After over a year of waiting, football fans in DC finally have a name to cheer for: The Washington Commanders. The name change was revealed at Fedex Field by Washington’s team president Jason Wright. Wright and coach Ron Rivera wanted to settle on a name that had a connection to the military, due to the team being centered in the nation’s capital. 

Along with the name change, the new logos and uniforms were unveiled. The uniforms still feature the signature burgundy and gold colors, but with a twist. They were designed for a younger, cleaner look. There are three jerseys; black with gold, burgundy with gold, and white with burgundy. There are also three new logos which feature the Washington ‘W’ in burgundy and gold. 

The team held their former name for 87 years, but dropped it in July of 2020 following protests over racial injustice. That name was viewed as a slur and offensive to many Indigenous people. The team took on the name The Washington Football Team in the meantime. Now, The Commanders are trying to rally around their new name and bring better energy to the DMV area. With several scandals around the team lately, many players are trying to look forward and use this new name as a clean start. They want to build history into The Commanders and make the fans proud. 

At the announcement ceremony, current player Jonathan Allen said, “When I first saw [the name], I saw it with the uniforms. If you’re looking just at the name, well, the name doesn’t mean anything to you. There’s no history there. You’ve never seen anyone play for that team, there’s no uniforms, so obviously you’re not going to like it. But once you come out, you see the atmosphere, you see the new helmets, you see the new uniform, you see the players wearing it, you see the culture we’ve built around it, it’s going to make a lot of people happy.” (ESPN)

In the 2021-2022 season Washington went 7-10, coming in third in the NFC East. They started this season not very strong, but had a few big wins that gave fans hope for the playoffs. The Commanders know what work needs to be done over the offseason. Figuring out the offense is a big priority. If the team can start to really gel together and unite over their new name, things will start looking up. Right now Washington’s focus is to rebrand, rebuild, and move forward with a fresh start.