NFL’s Washington Team Ends Drama With New ‘Commanders’ Name
Washington’s Football Team Will Now Be Called the Commanders
(Bloomberg) -- Washington’s NFL team has picked a new name, the Commanders.
The team, whose earlier name is a racial slur, made the announcement Wednesday. The franchise had said in 2020 that it was dropping the name and its chief logo, responding to decades of complaints from Native Americans and others who found the moniker offensive. It played the past two seasons as the Washington Football Team.
Team names, school mascots and corporate logos have been getting makeovers to drop offensive elements. Cleveland’s baseball team changed its name to the Guardians from the Indians last year. The state of Maine in 2019 banned the use of Native team names, mascots and imagery for public and state schools, and other states have since followed suit.
Washington’s football team was founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves and changed its name to the slur the following year. The franchise moved to Washington in 1937 and has had a storied history, including three Super Bowl titles.
The team’s owner, Dan Snyder, announced in July 2020 that the old name would be retired, following backlash from corporate sponsors including FedEx Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Snyder had previously said he would “never” change the team name.
Along with the name change comes a new logo and uniforms, including a black jersey that got skeptical reception from some fans on social media. The team retains burgundy and gold as its primary colors.
The announcement comes after weeks of speculation and hype. The franchise had said in January that it would debut a new name after whittling the potential choices down to eight.
The name change was welcomed by some activists, including Crystal Echo Hawk, the founder of Native advocacy group IllumiNative. Yet she said the team still needed to “set a path for healing and reconciliation” with activists and the wider Native community.
“While today’s announcement signals the start of a new chapter, the Washington Football Team still bears responsibility for the racism and harm they caused Native peoples,” she said in a Wednesday statement. She also called on the Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, and others to retire their current names and mascots.
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