Redskins remove George Preston Marshall from Ring of Fame, history wall, and online

The anti-George Preston Marshall movement has had some small wins over the last week, and now the Washington Redskins are reportedly making a few more moves to distance themselves from their founder. The GPM memorial statue was removed from RFK Stadium on Friday(Juneteenth). This was followed up by the Redskins officially retiring Bobby Mitchell’s jersey, and changing the name of the lower level of FedEx Field from Marshall’s to Mitchell’s. The Redskins are going even further by reportedly removing Marshall from their Ring of Fame, their history wall, and their website.

George Preston Marshall was an unapologetic segregationist, and was the last NFL owner to allow black players on his team. The Redskins only integrated after being threatened by the US government to take away the use of District of Columbia Stadium(RFK Stadium) for games

Marshall pioneered parts of the NFL — halftime show, fight song, forward pass — but refused to integrate. Of Marshall’s legacy, former Post sportswriter Shirley Povich wrote: “He was widely considered one of pro football’s greatest innovators, and its leading bigot.”

In every part of life, Marshall opposed integration. He specified in his will that none of the $6 million he left behind after his death in 1969 could be used to integrate schools. He was the last NFL owner to integrate, and he only signed a black player in 1962 because the federal government threatened to prevent him from playing in D.C. Stadium, the construction of which he spearheaded and considered “the apex of my whole sports career.”