The Philadelphia 76ers have their own unique brand of chaos happening right now, with general manager Bryan Collangelo possibly using burner accounts to criticize the team online. It’s a drama that Joel Embiid has followed closely along with the rest of us. But if Embiid cares about his intellectual property, he’s also looking at a very specific trademark filing from the Buffalo Bills.
If you’re not familiar with the sloganeering of also-ran NFL franchises and their rookie head coaches, let me catch you up here. Sean McDermott began referencing the “process” early in his coaching career in Buffalo. It’s a clear reference to the Process that Sam Hinkie coined when he was the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers. Any rational sports fan could see that it was blatant theft at worst and light borrowing at best.
In fact, the team’s official slogan in the locker room was “Playoff Caliber,” which was ironic for a team that had an 18-year playoff drought until they actually made the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. That happened mostly thanks to some Andy Dalton heroics, as the Bills were somehow able to overcome one of the worst coaching decisions in the history of modern football to make the playoffs anyway.
But now it seems that playoff run has emboldened the Bills, who filed a claim to “Respect the Process.” You can search the trademark database for yourself and see the listing, which clearly is from the Buffalo Bills. Interestingly enough, the Sixers never tried to patent the phrase, perhaps because of the shame that still comes with intentionally tanking from an organizational standpoint.
Joel Embiid, however, isn’t ashamed of the phrase. In fact, he’s adapted it as his own nickname, gleefully adding “PROCESSING” to his Twitter bio and reveling in “trust the process” chants from Sixers fans.
The @buffalobills have embraced 'the process'. The organization filed a trademark for RESPECT THE PROCESS on May 23.
The @sixers never filed a trademark for THE PROCESS.
But Joel Embiid did… It is very possible the @JoelEmbiid application could block the Bills filing. pic.twitter.com/oMrp794d4U
— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) June 1, 2018
It’s unclear if Embiid cares that the Bills are attempting to profit off of a similar process-based slogan, but it is extremely lame that a football coach is pretending an entire NBA franchise and city that’s adopted the slogan simply doesn’t exist. Embiid’s process pivot turned sour grapes into wine, ironically taking a long, painful period in franchise history and rebranding the moment for himself. But McDermott’s process pleas are simply another way for a coach to browbeat his players into obedience. It’s odd that fans are so ready to find appreciation for that stance in the first place, really.
In any event, look out for some neat “RESPECT THE PROCESS” cell phone covers, decorative magnets, sunglasses, graphic prints, posters, drinking glasses, coozies, bottles or cans, mugs, reusable plastic and stainless steel water bottles, banners and flags of textile or plastic, towels, door mats, cornhole game boards, footballs and miniature toy helmets coming to a Western New York sporting goods store soon.
