The "R" word: Dave Zirin's open letter to Dan Snyder.

Reading Zirin's opening line, I couldn't help remembering Mikhail Gorbachev's words to Erich Honecker in 1989: "Life punishes those who come too late."

It was pried from Honecker's cold, deposed hand.

Probably Snyder's, too.

Enough: An open letter to Dan Snyder, by Dave Zirin (Grantland)

Dear Dan Snyder,

History tends to be unkind to those who make bold proclamations against change.1 You have made it crystal clear that you believe there is nothing wrong with the name of our region's beloved franchise and probably perceive Webster's dictionary to have some politically correct, liberal agenda when it defines redskin as "usually offensive." You've never commented on its past use in this country as a term of derision, humiliation, and violence. Why bother getting hung up on history? After all, as a wise man once said, that's why pencils have erasers.