Notah Begay III is an on-course reporter for NBC Sports’ coverage of the PGA Tour.  But he found himself speaking out about the NFL this week with regards to the ongoing controversy surrounding the Washington Redskins and their nickname.  Begay is a Native American and has his own foundation to benefit children’s health in those communities.

To dispel the negative publicity surrounding him and the nickname, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder announced that he was starting his own foundation, called the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation.  That’s right, Snyder used the Redskins nickname in the name of his foundation to benefit Native Americans.  Now we know who Stephen Colbert patterned his late night character after!

Snyder has been criticized for trying to get rid of the nickname problem by throwing money at it.  At a recent event, Begay had strong words for Snyder and the NFL.  He called Snyder’s foundation a gimmick and accused the NFL and its owners of condoning the Redskins nickname in comments to USA Today:

Begay, whose Notah Begay III Foundation will receive a national award Wednesday, spoke to USA TODAY Sports before Snyder spoke. Begay called Snyder’s foundation “a gimmick … to try to offset some of the public disdain for the name of his football team. The Washington football team’s front office has tried to make the issue about them and it’s really not about them. It’s about, unfortunately, the NFL and its owners and its corporate partners condoning use of that word.

“I don’t think if a similar racially offensive word was used for the Hispanic, African American or Jewish communities that it would be tolerated. But because the American Indian people historically have not had much political leverage, or because we don’t represent a great amount of buying power from a retail standpoint, we don’t get the same level of treatment that everyone else in this country gets.”

Begay certainly makes some strong points in his words towards not just Snyder and the franchise, but the NFL corporate structure as well.  Daniel Snyder will never change the nickname on his own accord and it will likely take some kind of higher power (Goodell, Roger) to make the change happen.  The tide has certainly turned against the Redskins nickname and it’s only a matter of time before the NFL finally makes the decision to banish it to the history books.  There’s been too much negative publicity, too much backlash, and too much national attention paid to the issue for the change not to be made.  The more influential individuals like Begay speak out about it, and challenge the NFL to do so, the faster the change will occur.

[USA Today]