Harry Reid: NFL more concerned about deflated balls than racist name

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says he's "stunned" that the NFL is more attuned to deflate-gate than it is to "a racist franchise name," referring to the Washington Redskins. He tweeted about the NFL's announcement Monday that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady would be suspended for four games without pay. He's already been retweeted over 700 times, although the comments have not been kind.

• Brady, Patriots respond to NFL's deflate-gate penalties

Reid also went to the Senate floor, expanding on the sentiments in his Tweet, to say, "I find it stunning that the National Football League is more concerned about how much air is in a football than with a racist franchise name that denigrates Native Americans across the country. The Redskins name is a racist name. So I wish the commissioner would act as swiftly and decisively in changing the name of the D.C. team as he did about not enough air in a football."

This is not Reid's first protest against the Washington-based teams Reid and other Democratic senators sent NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a letter urging the league to demand a name change for the team.

And soon after that, when the Patent and Trademark Office cancelled the Redskins trademark, Reid went to the floor and said, "Daniel Snyder may be the last person in the world to realize this, but it's just a matter of time until he is forced to do the right thing and change the name."

In:
• NFL
• Tom Brady
• New England Patriots
• Harry Reid
• deflategate