Washington Redskin … Potatoes?

I’m just about the last person you should talk to about pro football -- just ask my co-workers, who take full advantage of each post-game “water cooler” conversation to point out my NFL illiteracy -- but as the rhetoric escalates amid the decades-old controversy concerning the racial implications of the Washington Redskins’ team name, somehow the food industry has gotten involved…Well, kind of.

On People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) website, Alisa Mullins, senior editor for the PETA Foundation, suggests – rather jokingly, one would assume – that the team should retain its “Redskins” moniker and instead change its logo to, well, a redskin potato. The decision, of course, would allow the team to maintain tradition while side-stepping media criticism, most recently from NBC sportscaster Bob Costas.

“When you hear the word ‘redskin,’ what do you immediately think of? Potatoes, of course!” Mullins writes on PETA’s official blog. “And who could be offended by a harmless redskin potato -- except, maybe, for the Yukon Gold lobby (and if Alaska had a football team, rest assured that we'd be the first to suggest the Yukon Gold Diggers as a franchise name).”

Mullins furthers her argument by noting that the redskin potato is quite literally a Native American itself, having been “cultivated in Peru for millennia,” and, as a “tasty, versatile, animal- and environmentally friendly vegan staple,” is now the country’s most popular vegetable, and quite a healthy one to boot.

So what do you say, sports fans? Can you imagine the Washington Redskin Potatoes taking the field before kick-off, or is this just another half-baked idea?