Former Washington Football Team Owner George Preston Marshall's Statue Removed

The statue of former Washington football team owner George Preston Marshall has been removed from outside of RFK Stadium by the venue's operator. 

In a statement, Events DC chairman Max Brown and president Greg O'Dell said Marshall's racism "goes against Events DC's values of inclusion and equality and is a disturbing symbol to many in the city we serve."

In an article for ESPN.com, Thomas G. Smith wrote about Marshall's history of racism starting with a quote the former Washington owner had (warning: contains racist language): "We'll start signing Negroes, when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites."

Smith noted that leading into the 1961 season that Washington was the only NFL franchise without a black player on its roster. 

There have been calls to take down the Marshall statue from outside of RFK Stadium for years. A group of protestors gathered outside of the stadium three years ago to demand the monument's removal. 

"The monument is attributed to Jim Crow and the genocide of indigenous peoples," Ian Washburn of the Rebrand Washington Football told Matt Yurus of WUSA 9 in June 2017. "We think it's time for it to go."

Marshall owned the franchise from 1932 until his death in 1969.