TEXAS — Bernie Linstrom was born and raised in Austin but he doesn’t have any Houston Texans or Oilers gear in his closet. You don’t even have to ask him if he likes the Dallas Cowboys.
What You Need To Know
- Team was founded as the Boston Braves in 1932
- In 1937, the team moved to Washington, D.C.
- Recently retired Redskins logo, name
The fact that he has been a Washington Redskins fan since he was a kid answers that question.
His family is originally from Virginia and Maryland, so his loyalty to the team was never a question.
“It wasn’t really a choice I had. I was a Redskins fan. My family isn’t into baseball, basketball, but every one of them is a Redskins fan. I didn’t have a decision, it was going to happen one way or the other,” Linstrom said, laughing.
He owns jerseys of his favorite players and a few glass mugs with the name and logo on it but keeps most of his memorabilia tucked away. As it turns out, Linstrom is married to a Cowboys fan. He and his wife have a mutual agreement to not decorate the house with either team.
“Her dad actually has an entire room full of Cowboy stuff, makes me a little nauseous. Can’t really have that in my house,” Linstrom said.
Linstrom recalls first watching the team back in 1991 when he was 9 years old. It was a good year for a first year fan as the team went on to win the Super Bowl that year.
“I remember there being a lot of coverage for them that year in Texas and in Austin, which was odd,” Linstrom said.
Through the highs and lows, Linstrom has been standing by his team ever since.
The team was founded as the Boston Braves in 1932. A year later, the name was changed to Redskins, and in 1937 the team moved to Washington, D.C.
It’s been one of the most recognizable teams in sports ever since.
If NFL teams can navigate around the pandemic safely and manage to take the field for the 2020 season, Linstrom’s favorite team will play under a new name and with a new logo.
On July 3, management announced it would be reviewing the team’s name and 10 days later it was announced the name and logo would be retired.
“Redskins or anything else, it’s still my team. If it offended that many people, heck yeah, change it. Change it, get rid of it. It should have been done a long time ago. I’m still going to be a fan,” Linstrom said.
The debate over changing Washington’s nickname has been ongoing for decades but rose to the forefront again after new calls for social justice and police reform following the death of George Floyd in May.
The team seemingly succumbed to pressure from corporate sponsors to change the name after the likes of FedEx and Nike took actions that could have resulted in millions in lost revenue.
“If you have any age on you and you’ve been a Redskins fan for a while, then you know this is an issue that’s been haunting the team for decades. This is nothing new. It’s unfortunate that it had to come down to money,” Brian Batres said.
Batres has been following the team since he could understand the game of football when he was 7 years old. The Army veteran lives in South Austin but is originally from Northern Virginia.
“I think it hurts more to see the logo go away. For me, it’s very iconic. I felt like we honored the Native American people. But even as a kid, I knew it was a rather backhanded way of doing that with a name you could look up in the dictionary that was known to be offensive,” Batres said.
Washington’s logo has been a Native American chief since 1971. It was designed by Walter Wetzel to depict John “Two Guns” White Calf, a Blackfeet chief who appears on the Buffalo Nickel.
2020 begins a new era in Washington football and Batres is remaining optimistic that it could be a driving force for the team to improve.
“Maybe this puts a new spark into the team. New culture, new songs, new everything. We’ll see,” Batres said.
The NFL preseason has already been cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Assuming the regular season continues as scheduled, Washington is set to host division rival Philadelphia Eagles on September 13.