I honestly cant see it happening unless the Redskins become a consistently winning team. I mean if there was ever a reason for a fan to defect it would be because the name was changed. There will be a lot of PR stuff out of Redskins park saying that’s its still the same organization with the same legends and traditions, but at the end of the day I think a lot of people will view it as its no longer the same team. It will give people a easy reason to switch teams if they are tired of mediocre play. And some people may also say I don’t want to route for a team that switched names; ie my team is the Redskins and they no longer exist.
Now if the Redskins are playing great and have been for some time the organization could probably get away with changing names and not losing a lot of fans. But that makes for a little bit of a catch 22. 90% of Native Americans embrace the name Redskins; it more plays into the warrior heritage to them and puts them in a favorable light. Im sure Native Americans would be more okay with it as long as the team is considered a joke and continues with years of poor – mediocre play. But do it while theyre winning it kind of disrespects Native Americans.
'Redskins' mascot acceptable, poll says - NFC East- NBC Sports