Washington NFL Team Dropping ‘Redskins’ Name After 87 Years

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington NFL team is shedding the “Redskins” name effective immediately.

The change comes less than two weeks after owner Dan Snyder launched an organizational review amid pressure from sponsors to make a change. FedEx, Nike, Pepsi and Bank of America all lined up against the name, which was given to the franchise in 1933 when the team was still based in Boston.

A new name for one of football’s oldest franchises must still be selected and it’s unclear how soon that will happen. Native American experts and advocates have long protested the name they call a “dictionary-defined racial slur.”

More than a dozen Native leaders and organizations wrote to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week demanding an immediate end to Washington’s use of the name.

Goodell, who has fielded questions on the topic for years, said he supported the review.