Tag: arrowhead chop

Kansas City Chiefs issue statement, intend to keep their nickname

The Kansas City Chiefs will not follow the former Washington Redskins’ example regarding changing a nickname some find offensive.

The former Washington Redskins didn’t change their name from that offensive moniker until there was massive pressure from advertisers and minority shareholders. Owner Daniel Snyder had said for years that he would never change the name, and he held fast on that for 20 years until money talked.

The Kansas City Chiefs, who have had that name since 1963 when they moved from Dallas and changed their name from the Texans, apparently do not intend to follow suit. In a statement released Thursday, the team cited multi-year discussions with Native American advocates, and pointed out several new procedures to minimize any offense:

  • While we have discouraged fans from wearing headdresses for several years, effective immediately, fans will be prohibited from wearing headdresses into the stadium.
  • Face painting is still allowed for all fans, but any face paint that is styled in a way that references or appropriates American Indian cultures and traditions will be prohibited.
  • Fans will be asked to remove any American Indian-themed face paint prior to passing security screening outside the stadium.
  • We are engaged in a thorough review process of the Arrowhead Chop and plan to have additional discussions in the future.
  • We are exploring all options for a modified engagement moment from the Drum Deck that maintains a unifying effect between our fans and our players but better represents the spiritual significance of the drum in American Indian cultures.
  • This includes discussions around how to shift the focus of the drum to something that symbolizes the heartbeat of the stadium.
  • As allowed by NFL guidelines and the City of Kansas City Health Department for the coronavirus-impacted 2020 season, we will continue with many of the traditions that we have introduced over the past six years, including the Blessing of the Four Directions, the Blessing of the Drum, as well as inviting members of tribes with a historic connection to our region to participate in our American Indian Heritage Month Game.
  • Finally, we are exploring the creation of a more formalized education program with input from both our local and national partners.

The Chiefs have not received anywhere near the pressure the Redskins did to change their name, which is the primary reason the franchise feels comfortable staying put. But the Arrowhead Chop, which the team’s fans have enjoyed for decades, has been a problem for some groups, and it was something I noticed everywhere as I walked around the outside of Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium before Super Bowl LIV.

“Even if they’re die-hard fans of our home football team, they are fans in spite of the chanting, the tomahawk chop, the face-paint, the chicken-feather headdresses, not because of it,” Gaylene Crouser, executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center, told the Associated Press in January.

“It’s the portrayal, imagery of the kind of warrior savage, the uncivilized kind of perception and stereotype that has unfairly lingered around Indian country for a really long time,” Kevin Allis, the CEO of the National Congress of American Indians, told Reuters.

Like it or not, until and unless the Chiefs experience financial pressure to change their name, the minimization to any possible offense will be limited in scope.

Chiefs fans have no issue with controversial ‘Arrowhead Chop’ at Super Bowl LIV

Chiefs fans who are excited to watch their team in Super Bowl LIV aren’t thinking much about the ‘Arrowhead Chop’ beyond a fun gesture.

MIAMI — Walking around the concourses at Hard Rock Stadium in the pre-game leading up to Super Bowl LIV, two things are readily apparent: This looks and sounds very much like a Chiefs home game, and the thousands of Chiefs fans who are here outnumbering the 49ers faithfulhave no issue with the ‘Arrowhead Chop,’ the controversial gesture that has nonetheless united the team’s faithful followers for decades. You can see it, and hear the accompanying war chant, everywhere you go.

In the moment, it’s understandable why some would want to take the ‘Chop’ on the road; this team hasn’t made the Super Bowl in 50 years, and given the number of throwback jerseys (Jack Rudnay for the win!) there are people here who have waited their entire lives to see their team in the biggest possible game. It’s unlikely that most of the people here think anything more of it than that.

Others see a more complicated view.

“It’s something that brings the fans together,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said Monday during Opening Night, “but I can definitely see how there would be a misunderstanding.”

There are obvious issue with the Chiefs nickname, and the “Tomahawk Chop’ gesture is seen as hurtful and marginalizing to many in the Native American community.

“Even if they’re die-hard fans of our home football team, they are fans in spite of the chanting, the tomahawk chop, the face-paint, the chicken-feather headdresses, not because of it,” Gaylene Crouser, executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center, recently told the Associated Press.

“It’s the portrayal, imagery of the kind of warrior savage, the uncivilized kind of perception and stereotype that has unfairly lingered around Indian country for a really long time,” Kevin Allis, the CEO of the National Congress of American Indians, told Reuters.

The Chiefs, who adopted their nickname when the former Dallas Texans of the American Football League moved to their new city before the 1963 season, have tried to mitigate the collateral damage to a point.

In a recent statement, the team said that it has “engaged in meaningful discussions with a group comprised of individuals with diverse Native American backgrounds and experiences” over the past six years.

“Our goal has been to use our platform to create an awareness and understanding of Native American cultures, as well as celebrate the rich traditions of multiple tribes with a historic connection to our region,” a team representative told Reuters in an e-mail response.

Last November, the Kansas City Star Editorial Board called on the team to move on from the ‘Chop,’ noting that while the franchise has worked with the Native American community to ensure that the tradition of banging a war drum before games doesn’t clash with custom and ritual, the ‘Chop’ needs to go.

“While sports teams have paid lip service to racial sensitivity, the Washington Redskins have shown no inclination to change their distasteful and inappropriate nickname,” the Board wrote. “Cleveland’s baseball team was painfully slow to phase out its mascot, which belittled Native Americans, Chief Wahoo.

“The Chiefs have taken steps in the right direction, but their unwavering commitment to the Arrowhead Chop is confounding and disappointing. What purpose does it serve? And why continue the chant if it offends even a single Native American?

“Chiefs fans are among the most loyal and enthusiastic in the NFL. And there’s no doubt they would fill any void left by the absence of the chop with a high-decibel celebration of our team.”

Team president Mark Donovan said in response that “The Arrowhead Chop is part of the game-day experience that is really important to our fans,”

Some may believe that the uproar over the ‘Arrowhead Chop’ is much ado about nothing. After all, fans may argue, there is no intention to harm or offend. It’s a fun, meaningless gesture.

But when people are hurt and offended, and that has been the case for decades, why continue that tradition in a time when so many of the things we say are seemingly intended to hit a mark?

The Chiefs have built a potential dynasty with an open-minded attitude when it comes from everything from the front office to the coaching staff to the roster to the offensive and defensive schematic design. They should be equally open to new ways for their fans to express their passions for their favorite team.

Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar previously covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”