Dan Snyder, facing mounting pressure from activists and – more importantly – sponsors, has dropped “Redskins” from the NFL lexicon. While some fans of the team are angry, longtime WWE commentator Jim Ross, a descendant of the Cherokee tribe, is relieved. “I’m very sensitive [to this],” Ross told JR SportBrief. “I do believe that Black Lives Matter. I believe in equality for all human beings. We’re all God’s children. He made everything. I don’t think God makes any junk. I’m a big believer that we should treat everybody fair. It’s a sensitive question, but it’s time for all of us to change in that respect. A lot of things are changing that are traditional, and a lot of people – especially older people in my age group – don’t want to change. They want to resist change. I don’t understand the resistance to wearing a mask or any of those things, but I think Snyder is doing a good thing.” He is, but the motivation for doing so is open to interpretation. FedEx, which has sponsorship rights to Washington's stadium, informed Snyder that it wanted “Redskins” to be retired. If it wasn’t, FedEx was prepared to sever ties with the franchise after the 2020 season. “He was forced to do it. We all realize that,” the 68-year-old Ross said. “He’s not doing it out of the goodness of his heart or he had a change of heart. He’s doing this because of the dollars and cents involved. I learned this over my time in wrestling – 40 years – when somebody says, ‘It’s not about the money, man,’ it’s all about the money.  “So Snyder is not going to change the name of the Redskins out of his benevolence,” Ross continued. “He’s changing it to save his ass financially. So I like the change, we know why he’s changing, but so what? At least it’s going to be changed. If you’re a Native American, that Redskin name is akin to other slang words that are just as distasteful. It’s just not as widespread or as recognized as someone using slang for an African American or a Hispanic person or whatever it may be. The Native Americans are kind of a forgotten people, and I’m glad to see [the name change] happen.” Ross, a diehard college football fan, also weighed in on the 2020 season. He, like many, does not know if or how college football will unfold this fall. “I think the college football season is going to be partially blown to hell, quite frankly,” he said. “You got small schools that are getting a pay day that can’t afford the tests. The directional schools are playing the big boys. They’re going to get a nice pay day, but are they going to have the money to get everybody tested so it’s a safe environment for the players?” Ross, who lives in Norman, is an Oklahoma season-ticket-holder. He does not think COVID-19 is going away anytime soon. “I hope that we play . . . but I think the worst is yet to come,” he said. “There’s no way out. There’s no safety net. You got to have a little bit of luck, but that daggum virus is going to be lingering over us, and it’s going to affect football. It’s going to affect everything in our lives. I just think there’s going to be a lot of setbacks. I’m not being a naysayer. I’m not predicting gloom and doom. I’m just talking reality. And the reality of it is the COVID virus doesn’t care if you’re the starting quarterback or whatever. What happens when you have two quarterbacks test positive? It’s just going to be a really unique football season, and one that will probably have an asterisk by it when it’s all said and done.”

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that nine players are being voluntarily sidelined from their training camp roster due to “potential secondary exposure to an individual who had contact with a person that has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The team learned of the possible exposure on Sunday. The decision to isolate the players “was made out of an abundance of caution in an effort to avoid exposure to anyone else within the organization.” The players will not be a part of training camp until they are deemed safe according to NHL protocols and further test results. The names of the players sidelined have not been released, but Captain Sidney Crosby was seen on the ice on Monday so he is not one of the nine. The Penguins began training camp on Monday after the COVID-19 shutdown. Pittsburgh will take on the Montreal Canadiens in a best of five game Stanley Cup Qualifier. Game one is scheduled for August 1. Squad goals 💪 pic.twitter.com/LYuInWE3aG— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 12, 2020LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

While Tom Brady is diving head-first into his new season with his new team despite all the COVID-19 concerns, at least one key member of his offensive unit is having second thoughts about playing in 2020. Donovan Smith, the Buccaneers' left tackle -- who is slated to make $14.5 million this coming season -- took to Instagram Friday to express his reluctance about playing. View this post on Instagram @nfl @nflpa To whom it may concern: With the start of the 2020 NFL season fast approaching, many thoughts and questions roam my mind as I’m sure it does for many of my fellow “coworkers” across the league. The unfortunate events of the COVID-19 pandemic have put a halt to a lot of things. Football is not one. To continue discussing the many UNKNOWNS do not give me the comfort. Risking my health as well as my family’s health does not seem like a risk worth taking. With my first child due in 3 weeks, I can’t help but think about how will I be able to go to work and take proper precautions around 80+ people everyday to then go home to be with my newborn daughter. How can a sport that requires physical contact on every snap and transferral of all types of bodily fluid EVERY SINGLE PLAY practice safe social distancing? How can I make sure that I don’t bring COVID-19 back to my household? Yes, we can get tested everyday, but if it takes 24 hours to get my results, how can I know each day that I am not spreading this virus or contracting it? The reoccurring issue here is how? There are too many “hows” that have yet to be answered to ease player concerns and ensure the safety of not only myself, but also my family. I just can’t imagine how the game will be the same during these unprecedented times. Now to hear that 35% of my paycheck may be withheld while we are out sacrificing our health and wellness for the joy and entertainment of everyone else who will be safe at home in front of their TVs? Something isn’t right here. That should at LEAST warrant a pay raise due to the risk, not a cut. I am not a lab rat or guinea pig to test theories on. I am a man, a son, brother, soon to be father, and I deserve to be safe at work. A post shared by Donovan Smith (@dsmith_76) on Jul 10, 2020 at 6:37am PDTSmith joins a growing list of NFL players who are expressing concerns over conducting a 2020 season in the middle of the current pandemic. The NFL has already cut the preseason schedule to two games, with the NFLPA lobbying to eliminate all of the exhibition games. There have also been a myriad of other regulations and protocols surfaced, some of which have been accepted with others met by skepticism. This is a perfect example of NFL thinking in a nutshell. Players can go engage in a full contact game and do it safely. However, it is deemed unsafe for them to exchange jerseys after said game. 😂🤣😂 https://t.co/fWefsUSVDc— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) July 9, 2020As for the Bucs' depth chart, if Smith doesn't play the second-string left tackle right now is identified as Brad Seaton, with the 13th overall pick in this year's NFL Draft Tristan Wirfs slotted in to play right tackle. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram

They clearly aren't fooling around in Toronto when it comes to keeping the Blue Jays sequestered. Here is what’s going to keep #BlueJays players in their stadium/hotel bubble this summer:Per multiple sources, players have been told penalty if seen outside ballpark is $750,000 fine and potential jail time.— Scott Mitchell (@ScottyMitchTSN) July 10, 2020The Jays have gotten permission from the Canadian government to hold their training camp at Rogers Centre with the understanding that the players stay at the adjoining hotel when not working out. But according to former Red Sox Travis Shaw, who now plays for the Blue Jays, the agreement to be confined to just the field and hotel wasn't supposed to extend into the regular season, which is slated to kick off July 24. We were told two weeks... not all summer... all summer is a bit much https://t.co/6S7euLbHWA— Travis Shaw (@travis_shaw21) July 10, 2020The Blue Jays, who are slated to play two exhibition games in Boston on July 21 and 22, currently have 46 players in their camp with 12 others remaining in Dunedin, Fla. after one tested positive for COVID-19. The players in Florida must come through with two negative tests before joining their teammates in Canada. LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM AppFollow RADIO.COM SportsTwitter | Facebook I Instagram