Jason Kelce’s first NFL broadcast from the booth came with a brief verbal fumble.
The former Philadelphia Eagles center had already established himself as a studio analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” but Sunday’s game in London marked his first time calling a live contest. During the Indianapolis Colts’ victory over Washington, Kelce accidentally referred to the Commanders by the franchise’s former name.
“The Redskins right now are doing a great job of not only staying tight but making the play when the ball is in the receiver’s hand and keeping it short of the sticks,” the 38-year-old told play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch on NFL Network.
Pasch immediately began laughing, though the slip was understandable given the team’s long history. The former name had been used for 87 years, beginning in 1933, and remained in place throughout most of Kelce’s 13-season NFL career. The term is widely regarded as a racial slur.
“Commanders,” Pasch reminded him. “You did it.”
“What did I do?” Kelce asked, seemingly unaware of the mistake.
Jason Kelce talks with Colts head coach Shane Steichen ahead of Sunday’s game in London
Pasch explained what had happened, prompting Kelce to realize that he had lost a friendly wager before the broadcast had even properly settled in.
“Oh, my gosh!” Kelce replied. “I almost made it out… Well, sorry, Washington.”
Pasch later revealed that he, Kelce and fellow analyst Kurt Warner had made a gentleman’s bet about which of them would be the first to use the former team name during the London broadcast.
Rather than drawing widespread online backlash, Kelce’s on-air mistake was embraced by some conservative commentators.
“Jason Kelce confirmed Redskins truther,” OutKick, the conservative sports and culture site owned by Fox News, wrote in a post on X.
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Other social media users thanked Kelce for saying what they viewed as the team’s “real” name, underscoring how divisive the issue remains among fans and across the country.
After years of defending the controversial nickname, Washington owner Dan Snyder retired it in 2020. The decision came during a national racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
The word’s history has been debated. A 2016 Washington Post report traced one early pejorative use to Minnesota in 1863.
That year, an announcement in The Winona Daily Republican offered a bounty for deceased Native Americans, using the disputed term in language that described them as being sent to “Purgatory.”
Many supporters wanted Washington to retain the former name, while critics cited racist imagery and the term’s history in calling for a change. The franchise ultimately retired the name in 2020
Members of the American Indian Movement of Colorado and Idle No More protest as a bus carrying Washington players arrives at Denver’s Mile High Stadium in 2013
By 1898, Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defined “redskin” as a term that was “often contemptuous.”
Still, a 2016 Washington Post poll reported that 90 percent of 504 Native American respondents said they were “not bothered” by the team’s name. Snyder later cited those findings in an open letter defending his decision to keep the nickname.
However, that survey and other similar studies have been slammed by journalists and social scientists as being unreliable.
‘The reporters and editors behind this story must have known that it would be used as justification for the continued use of these harmful, racist mascots,’ read a statement from the Native American Journalists Association. ‘They were either willfully malicious or dangerously naïve in the process and reporting used in this story, and neither is acceptable from any journalistic institution.’
In March of 2020, UC Berkeley revealed a study that found that more than half of its 1,000 Native American respondents were offended by the team name. What’s more, the National Congress of American Indians as well as the National Indian Education Association have called for an end to the use of indigenous team mascots.
