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.

References

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

Category:National Football League teams