Do the Chiefs really want to be the last team clinging to offensive imagery, traditions?

The pressure on the Kansas City Chiefs to reconsider their use of Native American symbols — and, perhaps, the name itself — is growing exponentially.

On Monday, the Cleveland Indians confirmed that the team will change its name in 2022. “The name is no longer acceptable in our world,” said Paul Dolan, the owner of the club.

He’s right. His decision should be noted at the Truman Sports Complex.

Cleveland’s announcement comes after the Washington Football Team decided earlier in the year to drop its offensive nickname. That leaves the Chiefs, the Atlanta Braves, and the Chicago Blackhawks as the major professional sports franchises still using outdated, offensive symbols and names.

The Chiefs are the only team in the NFL to use imagery based on Native Americans.

The team must understand how much of an unnecessary distraction this controversy creates and will continue to perpetuate. In the middle of what may be one of the most dominant on-field performances in the league in years, the Chiefs will be asked — repeatedly — why they’re still called the Chiefs.

It’s a hard question to answer.

The team has insisted that rituals such as the tomahawk chop and pre-game war drum are so popular with fans that they help the team win. Of course, there is no real evidence to back up that claim. The team has won more games on the road this season than at home.

There is evidence, on the other hand, that dropping offensive symbols isn’t as disruptive as some have suggested. Does anyone really believe that fewer fans would watch the team if it had a different name? Of course not.

The Washington Football Team stopped using its racist name, and the world didn’t end. The team keeps playing, and fans keep watching.

That experience undoubtedly helped convince the Cleveland club to drop its name, which the team has used for more than 100 years.

“I think when fair-minded, open-minded people really look at it, think about it and maybe even spend some time studying it,” Dolan said, “I like to think they would come to the same conclusion: It’s a name that had its time, but this is not the time now.”

The Chiefs have consulted with Native American groups about their name and the use of symbols and rituals. That’s commendable but misses the point. While some Native Americans find the iconography acceptable, others find it deeply wrong. That should be enough for the team to change traditions and imagery that don’t affect their performance and won’t hurt their popularity.

Earlier this year, the Chiefs announced new, half-hearted guidelines designed to address these concerns: They banned headdresses, for example. The team also declared that cheerleaders would do the chop with a closed fist instead of an open palm, offering a tortured argument that this was somehow less offensive because it signaled the beating of the drum.

The drum remains a ritual. The stadium is still called Arrowhead.

The team should announce a timetable for eliminating all of these needless displays. At some point, reconsidering the Chiefs name itself will be necessary. That discussion should begin sooner, rather than later.

There is no glory in being the last holdout clinging to traditions and symbols that are now viewed as insensitive or even racist. And as other teams have taken action, it has become increasingly apparent that the Chiefs are delaying the inevitable.

The Kansas City Chiefs are now the most important franchise in America still committed to using a name and imagery that many find offensive. It’s long past time for the club to explain itself and begin the process of making substantive changes.

This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 4:36 PM.