Washington Redskins

Chase Young's mom was THRILLED to see her son ball the hell out for the Washington Football Team on Sunday ... and we know this -- 'cause the rookie brought her to his postgame press conference!!!

Just minutes after Young tore apart the San Francisco 49ers in a 23-15 win ... the 21-year-old stepped to the podium to talk about his monster game.

That's when a reporter asked for his mom's opinion of his afternoon ... and, fortunately for all of us, she just happened to be on the phone with him!!!

Chase introduced her to the media ... and she then showered her baby boy with nothing but praise!

"Oh my gosh, I’m just so worn out," Young's mom, Carla, said. "This game was just outstanding I couldn’t even believe it. I was in shock."

The moment was super cool and super sweet ... especially because Carla has been one of Chase's biggest critics this season.

If you're unfamiliar, she famously gave him just a C+ grade for his first few games this year because his sack totals weren't up to her liking.

But, after Chase piled up 6 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for a TD ... there were absolutely no complaints from Mama!

"He knows how to pick that ball up and not fall on it!" Carla said. "And, he got it and kept trucking!"

Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera just finished his last round of cancer treatments ... and the mini-party hospital staffers threw for him to celebrate was AWESOME.

The 58-year-old was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer back in August ... and he's been receiving chemotherapy and other forms of treatment ever since.

But, Rivera completed his last round of treatments Monday ... and the scene afterward at the hospital was pretty emotional.

Check out the footage WFT posted ... Rivera was cheered on by a bunch of medical personnel -- with some even throwing confetti over his head!

Others, wearing "Rivera Strong" shirts, waved pom poms ... and eventually, they all gifted him with a signed card.

The best part of the footage, though? Rivera was able to ring a bell on the wall signifying the end of treatments -- and you can tell, he was happy as hell to do it.

Rivera has said the cancer drugs have taken a massive toll on him over the past couple months ... explaining the fatigue he's experienced has felt like a "300-pound gorilla on your back."

Still, Ron only missed a handful of WFT practices and never missed a game ... despite at times appearing to be in rough shape.

Rivera has said repeatedly his long-term prognosis is good ... adding his doctors are optimistic about a full recovery.

It's a good thing Vernon Davis retried when he did ... because the ex-NFL star says he probably would've sat out this season over COVID concerns.

Davis -- who spent 14 seasons in the league -- hung up his cleats for good back in February, right before COVID exploded into a giant problem in the U.S.

Now that he's seen the pandemic play out, Davis tells TMZ Sports he would be "totally concerned" if he was still on a team and expected to play on Sundays.

"I would be totally concerned because I worry about my family," Davis said ... while admitting, "I probably would have opted out."

The NFL is already dealing with some serious COVID problems involving multiple teams -- and there's concerns about a larger outbreak.

Davis says he hopes the league takes the COVID threat seriously -- and puts safety first.

As for football, we asked Davis about the QB situation with his former team in Washington -- since they just benched starter Dwayne Haskins for Kyle Allen.

Davis says he strongly believes Haskins has what it takes to be a star in the league -- and "being benched is just temporary."

We also asked about Alex Smith's comeback from that gnarly leg injury that almost ended his career -- and Davis told us straight-up AS is "the most resilient man I've ever met in my life."

Washington NFL team staffers secretly produced and distributed a video of the team's cheerleaders in compromising positions, including clips with their bare breasts exposed ... this according to a new bombshell report.

It all went down during a 2008 shoot for a "Beauties on the Beach" calendar -- where a video crew chronicled the making of a sexy bikini calendar.

But, according to the Washington Post, team staffers used outtakes to put together a special, secret cut featuring moments when the women inadvertently exposed their nipples in the course of the shoot.

The Washington Post claims to have obtained a copy of the video -- but obviously, the outlet is not publishing it.

The Post reports the team's lead broadcaster, Larry Michael, played a major role in the making of the lewd video.

Michael's former staffer Brad Baker claims Michael told staffers the video was being made for team owner Daniel Snyder.

For his part, Michael is adamantly denying the allegations in the report -- saying, "Nothing can be further from the truth. I was never asked to nor did I ask someone to compile videos as [the Post] described."

The Washington Football Team has not commented on the allegations in the Post's report ... though the Post claims they were given multiple opportunities before they published the story.

In the article, the Post says it spoke with more than 100 past and current employees about the culture -- and it wasn't great.

"The employees also described an atmosphere in which bullying and demeaning behavior by management created a climate of fear that allowed abusive behavior to continue unchecked," the Post reports.

