The NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs won’t be changing the team’s nickname anytime soon, but are retiring their horse mascot named “Warpaint,” according to organization president, Mark Donovan.
His comments came after MLB’s Cleveland Indians announced Friday they would become the Cleveland Guardians next year.
The Indians will join the NFL’s Washington Football Team, formerly the Washington Redskins, in moving on in recent years from a name evoking Native Americans.
But the Chiefs, like the MLB’s Atlanta Braves, don’t plan a name change.
One difference fans will notice at Arrowhead Stadium next season is the absence of Kansas City’s horse mascot Warpaint.
Since 2009, the sorrel tobiano mare has been a fixture at Chiefs home games.
The Warpaint tradition was reintroduced as part of the team’s 50th anniversary season after a 20-year hiatus. In earlier iterations, Warpaint had been mounted by a rider dressed in traditional Native American headdress and garb.
In August 2020 the Chiefs banned fans from wearing ceremonial headdresses and Native American-style face paint in the team’s stadium.