The long national nightmare is over: The Washington Football Team will now be known as the Washington Commanders.
After 87 years with the “Redskins” moniker, the team played the last two seasons as the Washington Football Team.
The team also unveiled its new logo and uniforms—which keep the franchise’s iconic burgundy and gold color scheme.
Team officials say the Commanders nickname was chosen because it incorporates the military, which was the goal as the team hails from Washington, D.C.
“As an organization, we are excited to rally and rise together as one under our new identity while paying homage to our local roots and what it means to represent the nation’s capital,” team owner Dan Snyder said. “As we kick-off our 90th season, it is important for our organization and fans to pay tribute to our past traditions, history, legacy, and the greats that came before us. We continue to honor and represent the Burgundy & Gold while forging a pathway to a new era in Washington. Today may mark the first day for the Washington Commanders, but we are and always will be Washington.”
The team began mulling a name-change in July 2020 after many deemed it offensive.
Executive Director of the nonprofit IllumiNative Crystal Echo Hawk called Wednesday a “momentous moment” and said they can “put a horrible chapter to rest. There’s still a lot of healing that needs to happen, so I don’t think the team’s work in regards to reconciliation and healing is over.”
“The NFL is not done,” Crystal Echo Hawk added. “The [Kansas City] Chiefs have to step up and follow the lead and be on the right side of history. Washington has shown these rebrandings can be successful. This is a good thing. All eyes turn to the Chiefs.”
“They’ll no longer be subjected to such an offensive and harmful slur every Sunday during the football season,” said Ray Halbritter, the nation representative and CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises. “It’s a great moment for Washington fans. They want to support a team, to love a team, and now they won’t be put in position having to do that with a dictionary-defined slur as a name.”
Snyder had for years resisted changing the name, saying in 2013 that he wouldn’t change the name and to “put it in all caps.” Many close to him thought he would even rather sell the team than use a new name.
That, of course, changed in the summer of 2020. That June, a letter signed by 87 investors and shareholders worth a total of $620 billion was sent to sponsors FedEx, PepsiCo and Nike, asking them to stop doing business with the team until it changed its name. That was the catalyst for the change.
Another possible name choice was RedWolves, though trademark issues thwarted that.
Former players have mixed feelings about the switch.
“I don’t feel detached, and the reason why is because of the fans,” said former Washington QB Joe Theismann, part of the organization’s first Super Bowl triumph after the 1982 season. “Believe me, like anything else, you build it and they will come. You start winning, people will show up. If you don’t win, people get disillusioned.”
Former Washington defensive end Charles Mann, who played in three Super Bowls and won two with the franchise, said he will continue to associate with the team’s previous name.
“That’s what we were when we played,” Mann said. “But there’s a new era. New records will be broken. All of that to me is different and fresh and new. I don’t have anything to worry about us being lost or forgotten. We did some incredible things when we played.”
