I think the odds are low of a name change, but given the current state of affairs it's a non-zero possibility. And if we don't have input, the name will end up being some trite adjective in front of the word Hawks, which has happened with pretty much every other sports name change in America. Green Hawks, Fighting Hawks, Screeching Hawks, whatever. We don't want that.
I suspect that some members of Chiefs management read this site occasionally to get our takes on who should be starting at left guard or how they should handle a particular contract, so this is our chance to have input into the process. (Oh, and hi, Clark. Nice work last year, my friend. PM me about getting together for dinner next time you're in Denver.)
So we'll have a renaming tournament. In this thread, you may propose up to three names, and I'll structure everyone's suggestions into heats. Using the Chiefsplanet brain trust, we'll give Clark and his team valuable input into what the Chiefs should become if we eventually delete our homage to indigenous plains cultures. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HayWire:
Screw it. Since someone is always offended might as well go full generic for all sports. Kansas City Missourians, Miami Floridians, San Francisco Californians, etc
That won't work, Missouri is named after a tribe and we all know that is offensive. [Reply]
It's not the name that's offensive, is it? A chief is someone who is in charge.
It's the chop. And the headdresses. And the chant. And all the culture we have created that we love and care about so much.
When Spaniards settled Mexico they created classes with the natives, instead of murdering them all. The natives were the lower class, white Spaniards were the upper class and the middle class was the mix of native and Spaniard people.
Would this be a non-issue is the English settlers would have done the same in America? [Reply]
Originally Posted by CarlosCarson88:
Lol, in a previous quote, I quoted an Indian who in fact did.
The argument that it isn't a racist term because they use it among themselves is one of the most ignorant comments ever. if you cannot understand this then you are more ignorant than I thought. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chieftain:
The word Chief is noble and has a respectful connotation. In this case, it is attributed to the elders of the native american communities. There is nothing racist, demeaning or pejorative in its definition. To argue otherwise is irrational.
The way I heard it was Lamar Hunt named them the Chiefs in honor of a KC politician known as the "Big Chief", for his help in getting the team moved from Dallas and established in KC. [Reply]