NFL commish Roger Goodell and retired QB Joe Theismann claim Redskins' name honours Natives

For many years, many indigenous people have resented the use of aboriginal images by professional sports teams.

Baseball's the Atlanta Braves and the NFL's Washington Redskins have come under the greatest criticism.

But that's not how the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sees things.

He has enraged some indigenous people by claiming that the term "Redskins" represents a "positive meaning".

"For the team's millions of fans and customers, who represent one of America's most ethnically and geographically diverse fan bases, the name is a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect," Goodell claimed in a response to criticism from 10 members of Congress.

This is how the message was translated on the Newspaper Rock: Where Native America meets pop culture website:  "Other than its long history as an offensive ethnic slur, 'Redskins' has a positive meaning for millions of fans who don't know or care about dictionary definitions."

In May, the politicians wrote to the owner of the Washington team requesting a name change, according to an article in Indian Country.

Letters were also sent to Goodell and FedEx CEO Fred Smith, who's lent his company's name to the team's stadium, FedExField.

“Native Americans throughout the country consider the R-word a racial, derogatory slur akin to the N-word among African Americans or the W-word among Latinos," the politicians stated. "Such offensive epithets would no doubt draw widespread disapproval among the NFL’s fan base. Yet the national coverage of Washington’s NFL football team profits from a term that is equally disparaging to Native Americans.”

But that message clearly didn't resonate with the big boys running the league.

Nor has it had any effect on Joe Theismann, a former MVP quarterback who recently praised the team's name.

“I was very proud to play for the Washington Redskins, and I did it to honour Native people in that regard," Theismann claimed. "I think sometimes people perceive words in their own particular way."