Washington takes Command, reveals new name

After 569 days of jersey/name proposals, the Washington Commanders is now the name of the formerly known Washington Football Team.

One legacy. One unified future.

We are the Washington Commanders #TakeCommand pic.twitter.com/Eav9NOV5Mm

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) February 2, 2022

The major leak was by Brad Freitas of NBC4 Washington. He flew his helicopter over FedExField and saw what looks to be a mural of the new name.

#SpoilerAlert: Hail to the #WashingtonCommanders #WashingtonFootball #HailYeah #BREAKING #NFL #washingtonfootballteam pic.twitter.com/ibajnDNHL1

— ʙʀᴀᴅ ꜰʀᴇɪᴛᴀꜱ (@Chopper4Brad) February 2, 2022

According to a few sources around the team, this has been rumored for weeks now. Team President Jason Wright came out last month saying that “Wolves or Red Wolves” would not be an option. Many fans were upset as this was the favorite on social media, especially with the younger fanbase.

Early on we understood Wolves — or some variation of it — was one of our fan favorites. As I’ve said all along, we take feedback from our fans seriously, and because of your interest in this name, we put Wolves on a list of options to explore fully. Once we began looking into Wolves, however, we became aware of a notable challenge: trademarks held by other teams would limit our ability to make the name our own. And without Wolves, variations like RedWolves wouldn’t have been viable either for these and other reasons.

The name is a safe choice, and that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. They wanted to go with a name that would last a long time and fit their “military theme”. Wright also said that they did not want to pick a name just to revolve around some hashtag. Wanting to move in a new direction, there should be no shocked that they went away from the old hashtag “HTTR”.

In a statment, this is what owner Dan Snyder said about the rebrand:

“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. 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.”

When they hired coach Ron Rivera in January of 2020 they used the term “New RivERA” many times. But with this rebrand, this truly feel like a new era in the Washington franchise going forward. In my opinion, they did a good job making this rebrand not feel like an expansion team, just more modernized.

The best part the best part new variation of swag. For the first time the team has a black uniform. They also are taking advantage of the NFL’s updated helmet policy by going with an alternate glossy black to match the black on black jerseys.

pic.twitter.com/yYYO2mr7L1

— John Keim (@john_keim) February 2, 2022

Here are my finals thoughts: Many fans will reject the new name. They’ve been the Washington Redskins since 1933, and fans just got use to it. Now it’s time to move on. The memories of the old team name are still there. Those will never go away. Times have changed, and for a franchise that has been a laughing stock for the last two decades, this might be a positive. Embrace the new name, embrace the rebrand. This is still the same organization you’ve been rooting for your whole life.