Tonight, CBS will be broadcasting the Thursday Night Football game between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins, and at least one of the two announcers will be trying to avoid referring to one of the teams by its name:
CBS lead analyst Phil Simms plans to try to avoid saying “Redskins” during Washington’s nationally televised game against the New York Giants.
The network airs the matchup Thursday night as part of its new NFL package. Simms first told The Associated Press last month that he would call the team “Washington” during the broadcast.
The former Giants quarterback said he wasn’t taking sides on whether the club should change its nickname, but he was sensitive to complaints that the term is offensive.
Simms’ broadcast partner, play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz, said then that it’s “not my job to take a stance.”
Leaving aside one’s position on the Redskins name, these efforts by members of the media to go out of their way to avoid referring to the team by its action name strike me as somewhat silly. The team name is a fact as much as the names of the players are a fact, and deliberately not using it, usually followed by some verbal gymnastics in the process, just comes across as patronizing and a way for certain members of the media to make it seem like they are taking a stand on a controversial issue when they really aren’t. In the end, the only thing I care about regarding tonight’s game is that the Redskins lose, Simms’s efforts make it seem like he’s better than everyone just come across as dumb in my opinion.
In any case, Simms’s employers don’t seem to share his plans:
Retweet if you're picking the Washington @Redskins to win on Thursday night. #TNF pic.twitter.com/FlfLIV5TqV
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) September 24, 2014
