Sen. Harry Reid: 'The Redskins name is a racist name'

U.S. Senator Harry Reid rips NFL again, says league more concerned with Deflategate than changing Redskins nickname

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the NFL seems to be more concerned with the Deflategate scandal than changing the Washington Redskins' "racist" name.

Reid has been a longtime critic of the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell. He also sent Redskins president Bruce Allen a letter last year encouraging them to change the nickname.

Reid also sent a letter, which was signed by 49 other Democratic senators, to Goodell, saying that Native Americans were "not mascots — they’re human beings" and were "insulted by this cavalier attitude about what they’re being called."

Redskins owner Dan Snyder has repeatedly said that he will never change the name.

Reid wasted no time during his opening remarks to the Senate on Tuesday to again ask the NFL to stop using the nickname. Reid has said he will stop attending Redskins home games until the name is changed.

"I find it stunning that the National Football League is more concerned about how much air is in a football than with a racist franchise name that denigrates Native Americans across the country," Reid said. "I wish the commissioner would act as swiftly and decisively in changing the name of the D.C. team as he did about not enough air in a football."

- Scooby Axson