The Pigskins Shame Spiral is an occasional feature tracking developments related to the name of D.C.’s beloved football team.

Who: Grantland  editor Bill

Change the name? Simmons didn’t actually call for the team to change its name, but he did conspicuously omit the Pigskins’ given name from a blog post ranking the NFC teams, in which the 17th spot went to “The Washington D.C.’s.”

Why? Presumably because it’s offensive and racist.

Shame Spiral Rating: SMH. Simmons is a high-profile national sports writer and Grantland, which is owned by ESPN, is one of the genre’s highest-profile platforms. So although he didn’t use his prose to launch a blistering diatribe against the NFL and Pigskins owner Dan Snyder, his no-introduction-needed omission of the moniker carries more weight than some liberal outlets that have taken admirable, but rather inconsequential, stands—-since they rarely ever write about football.

Illustration by Jandos Rothstein