Who Dat owns Who Dat?

I can’t believe the NFL tried to make Who Dat with association to the Saints a trademark, especially at a time like this when the Saints finally earned a spot in the Super Bowl after 43 years of struggle. The phrase Who Dat has been around for 150 years and got its origins from minstrel performances and early jazz musicians. Who Dat is now used as a chant short for “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints” and the phase has in the past been used as a chant for several different college and high school teams as well. The phrase has obviously gotten its origins from New Orleans but, the NFL says that it still has the legal rights to the phrase when it is combined with the Saints (logo etc.). The NFL has sent many letters to New Orleans vendors demanding them to quite selling Who Dat shirts. In protest a handful of venders rebuked the NFL’s demands and claimed them to be unfair to small businesses. Louisiana Senator David Vitter aggressively opposed the NFL stating that he would make shirts that read “Who Dat say we can’t print Who Dat”. He also wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodwell stating “Please either drop your present ridiculous position or sue me”. With the Vendors and the Senators complaints combined the NFL has backed down on the issue and has recently made an apology.