rename
National Football League’s Washington Football Team change name to ‘Commanders’, after former ‘Redskins’ name and logo criticised as disrespectful to Native American culture
The National Football League's Washington Football Team will now officially be called the 'Commanders'.
This comes following a lengthy review on how best to replace their former name and logo - 'Redskins' - that were widely criticised as disrespectful of Native American culture.
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The team retired their controversial Redskins name in mid-2020 along with a logo that featured a profile of a red-faced Native American with feathers in his hair.
That followed a long campaign from critics and came amid calls for racial justice and a threatened loss of sponsors.
For the last two seasons, the club adopted the generic and temporary 'Football Team' moniker while it worked to develop a new identity.
The Commanders name and primary "W" logo are the results of an 18-month rebranding process that the team which included over 40,000 fan submissions, countless surveys, focus groups, and meetings.
They will stick with their traditional burgundy and gold colour scheme, however.
Team co-owner Dan Snyder said: “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.”
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Snyder, who bought the storied franchise in 1999, had long fought off public pressure in the past to rebrand and went as far as saying the club would never change their name.
Critics ramped up pressure on the team to change the name amid a nationwide reckoning on racism and police brutality triggered by the 2020 death of George Floyd, a black man who died after white police Derek Chauvin officer knelt on his neck.
Snyder eventually softened his stance after FedEx Corp, which owns the naming rights to the team's suburban stadium in Landover, Maryland, urged the club to rebrand.
Founded in 1932, Commanders have won three Super Bowls and are one of the NFL's marquee franchises, ranked by Forbes last August as the league’s fifth-most valuable at $4.2 billion.
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