Washington’s New Team Nickname & Rebrand
By: Emdad Swapan, News Editor
Live on NBC’s The Today Show, the Washington Football officially unveiled their new
nickname, logo, and uniforms. The team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, then Washington Football Team for two seasons, will now be known as the Washington Commanders. After receiving tremendous pressure from fans,
alumni, and corporate sponsors, including FedEx, Washington’s NFL Team announced in the summer of 2020 that their Redskins nickname and logo would be retired effective immediately. The Washington Football team then served as the placeholder nickname until they could have a comprehensive and fan-engaging rebrand.
A team that has not won a Super Bowl since January of 1992, when George H.W. Bush was President and Michael Jackson was the #1 rated artist, the newly-named Commanders hope this rebrand ignites and re-engages a fanbase that has not seen much success as of late. Retired Super Bowl winning Washington QB Joe Theismann said at the reveal ceremony, “I like the name ‘Commanders,’ it has a nice ring to it. It has a sense of leadership, a sense of authority.” He told the Stinger back in September that, “Whatever the name is going to be, it will be an opportunity for this team to create its own legacy; we were the Washington Redskins and won three world championships under that name.” Pro Bowl D-linemen Jonathan Allen said, “The name ‘Commanders’ is going to mean something special to the people of this community.” The team will wear burgundy uniforms, white away uniforms, and for the first time ever: black alternate uniforms.
Now here’s my personal opinion: While I did like the name Washington Football team and its simplicity, I am not too upset about the name ‘Commanders.’ The ultimate conclusion is that no matter what the name would have been, I myself and a lot of fans would still root for this team. Fans rally around success and hope, and not always the name. These players won the NFC East in 2020 with the new "Football Team," and their accomplishments were the were the main part of the conversation, not the name. The Washington Wizards went through a similar name change from the Bullets back in 1997, and there are still a lot of loyal fans and a packed arena when they’ve made the playoffs multiple times. The two teams playing in Super Bowl LVI, the LA Rams & Cincinnati Bengals, both made it to the big game after getting new uniforms. Commanders fans hope the team can replicate that success.
Now with this new name and uniform rebrand, you need a star quarterback to rock these threads! How would Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, or Jimmy Garoppolo look in a Commander's uniform at FedEx field? Sports Illustrated reported on 1/31 that, “Multiple sources confirmed Washington is preparing to take a big swing at a QB this offseason,” which makes a lot of sense since their best QB on the roster as of now is Taylor Heinicke. The team has struggled to address the long term concerns at QB for the last 30 years. These are some of the many questions the team has as they now move forward to free agency & the draft. Head Coach Ron Rivera has emphasized the time to win is now. Let's see how this works out for the Washington Commanders in this new journey towards reaching the mountaintop after 30 years.
Fun Fact: President Joe Biden recently named his new German Shepard, Commander in December, prompting this tweet exchange.
Images from: The Washington Commanders, The Washington Post.