The article comes in the wake of previous, similar allegations about how the franchise has been run ever since Snyder became the owner.

In the past few weeks, the team has fired several employees and hired attorney Beth Wilkinson to conduct a full investigation into the team's workplace.

The Washington NFL team is expected to hire sports anchor Julie Donaldson to lead its radio broadcast booth this upcoming season ... in what is believed to be a first for the league.

Donaldson -- a former reporter for NBC Sports Washington -- will replace longtime radio host Larry Michael, who abruptly stepped down from his gig when he was accused of inappropriate conduct toward employees.

The team will make Donaldson the senior VP of media ... putting her in charge of finding a replacement for Michael's play-by-play duties.

NBC Sports reports Donaldson will be in the booth during games ... but it's unclear what her role will be on game day.

Donaldson -- who also won Miss Florida USA in 2001 -- has been covering Washington sports since June 2010 ... and led pre-and-postgame shows for NBC Sports Washington.

The man who squatted on several potential new names for the NFL's Washington franchise says he's reached out to the league to offer up the trademarks for free ... and he's got the emails to prove it.

Martin McCaulay -- aka the "trademark hog" (that's what he calls himself) -- came under fire from Washington fans when it came out that he obtained the trademarks for a bunch of possible replacement names ... including the Washington Monuments, Americans, Veterans, Red-Tailed Hawks, Federals and more.

Most people assumed he would try to shake down the franchise for a big payday but McCauley says that's B.S.

In fact, McCauley tells us he reached out to the NFL via email on July 4 offering his 10 trademarked names for no charge!

"My email was dated July 4th, 2020 to the NFL trademark attorney and said 'free trademarks,' a list out of all my trademarks saying, 'you can have these for free' and they didn't respond."

"I didn't know how to reach anybody. I'm on Twitter, at the NFL, at the NFL commish. Take my trademarks, please! What do I have to do to get you to take these trademarks?"

As you know, Washington is on the hunt for a new name after FINALLY dropping "Redskins" ... following a scathing letter written by the National Congress of American Indians, an organization that reps over 5 million Native Americans.

So, Martin -- who believes the name change is long overdue -- even hired a lawyer to help pass along his registered trademarks.

"They won't take my offer of free trademarks so I hired an attorney to facilitate the transaction. His name is Darren Heitner," McCaulay says.

"He wrote a letter to Mr. Snyder with my offer, making it clear that I was trying to facilitate the name change. I do not want to be an obstacle. Please. If you want one of Mr. McCaulay's trademarks, or me, 'trademark hog,' as I like to go by, then just let us know what does he need to do to get out of your way? What is it?"

"My daughter works for the team and I sure as hell am not going to allow any of this!"

That's Washington head coach Ron Rivera promising to shut down ANY toxicity in his new org ... this after 15 women came out and said they experienced rampant sexual harassment and verbal abuse during their time with the team.

The women -- per a Washington Post report -- claimed high-ranking execs made inappropriate comments to them, and on at least one occasion, called a woman "f**king stupid."

In fact, some of the ex-female employees say it got so bad ... they would meet up in the bathroom on lunch breaks and cry over their experiences.

58-year-old Rivera -- who just took over the reins as the team's head coach this offseason -- released a statement to ESPN Thursday night ... vowing to change the culture.

"Biggest thing is we have to move forward from this," Rivera said, "and make sure everybody understands we have policies that we will follow and that we have an open door policy with no retribution."

For the team's part ... it has already parted ways with several of the employees accused of wrongdoing in the WaPo report -- and says it's hired an attorney to investigate further.

The NFL, meanwhile, said in a statement early Friday morning it takes the claims very seriously and will work with Washington's investigators to determine the necessary steps going forward.

"These matters as reported are serious, disturbing and contrary to the NFL's values," the league said. "Everyone in the NFL has the right to work in an environment free from any and all forms of harassment. Washington has engaged outside counsel to conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations."

"The club has pledged that it will give its full cooperation to the investigator and we expect the club and all employees to do so."

The statement continued, "We will meet with the attorneys upon the conclusion of their investigation and take any action based on the findings."

Fifteen former female Washington NFL team staffers claim they were sexually harassed and verbally abused during their time with the org. ... and they say it was relentless and repeated.

It's all in a new bombshell Washington Post report ... which claims the culture with Washington's NFL team was toxic and demeaning toward women in the workplace.

In the report, one of the women, 31-year-old Emily Applegate -- a former marketing coordinator who spent one year with the club before leaving in 2015 -- claims, "It was the most miserable experience of my life."

