SWC75
Bored Historian
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Bud and the Manchild today discussed a proposal to rename the Washington Redskins the "Red Tails" to honor the Tuskegee airmen of WWII fame. It prompted me to E-mail the show with this discussion of the Redskins, (and, briefly, the Braves and Indians):
I heard your discussion about the Redskins and I agree they should change their name. Just change the “R” to an “S” and replace the feathers with a white whig and call then the Senators, (although the team might lack speed and efficiency with that name). I thought you might like some historical tidbits about the professional teams with Native American names.
- - Both Baseball’s braves and football’s Redskins started out in Boston and their nicknames are intended to be patriotic, not racist. But that’s been lost to history. I don’t think the original patriots did the “chop”.
- - The Cleveland Indians are named after Lou Sockalexis, the first Native American big league baseball player, who played for a previous National League Cleveland team in the 1890’s. But the image on their baseball caps:
Doesn’t exactly remind anyone of Lou:
- - The Dallas Cowboys are in the NFL because of an oversight by George Preston Marshall, their long-time owner. Marshall wanted his team to not only represent Washington DC but the entire south and for years their games were on the radio throughout the region. The lyrics for “Hail to the Redskins” originally read “Fight for Old Dixie”. They were later changed to “Fight for Old DC”. Marshall opposed any expansion into the south because he felt it impinged on the market for his team and he was powerful enough to veto the placing of a team in Dallas. Clint Murchison, the prospective Dallas owner, found out that Marshall did not own the rights to “Hail to the Redskins” and bought them from the composer, who was feuding with Marshall. Given a choice between letting a team into Dallas or not being able to play his team’s fight song, Marshall gave in and the Redskins had their greatest rival.
- - Harry Wismer, later the bankrupt owner of the New York Titans, (who became the Jets after he sold them to Sonny Werblin), was “The Voice of the Redskins” in the 1940’s and narrated the highlight films you see below. He later left the franchise acrimoniously, one of the issues being that Wismer felt Marshall should sign black players. He didn’t mind them being Redskins. He just didn’t want any black Redskins.
- - Shirley Povich of the Washington Post, (Maury’s Dad), later wrote of one game “Jim Brown, born ineligible to play for the Redskins, integrated their end zone three times yesterday."
- - Ernie Davis was originally drafted by the Redskins in the NFL and the Bills in the AFL. He met with Marshall and came away saying that there was no way he’d ever play for him. Ernie might have wound up a Bill but Marshall traded the draft pick to the Browns. President Kennedy’s interior Secretary told Marshall that he had to integrate the team or else he wouldn’t be given a lease on the new stadium they were building so Marshall asked for Bobby Mitchell in the Browns trade. Mitchell recalls being at a team banquet where the band started playing “Dixie” and being told by Marshall to stand and sing along as if it were the National Anthem.
- - Despite the history of racism, the old Redskins are the subject of one of my favorite things on U-Tube, a three part highlight film of the Sammy Baugh Era, narrated by Wismer. The great thing about it is that it’s COLOR film of NFL games of the 1940’s, something you hardly ever see. Wismer’s old fashioned “homer” enthusiasm is quaint as is the playing of “Hail to the Redskins” and other famous fight songs from the old days over the action, as opposed to today’s blaring rock music. I can’t help but notice that virtually every play you will see today, including the bubble screen, is displayed in these highlights as well as old fashioned stuff like “The Statue of Liberty”. You virtually had to pin players back then for the tackle to count. And the goal posts served as blockers or, occasionally, tacklers. Players were more versatile back then, going both ways and doing the kicking and having everyone in the backfield rather than split out allowed for more deception. The backs were all passers, runners and receivers. I can imagine that attending football games in those days was just as fun as it is now, maybe moreso in some ways. It’s just that playing in them was harder if you weren’t the right color. (Which makes the fact that this is in color ironic.)
