back and the No. 1 overall pick in the draft who refused to play for Marshall.
“This symbol of a person who didn’t believe all men and women were created equal and who actually worked against integration is counter to all that we as people, a city, and nation represent,” Events DC chairman Max Brown and CEO Greg O’Dell said in a statement. “We believe that injustice and inequality of all forms is reprehensible and we are firmly committed to confronting unequal treatment and working together toward healing our city and country.”
Marshall was the franchise’s initial owner, founding the Boston Braves in 1932. He named the team the Redskins the following year and moved them to the District in 1937. He owned the Redskins until his death in 1969.
The statue’s removal was done on Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the effective end of slavery. It is the latest statue taken down during a social justice movement following the death of George Floyd, a black man killed while in police custody in Minneapolis last month.
“We recognize that we can do better and act now,” Brown and O’Dell said. “We’ve heard from many of our stakeholders in the community, and we thank you. Allowing the memorial to remain on the RFK Campus goes against Events DC’s values of inclusion and equality and is a disturbing symbol to many in the city we serve.”
The Redskins last played at the stadium in 1996, moving to FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, the following season.
The team has not commented on the removal of the statue. Over the past few weeks, it’s faced renewed efforts to change the name of the franchise, which some consider a racial slur. On June 12, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a radio interview that the name was an “obstacle” to wooing the team back to the District and building a new stadium.
George Preston Marshall statute at RFK is being taken down this morning. Truck just arrived to haul it away. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/yQduC1eCU0
— Denise Rucker Krepp (@kdrkrepp) June 19, 2020
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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