"And we all tolerated it," she added, "because we knew if we complained -- and they reminded us of this -- there were 1,000 people out there who would take our job in a heartbeat."

Applegate says she was told by a high-ranking exec to wear revealing clothes "so the men in the room have something to look at."

She also says the same superior constantly verbally abused her, and once called her "f**king stupid."

Applegate says she would meet with a female co-worker in the bathroom on her lunch breaks ... and they would cry together over the alleged harassment.

The report also says 14 other women echoed Applegate's claims ... sharing similar stories, but choosing to remain anonymous over fears of litigation.

In one of the most salacious allegations ... some of the women claim men in the facility -- including team trainers -- would stand at the bottom of a staircase near the entrance to team headquarters and would stare up female employees' skirts.

In fact, the women say this was such a well-known problem among the females in the office ... employees warned others to avoid the staircase at all costs.

In another allegation ... a female employee said at the team's training camp in Richmond, Va., she was "propositioned basically every day" by team officials for late-night visits.

Several of the team employees accused of harassment in the report have been fired by Washington in the last few days.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- one of the most diehard Washington NFL fans on Earth -- says he's STOKED the team is changing its name ... calling the old moniker "a dark cloud" over the franchise.

"For me, personally, I’m ready for a new chapter," the NASCAR legend said on his Dale Jr. Download podcast this week.

"I'm ready for this conversation to no longer be part of my experience as a fan of the team, and the debate over this and the frustration over it and how it affects the franchise."

Dale's been ride-or-die with Washington for decades ... he's got all sorts of memorabilia and often publicly comments about the team after wins and losses.

So, when team owner Dan Snyder pulled the plug on the "Redskins" name ... everyone was wondering if Dale approved -- and the 45-year-old said wholeheartedly yes.

"It's a dark cloud over it all the time and it’s not going away," Earnhardt Jr. said of the name. "And, it’s hard to continue to support the franchise when this is part of the conversation."

"So, I'm great to break completely clean and start an entirely new identity and future. I think it will be great for the organization, the people that work in that company, the players that play for that team and anybody that plays for that team in the future. So, I'm good with it."

Dale didn't give any suggestions for a new name ... although he did seem to like the rumored "Red Wolves" option -- saying the fanbase could have fun with that one.

Washington legend Darrell Green tells TMZ Sports ... there should be only one route Dan Snyder takes when it comes to renaming his NFL franchise -- and that's to go with the "Red Tails" moniker.

"I would say that would be my first and only choice right now," the Hall of Fame cornerback says.

Of course, the Red Tails was the nickname given to the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II with planes that had red paint on the tails.

Green says it would be an amazing move on Snyder's part to call his team that ... this after decades of holding onto the controversial and downright racist "Redskins" nickname.

"The Red Tails are some of the greatest heroes of any color in our country," Green says, "and particularly against the extraordinary horrors that the Tuskegee Airmen were up against."

Green's backing of the name comes just days after Washington's franchise QB, Dwayne Haskins, also threw his support behind the potential new mascot.

Green tells us he hasn't yet been asked by Snyder or anyone in Washington's organization for input ... but he's hopeful they'll reach out to him soon.

"I'd love to be part of discussions moving forward," Green says.

In the meantime, Darrell is working on a really cool project with other NFL players ... helping raise awareness and money for minorities who have been impacted during the coronavirus pandemic.

The President of the largest Native American government in the country says they've been trying to get the NFL's Washington team to change its name for DECADES ... but the team wouldn't budge -- until now.

We spoke with Fawn Sharp -- leader of the National Congress of American Indians, which represents 5 MILLION people across 574 tribal nations.

Sharp says the NCAI is super happy Washington is finally dropping the "Redskins" nickname -- a name considered extremely offensive ... but questions why it took SO long.

"We've passed resolutions at the National Congress that go back to 1968. Before I was even born there was a resolution calling for the mascot issue ... and every generation of tribal leader since," Sharp says.

As you may know ... Washington had long argued that they had data showing most Native Americans were not offended by the name.

Sharp tells us the overwhelming majority of her constituents ARE (and have been) offended by the name and have made their position clear for years.

The good news ... Sharp is excited for change.

We also asked Sharp about the Atlanta Braves considering ending its "Tomahawk Chop" tradition ... she told us why the gesture is also so offensive and hurtful.

"Yes we have discussed it and this is another issue where we really pay attention to our young people," Sharp said.

"We have a generation that's being born into a society that's learning our languages. For centuries we were punished for speaking our language. they're learning our song, our dance, our ceremonies."

NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith -- who played 4 seasons in Washington -- says a name change is "long overdue" ... and feels the team is finally on the right side of history.

