Carolina Panthers won’t avoid using Washington’s NFL team name

The Carolina Panthers will face Washington this week, and the Panthers will use the team’s nickname despite protests and calls for the franchise to be renamed.

In a statement to the Observer, a Panthers spokesman said the team will not refrain from using the nickname.

“We understand and respect the varying opinions,” said Steven Drummond, the team’s director of communications. “As a league member we will continue to be consistent with our visiting team procedures.”

Of the nine teams that have played Washington this year, only the Philadelphia Eagles have avoided using the name by scrubbing it from their game notes and not saying it in the coach’s press conferences.

Washington’s team remains very popular in the Charlotte area more than 21 years after the city got its own NFL franchise. The Panthers have never avoided the Washington team name in the six times they’ve hosted the team in Charlotte.

But in recent years there’s been a bigger push to change the name.

The nickname is considered by many to be disparaging to Native Americans. In July, a federal judge ordered the cancellation of the Washington team’s federal trademark registrations.

Before the 2014 NFL season, the Observer and its editorial board decided to avoid using the nickname with the exception of stories about the controversy.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Carolina Panthers won’t avoid using Washington’s NFL team name."