Jacob Wetzel, his great-grandson, told the paper that while the name change is 'long overdue,' he was still sad to see the family legacy go. His grandson, Bill Wetzel, told the Great Falls, Mont., Tribune (which is based about two hours from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation) that his grandfather was a good, honest man, and it bothered him that his grandfather’s name had been associated with a racial slur, but that times had changed. Indians are proud of Indians.'Īlmost five decades later, Wetzel’s family expressed mixed reactions to the team’s announcement. 'It made us all so proud to have an Indian on a big-time team,' Wetzel told the paper, 'It's only a small group of radicals who oppose those names. Within weeks, the team had a new logo based on a composite of Native American photographs, including one of early 20th-century Blackfeet chief, Two Guns White Calf. Wetzel spoke with the Washington Post in 2002, shortly before he died, and said he had told the team he’d like to see an Indian on their helmets instead of the big R.
