We have long hoped team owner Daniel M. Snyder would change the name, not because of threats to the league’s tax status or to patent protection but because it is the right thing to do. “I wouldn’t want to use a word that defines a people — living or dead, offended or not — in a most demeaning way,” wrote Post columnist Charles Krauthammer in the best articulation of this reason. Unfortunately, judging by the team’s knee-jerk response to the Cantwell-Cole letter — essentially, it is none of their business — appeals to simple decency aren’t going to cut it.

Mr. Goodell can’t have it both ways. He can’t claim to listen to concerns about this truly offensive name and then tune them out. Perhaps he can’t force Mr. Snyder to change the team’s name, but he can say what he would do if he were in Mr. Snyder’s position, and he can enlist other owners to get the league on the right side of history.