Unsurprisingly, the Redskins #RedskinsPride Hashtag Backfired Quite Horribly

Getty Images I'm going to guess that this was a pretty slow day at Washington Redskins headquarters. The draft is over and we're still weeks away from

Getty Images

I'm going to guess that this was a pretty slow day at Washington Redskins headquarters. The draft is over and we're still weeks away from training camp. So, it seems in order to pass the time, the team decided to send out the tweet below:

Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) May 29, 2014

The Wall Street Journal published a long article yesterday about Reid's opposition to the Redskins name, so it's likely that the tweet was the team's big strategical PR move to win the day. I mean, now they'd be able to stir up team pride while shaming Reid -- what could possibly go wrong?

Also on Extra Mustard: Call It Art: A View from Inside the National Aerial Pole Art Championship

Well, perhaps if the Redskins had been taking notes on the #AskNeal, #AskEmmert and #AskCommish debacles, they would have known that a lot can go wrong when hashtags are started by sources surrounded by controversy.

While there were initially some tweets of support, as word spread of the hashtag, Twitter began to explode with people berating the name:

The fruits of genocide? "@Redskins Tweet @SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you."

— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) May 29, 2014

Dakota 38 were called redskins b4 largest mass hanging in us history. No #redskinspride here @SenatorReid pic.twitter.com/Bdfi8eJ1nM

— XoDaniWrites (@xodaniwrites) May 29, 2014

#RedskinsPride means I can't root for the local team because of the racist name. @Redskins @SenatorReid

— MaximumBob (@maximumbob) May 29, 2014

#RedskinsPride because keeping the tshirt in my closet accurate is much more important than whole races of people

— bdϘYI@ (@IYQbd) May 29, 2014

#RedskinsPride is showing up to games expecting a terrible experience and getting something even worse than that @Redskins @SenatorReid

— Manuel Artí (@hailsnyder) May 29, 2014

And they're still flowing in.

Harry Reid's office has called the campaign "a massive failure."

That's an understatement.

[Big Lead]

Follow Extra Mustard and Dan Treadway on Twitter.