Jim Nantz had a major fumble during Sunday’s coverage of the Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings game.
The longtime CBS play-by-play announcer Nantz was discussing the NFC playoff implications of the game with broadcast partner Tony Romo. Nantz noted that the Washington Commanders had lost earlier in the day (to the Cleveland Browns) … but mistakenly referred to them as “the Redskins.”
Romo made a hilarious face upon hearing Nantz’s screw-up. Take a look.
Romo’s reaction when Nantz says Redskins instead of Commanders haha #HTTC pic.twitter.com/LfYVaheiSb
— Danny Favret (@Danny_Favret) January 1, 2023
Nantz’s slip of the tongue was perfectly understandable though. After nearly nine decades of playing as “the Redskins,” the franchise, amid longstanding controversy over the alleged offensiveness of the term “Redskins,” became “the Washington Football Team” for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The team then finally rebranded as “the Commanders” ahead of the 2022 campaign.
The veteran broadcaster Nantz has been calling NFL games since the 1980s, so, like many, he clearly got used to the “Redskins” name. CBS also mainly airs AFC games (though the NFL will still send certain marquee NFC games to their airwaves, such as Sunday’s Green Bay-Minnesota rivalry game that had playoff implications). That means Nantz has gotten very little on-air practice referring to “the Commanders.”
In any case, the Packers went on to defeat the Vikings by a 41-17 final, which knocked out the Commanders (plus the New Orleans Saints) from playoff contention. As such, Nantz, who is usually in very sharp form, won’t really have to worry about referring to the Commanders for the rest of the season.
