Would the Redskins change their name to Bravehearts?
Would the Redskins change their name to Bravehearts? (TMZ)

In recent weeks Redskins owner Dan Snyder has seemed to warm up to the idea of changing the Redskins name. So the report that a wealthy neighbor of his applied for a patent to lock down the name Washington Bravehearts is more than a little spicy.

According to TMZ, Aris Mardirossian, "a wealthy patent investor" who lives "a few doors down" from Dan Snyder, registered the name "WASHINGTON BRAVEHEARTS" on Oct. 17.

CBSSports.com has also learned Mardirossian registered the domain WashingtonBravehearts.com on October 18.

The patent license, per TMZ, is for "entertainment in the nature of football games."

TMZ also obtained the LLC filings (.PDF) for Washington Brave Hearts, LLC.

First impressions of this: What a potentially awesome move. Bravehearts is a sick name and -- unless I'm totally insensitive -- not offensive. It maintains much of the same sense of the name Redskins, but gets rid of the whole, pesky, we're-offending-an-entire-culture thing.

Remember that Snyder recently hired a PR dude who specializes in crisis management. He knows the lay of the land.

Will you remember where you were when TMZ broke the story of the Redskins changing their name to Bravehearts? Probably not. Maybe this is all smoke and no fire but what a freaking world we live in.