Daines opposes bill to build new DC football stadium until Blackfeet Nation recognized by team, NFL

Montana GOP Sen. Steve Daines is putting himself in the middle of congressional legislation that would allow the District of Columbia to build a new stadium for its NFL team – "demanding" the league and new team owners first find a way to honor the history of the team’s original "Redskins" logo and the heritage of the tribal nation after which the team was named.

Previous ownership retired the Redskins name in 2020, after years of pressure and criticism about it being disrespectful and a slang term. Ownership used the interim name the "Washington Football Team" until rebranding in 2022 as the Commanders. 

New ownership, an investment group led by Josh Harris, the billionaire owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils, bought the team in July 2023. 

The stadium in which the team now plays, in suburban Maryland, is roughly 27 years old, and the District of Columbia has mounted an effort to bring the Commanders back to the city, where they once placed, at RFK Memorial Stadium.

The congressional legislation – the RFK Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act – transfers the administration of the RFK campus from the U.S. Park Service to the District for 99 years to allow for the development of a new stadium and other commercial and residential development.

The measure passed the House in February and is now before the Senate.

Daines, the top Republican on the Senate National Parks subcommittee, at a recent panel hearing voiced his concerns and made clear he would not support the bill’s passage until they were met.

"Now, you may ask why a Montana senator has a specific interest in this bill," he said in prepared remarks at the May hearing. "Today is about righting a wrong. Specifically, my goal is for the Washington Commanders to honor the pride, history and heritage of the Blackfeet Tribe who are my constituents in Montana for the tribe’s contributions to the team’s legacy.”

Daines said that in 1971 Blackie Wetzel, a member and leader of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana and once-president of the National Congress of American Indians, met with George Allen, then the head coach and general manager of the Redskins.

Daine said that Wetzel knowing Allen "admired and supported Native Americans" encouraged Allen to replace the team’s ‘R’ logo with something that represented Indian Country, including one of Chief Two Guns White Calf, which Allen adopted.

“Make no mistake, this logo was inspired and envisioned by Wetzel as a tribute to Native Americans," Daine said at the hearing. “It is not a caricature. It is a depiction of pride and strength. Of courage and honor. ... As Blackie Wetzel said in 2002, ‘It made us all so proud to have an Indian on a big-time team.’"

Daines also made clear he wasn't calling for the return of the former team name but argued the logo "remains a point of pride for many in Indian Country and specifically the Wetzel family."

“What I am demanding is straightforward: that the new team leadership and the NFL sit down with the Wetzel family, sit down with the Blackfeet, sit down with tribal leaders, and find a way to properly honor the history of the logo and heritage of our tribal nations, and to rededicate the organization as an advocate for Indian Country," he continued.

"Until I see meaningful actions that satisfy the Wetzel family and other tribal stakeholders, I cannot support this legislation.”