Taylor Heinicke signed off on his NFL career Thursday evening, taking to social media to announce his retirement after an honorable seven-season career with five teams. But it was clear from his parting thought that one team remains in his heart.
The Washington Redskins.
That’s right… the Redskins.
This one is going to touch some hearts. Heinicke had a way of doing that on the field as a scrappy, overachieving underdog. And he’s doing it again by giving Redskins fans a nod in the final line of his farewell.
LET NATIVE AMERICANS SETTLE WASHINGTON REDSKINS QUESTION
“For 25 years, I had the pleasure to play this great sport of football…It has taught me a lot, not only about myself, but about life as well,” Heinicke wrote on Instagram.
“Many ups and downs throughout the years, but the ups outweigh the downs tenfold. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would’ve been able to live this life.
“Thank you to all who have supported me in this journey. Thank you all who have believed in me. And thank you to those who gave me the opportunity to live out my childhood dream.
“Excited for this next chapter of my life.”
WASHINGTON BRINGS BACK REDSKINS ARROW AND UNIFORM BUT NOT NICKNAME
And then the kicker.
The epic kicker from Heinicke:
“And always, Go Skins!”
That’s how Heinicke ended his message. “Go Skins,” as in Washington Redskins.
You know the nickname. The franchise abandoned it in July 2020 amid much political correctness pressure. It was the nickname the franchise adopted in 1933 and kept for 87 years while winning two NFL championships (1937 and ’42) and three Super Bowls (1982, ’87 and ’91).
But it was also the nickname progressives and liberals say is offensive to Native Americans, despite mixed polling among those Native Americans on the issue. The helmet logo, a chief, was influenced by Blackfeet Nation imagery, and team leadership consulted with the Blackfeet tribal chairman during its design.
It is, you should know, the nickname many players of all races and creeds who were part of that franchise continue to use and defend proudly. That includes Mark May, Mark Moseley, Scott Turner, Santana Moss, Charles Mann, Brad Edwards, Sonny Jurgensen and Clint Didier among others.
And the amazing thing about this?
Heinicke never played for the Redskins.
His first season with the franchise was 2020, after the nickname was retired. The Redskins moved forward as the Washington Football Team in 2020 because the hasty retreat from the original nickname didn’t give the club time to come up with something new.
So WFT, believe it or not, is what the team went by in Heinicke’s first season.
Heinicke stuck with the club two more seasons, starting 15 games in 2021 and nine more in 2022. It wasn’t until 2022 that the franchise adopted its current and curious Commanders nickname.
Heinicke apparently doesn’t care. He played for the Washington Football Team. He played for the Commanders.
But he signed off on a good NFL career with a proper, “Go Skins!”
