Redskins' Daniel Snyder has thumbed his nose at changing team's name, now demands are at fever pitch

Daniel Snyder bought the Washington Redskins in 1999 but he has never faced as much pressure to change the name of the team as he is facing now, when symbols and statues of the country's past have been torn down or removed amid heightened scrutiny about what those things really mean.

The Redskins name has been a source of controversy for about a month now, as politicians, media and now corporate sponsors have all asked Snyder to do without the name that has been a part of the organization since 1933, when the team was originally named the Boston Redskins.

Snyder has relented in the past.

In 2014, Snyder told ESPN that he wasn’t going to succumb to pressure to change the name because he felt that the term “Redskins” wasn’t disparaging to Native Americans but rather was a term that dignified them with honor and respect. He also pointed to two Native Americans — William Henry “Lone Star” Dietz, whom the team was named after to honor his heritage, and Walter “Blackie” Wetzel, a former Native American leader who helped design and approve the team’s logo.