Surviving Tuskegee Airmen split on Washington naming team after them

Washington is currently in the process of selecting a new name, and one of the favorites is Red Tails as a way to honor the Tuskegee Airmen who became national heroes during World War II. How do the remaining pilots feel about possibly having a team named after them? The response has been mixed.

"Absolutely," Lt. Col. Harold Brown, 95, told TIME about whether he supports the name. "Thinking about it sort of selfishly in terms of our own legacy, we are running out of pilots. Waiting a few years, that would be the end of us. I don’t know of a better way to keep that name alive than to put it on a name right behind ‘Washington.'"

Brown is one of nine surviving Tuskegee Airmen, so he isn't wrong when he says that there won't be any left sooner rather than later. And from his perspective, this ensures that people will remember their legacy long after their gone. However, not everyone agrees with him.

"I am not sure they are worthy of the Red Tail name," Lt. Col. James Harvey, 97, told Time. "They don’t win that many games plus a lot of the players have a […] poor attitude. But, it is not my call. Just the way I feel at this point in time."

Harvey is absolutely right that Washington has not won many football games over the last several decades. The team has been among the worst-run franchises in all of sports. It's fair for him to be concerned with having to be associated with a losing team.