(sorry for the test pattern noise at the beginning)
Syracuse connections: Doug Marrone dated Sid Luckman’s daughter and Les Dye, who catches a Baugh TD pass, later became the AD at SU and hire Jim Boeheim to be head basketball coach.
I heard your discussion about the Redskins and I agree they should change their name. Just change the “R” to an “S” and replace the feathers with a white whig and call then the Senators, (although the team might lack speed and efficiency with that name). I thought you might like some historical tidbits about the professional teams with Native American names.
- - Both Baseball’s braves and football’s Redskins started out in Boston and their nicknames are intended to be patriotic, not racist. But that’s been lost to history. I don’t think the original patriots did the “chop”.
- - The Cleveland Indians are named after Lou Sockalexis, the first Native American big league baseball player, who played for a previous National League Cleveland team in the 1890’s. But the image on their baseball caps:
Doesn’t exactly remind anyone of Lou:
- - The Dallas Cowboys are in the NFL because of an oversight by George Preston Marshall, their long-time owner. Marshall wanted his team to not only represent Washington DC but the entire south and for years their games were on the radio throughout the region. The lyrics for “Hail to the Redskins” originally read “Fight for Old Dixie”. They were later changed to “Fight for Old DC”. Marshall opposed any expansion into the south because he felt it impinged on the market for his team and he was powerful enough to veto the placing of a team in Dallas. Clint Murchison, the prospective Dallas owner, found out that Marshall did not own the rights to “Hail to the Redskins” and bought them from the composer, who was feuding with Marshall. Given a choice between letting a team into Dallas or not being able to play his team’s fight song, Marshall gave in and the Redskins had their greatest rival.
- - Harry Wismer, later the bankrupt owner of the New York Titans, (who became the Jets after he sold them to Sonny Werblin), was “The Voice of the Redskins” in the 1940’s and narrated the highlight films you see below. He later left the franchise acrimoniously, one of the issues being that Wismer felt Marshall should sign black players. He didn’t mind them being Redskins. He just didn’t want any black Redskins.
- - Shirley Povich of the Washington Post, (Maury’s Dad), later wrote of one game “Jim Brown, born ineligible to play for the Redskins, integrated their end zone three times yesterday."
- - Ernie Davis was originally drafted by the Redskins in the NFL and the Bills in the AFL. He met with Marshall and came away saying that there was no way he’d ever play for him. Ernie might have wound up a Bill but Marshall traded the draft pick to the Browns. President Kennedy’s interior Secretary told Marshall that he had to integrate the team or else he wouldn’t be given a lease on the new stadium they were building so Marshall asked for Bobby Mitchell in the Browns trade. Mitchell recalls being at a team banquet where the band started playing “Dixie” and being told by Marshall to stand and sing along as if it were the National Anthem.
- - Despite the history of racism, the old Redskins are the subject of one of my favorite things on U-Tube, a three part highlight film of the Sammy Baugh Era, narrated by Wismer. The great thing about it is that it’s COLOR film of NFL games of the 1940’s, something you hardly ever see. Wismer’s old fashioned “homer” enthusiasm is quaint as is the playing of “Hail to the Redskins” and other famous fight songs from the old days over the action, as opposed to today’s blaring rock music. I can’t help but notice that virtually every play you will see today, including the bubble screen, is displayed in these highlights as well as old fashioned stuff like “The Statue of Liberty”. You virtually had to pin players back then for the tackle to count. And the goal posts served as blockers or, occasionally, tacklers. Players were more versatile back then, going both ways and doing the kicking and having everyone in the backfield rather than split out allowed for more deception. The backs were all passers, runners and receivers. I can imagine that attending football games in those days was just as fun as it is now, maybe moreso in some ways. It’s just that playing in them was harder if you weren’t the right color. (Which makes the fact that this is in color ironic.)
(sorry for the test pattern noise at the beginning)
Syracuse connections: Doug Marrone dated Sid Luckman’s daughter and Les Dye, who catches a Baugh TD pass, later became the AD at SU and hire Jim Boeheim to be head basketball coach.