OH, AND WE ALSO ASKED BRUCE ABOUT THAT "PENIS" INCIDENT ON "FAMILY FEUD"!

But first, the serious topic ... Smith wrapped up his legendary NFL career in Washington and understands the issues surrounding the team name ... but clearly felt the time is right for change.

"It's the right thing to do for many reasons," Smith tells TMZ Sports ... acknowledging the pressure from business partners like FedEx and Nike obviously played a key role.

"Money motivates all of us to be quite honest with you, but socially and being on the right side of history is another motivating factor. I think both of those are present in this decision today."

NOW THE "FAMILY FEUD" QUESTION!

As we previously reported, Smith gave the best wrong answer EVER on 'FF' this week ... when he was asked the following question:

"If Captain Hook was moonlighting as a handyman, he might replace his hook with what tool?"

Smith said, "PENIS" and Steve Harvey lost his damn mind! The clip went viral almost immediately.

So, how does Bruce feel about his moment of social media fame?!

"You can't take life so seriously! You have to have some type of humor and you have to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes!"

"We need to laugh more than EVER right now. Laughter is good for the soul and I'm happy to of been able to entertain so many people."

And, get this ... Bruce says his phone has been blowing up since the incident -- with famous friends like Jim Kelly and MICHAEL JORDAN calling to roast him a little bit over his unbelievable answer!

It's official ... The Washington "Redskins" are no more.

The NFL franchise announced Monday morning it's FINALLY changing the team nickname they've had since 1933 ... effective immediately.

"Today we are announcing we will be retiring the Redskins name and logo," the team said.

The team says owner Dan Snyder and head coach Ron Rivera are "working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud tradition, rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years."

After the announcement, Washington QB Dwayne Haskins weighed in ... saying "As a kid who grew up in the dmv it’ll always be #HTTR but looking forward to the future."

The team had initially announced a "thorough review of the team's name" back on July 3 after Native American groups and sponsors had decided enough was enough and put pressure on the team to make a change.

Nike had stopped selling "Redskins" merchandise on its official website -- and FedEx -- which has spent MILLIONS over the years for the naming rights to FedExField in Maryland -- threatened to jump ship if the team didn't make a change.

And, Fawn Sharp -- president of the National Congress of American Indians (which represents more than 500 tribal nations) also issued a scathing statement to the team -- calling for players to boycott until the name was changed.

What's important about Fawn ... is Washington had long argued that Native American groups were largely supportive of the nickname. Fawn and the NCAI called BS and they couldn't hide behind that claim anymore.

The team has not locked in new team name yet -- they're reportedly working on the business side of that ... but the season is set to begin soon, so the clock's ticking.

So far, the Redtails and the Warriors have been thrown around as possible replacement names -- you like?

Donald Trump appears to have real issues with the Redskins and Indians for considering name changes ... saying Monday he believes the nicknames are signs of strength for the teams.

Both Washington's NFL franchise and Cleveland's MLB squad announced over the weekend they will have discussions about changing their monikers in the wake of America's social justice movement.

But, Trump seems to have problems with that ... writing on his Twitter account, "They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness."

"But now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct."

Trump then renewed an old rivalry with Mass. Senator Elizabeth Warren, adding, "Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!"

As we previously reported, the Redskins have faced HEAVY pressure over the past few weeks to change their name ... with both Nike and FedEx expressing concerns over it all.

Also, Fawn Sharp -- president of the National Congress of American Indians (which represents more than 500 tribal nations) recently said the Redskins name is VERY offensive and called for players to boycott.

Owner Dan Snyder said Friday the team will look into it ... and just hours later, the Indians piggybacked on the Redskins' statement, saying they, too, would go forward with internal discussions as well.

It's finally happening ... it looks like one of the big holdouts in the movement to 86 offensive names and imagery from our lexicon is about to go down, because it looks like the Washington Redskins may be FINALLY changing their name.

The team's owner, Dan Snyder, said his org will “undergo a thorough review of the team’s name” ... this as the Redskins have encountered a tidal wave of criticism.

Snyder said, “This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise but also input from our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the National Football League and the local community it is proud to represent on and off the field."

And there's more ... Ron Rivera, the head coach, added this ... “This issue is of personal importance to me and I look forward to working closely with Dan Snyder to make sure we continue the mission of honoring and supporting Native Americans and our Military.”

This all feels like things are now teed up for a name change, and not a minute too soon. FedEx -- whose name is on the stadium -- asked the team to change the name. Ditto Nike, that removed all Redskins merch.