Washington Commanders

The **Washington Commanders** are a professional American football team based in the Washington, D.C. area.  The team plays at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. The team's head office and training area are at Commander Park in Ashburn, Virginia. They are part of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL).

The team began in Boston in 1932. They were first named for the Boston Braves baseball team. They were soon renamed the "Redskins." They kept that nickname after moving to Washington in the late 1930s. Native Americans and others said this word was insulting to Native Americans. There were protests and legal challenges, but the team kept the name for many years.

On June 18, 2014, the United States Patent Office decided that they were going to cancel the Redskins trademarks and called the name "disparaging to Native Americans."

In June 2020, 87 of the team's sponsors wrote a letter asking the team to change its name.  PepsiCo, Nike, and FedEx were three of these sponsors.  Together those three companies pay more than US$600 million to show their products and services next to the team.  That summer, the team announced that there would be a review of the name. On July 13, 2020, the team officially retired the "Redskins" name, although they did not choose a new team name at that time. The team played the 2020 and 2021 seasons as the Washington Football Team.

The team hired John Wright to find a new name.  He spoke to fans, former players, and some Native Americans.  Fans liked the name "Red Wolves," but too many other teams already legally owned names and pictures that were like "Red Wolves." On February 2, 2022, Wright went on the Today Show.  He said the new name would be "Washington Commanders" and showed everyone the new team uniforms. The name is based on the US naval rank, commander.

Some Native American leaders, for example Fawn Sharp of the National Congress of American Indians, said the team also should have apologized for using the name for so long and making so much money with it.  Others said it was a step in the right direction.

## Other websites

- Washington Commanders official web site
- Sports E-Cyclopedia.com
- ESPN's Redskin Page
- History of the Washington Redskins
- Team Names

## Infobox (nfl team)

- **name**: Washington Commanders
- **current**: 2024 Washington Commanders season
- **logo**: Washington Commanders logo.svg
- **wordmark**: Washington Commanders wordmark.svg
- **first season**: 1932 Boston Braves (NFL) season, 1932
- **city**: FedExField
Landover, Maryland
- **misc**: **Headquartered** in Ashburn, Virginia
- **colors**: Burgundy, gold, black

- **owner**: Josh Harris
- **president**: Jason Wright
- **general manager**: Adam Peters
- **coach**: Dan Quinn
- **nicknames**: * The Burgundy and Gold
* The 'Skins (as the Redskins)
* The Hogs (American football), The Hogs (1980s offensive line)
- **song**: "Hail to the Redskins" (1938–2019)
- **hist yr**: 2022
- **hist misc**: * Boston Braves (1932)
* Boston Redskins (1933–1936)
* Washington Redskins (1937–2019)
* Washington Football Team (2020–2021)
- **nfl start yr**: 1932
- **division hist**: * Eastern Division (1933–1949)
* American Conference (1950–1952)
* Eastern Conference (1953–1969)
** Capitol Division (1967–1969)
* **National Football Conference (1970–present)**
** **NFC East (1970–present)**
- **no league champs**: 5
- **no sb champs**: 3
- **no conf champs**: 5
- **no div champs**: 15
- **league champs**: ***List of NFL champions (1920–1969), NFL championships (pre-1970 AFL–NFL merger) (2)**
1937 NFL Championship Game, 1937, 1942 NFL Championship Game, 1942
- **sb champs**:  (Super Bowl XVII, XVII),  (Super Bowl XXII, XXII),  (Super Bowl XXVI, XXVI)
- **conf champs**: * **NFC:** , , , ,
- **div champs**: * **NFL Eastern:** , , , , ,
* **NFC East:** , , , , , , , ,
- **playoff appearances**: * **NFL:** 1936 NFL Championship Game, 1936, 1937 NFL Championship Game, 1937, 1940 NFL Championship Game, 1940, 1942 NFL Championship Game, 1942, 1943 NFL Championship Game, 1943, 1945 NFL Championship Game, 1945, 1971–72 NFL playoffs, 1971, 1972–73 NFL playoffs, 1972, 1973–74 NFL playoffs, 1973, 1974–75 NFL playoffs, 1974, 1976–77 NFL playoffs, 1976, 1982–83 NFL playoffs, 1982, 1983–84 NFL playoffs, 1983, 1984–85 NFL playoffs, 1984, 1986–87 NFL playoffs, 1986, 1987–88 NFL playoffs, 1987, 1990–91 NFL playoffs, 1990, 1991–92 NFL playoffs, 1991, 1992–93 NFL playoffs, 1992, 1999–2000 NFL playoffs, 1999, 2005–06 NFL playoffs, 2005, 2007–08 NFL playoffs, 2007, 2012–13 NFL playoffs, 2012, 2015–16 NFL playoffs, 2015, 2020–21 NFL playoffs, 2020, 2024–25 NFL playoffs, 2024
- **no playoff appearances**: 25
- **stadium years**: * Braves Field ()
* Fenway Park ()
* Griffith Stadium ()
* Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium ()
* **FedExField (–present)**