Scott Turner, HUD secretary and ex-Redskins player, backs Trump's pressure on Commanders to bring back moniker

President Donald Trump made a "controversial" statement about the NFL, saying that he wouldn't have changed Washington's name from Redskins to Commanders.

President Donald Trump received support from Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner amid the push for the Washington Commanders to ditch its current nickname in favor of the Redskins.

Turner was an NFL defensive back for eight years. He played for the Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos from 1995 to 2003 before he called it a career.

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Scott Turner of the Washington Redskins looks on during a game against the Arizona Cardinals at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. (Getty Images)

He wrote a message in reply to Trump on Sunday.

"I played in the NFL and was drafted by the Washington Redskins. Not the ‘Washington Football Team’ or the ‘Commanders,’" he wrote on X. "@POTUS is right. It’s time to bring the Redskins’ name back."

The Redskns selected Turner in the seventh round of the 1995 draft. He played three seasons in Washington. He had 106 tackles and five interceptions in his career.

Trump put the blitz on the Commanders, and the Cleveland Guardians of MLB, on Sunday with two Truth Social posts.

"The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this," Trump wrote first. "Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past.

"Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We