Tony Dungy Won't Say 'Offensive' Washington NFL Team Nickname on TV

Hall of Fame head coach and NBC Football Night in America analyst Tony Dungy is taking a stand against the Washington Redskins' nickname.

Dungy told William C. Rhoden of The Undefeated (h/t TMZ Sports): "If the team doesn't want to change, the least I can do is try not to use it."

Dungy added: "It's not hard to change the name. When I'm on the air, I try to just refer to them as Washington. I think it's appropriate."

Washington's NFL franchise has been named the Redskins since it moved there in 1937 and was called the Boston Redskins from 1933 to 1936. There have been constant discussions about changing the name in recent years on the grounds that it's a racist slur against Native Americans.

Fawn Sharp, who is the president of the National Congress of American Indians, declared the nickname racist and offensive in the Washingtonian last week. Sharp also called for Washington's players to boycott if the name isn't changed.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has long been opposed to a name change. In fact, he said in 2013 that he would "never" change it.

Dungy is among those who believe that a name change is well past due: "You can say, 'This has been a historic name and we've used it for this team for X number of years, but in this day and age, it's offensive to some people, so we're going to change it.' I don't think that's hard."

Because of his remarkable coaching career, which included 11 playoff appearances in 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts and a Super Bowl win with Indy in 2006, Dungy is among the most respected analysts in the sport.

His stance go a long way toward others following suit.