Half of the US Senate is calling on the NFL to condemn the Washington Redskins team name and push for it to be changed, saying that the name is no more than a racial slur and can no longer be ignored. Now is the time for the NFL to act, the Democratic senators write in a letter sent today to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The Washington, DC football team is on the wrong side of history. Noting that Americans applauded the NBAs quick and decisive actions against Clippers owner Donald Sterling after a recording of him making racist remarks surface online last month, the senators say that a conversation around race relations has opened up that serves as an opportunity for the NFL to send the same message: that racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports.