Political pressure is building on the Washington Commanders to be the Washington Redskins once again. And Skip Bayless has opened his mind to the idea.
In a lengthy video essay on his podcast, The Skip Bayless Show, the former ESPN and FS1 debate czar goes in detail about the Redskins nickname and his personal feelings about it. He traces it all back to his growing up in Oklahoma, Native American history, and the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry.
Bayless has gone on record before as being very against the nickname, calling it “racist.” In fact, he also referred to it as racist in the video from Saturday. “To me, Redskins remains a racist nickname,” Bayless said. “What if an NFL team had been nicknamed the ‘Blackskins'” Bayless asked.
However, in light of Donald Trump demanding the Washington Commanders (and Cleveland Guardians) re-instate their controversial nicknames, Bayless is slightly changing his tune. He’s ready to embrace the Washington Redskins nickname once again on just one condition.
Every time I say the nickname Commanders I flinch … because … it’s … just … dumb. Now that Jayden Daniels’ team is on the verge of GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL, Commanders sounds dumber than ever pic.twitter.com/FZqh43yCi7
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 26, 2025
“If someone can conclusively demonstrate that a majority of tribal leaders across America are all for the return of Redskins and Indians as team nicknames, then I would be all for it,” Bayless said. “We went through this a number of years ago back in my First Take days. Some tribal leaders would speak out pro and some would speak out con. I just don’t know. But if you showed me that a consensus were now pro, you know, I’m just hoping this will at least spark a new wave of debate.”
“I’m hoping tribal leaders everywhere will just stand up and speak out on this starting now. Whatever their consensus opinion is, if there is a consensus, and maybe there isn’t, but I’ll stand behind the majority. Maybe I’m just being just another naively arrogant white person, but I must admit I do miss Washington DC’s NFL team being called the Redskins,” he concluded.
Part of the embrace of Washington re-thinking its name change is the way the cultural winds are blowing at the moment. But there is at least one element to it that just doesn’t like the current nickname. Earlier in the podcast, Bayless said that the new nickname makes him flinch and that “Commanders sounds dumber than ever to me,” especially with the team reaching the NFC Championship Game last year with star rookie Jayden Daniels.
Still, it’s a little odd to have a lengthy story talking about the history of Native American mistreatment and your personal connection to it, say it’s a racist nickname… and then admit you kind of miss it as Skip Bayless did by the end of the video. And it’s at least not as unpopular as it once was. Last year the Washington Post found the Commanders nickname gaining in popularity.
Maybe the happy medium is forgetting the Commanders nickname since nobody likes it, but not taking a step backwards and reinstating the troublesome Redskins nickname. Washington Redwolves anyone?
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