It has been more than 30 years since the NFL team from Washington D.C. last won a Super Bowl, but not so terribly long since they demonstrated themselves to be champions.
The decision in 2020 to remove the team’s former nickname, an epithet offensive enough I’ll choose not to type it when possible, stands as former owner Dan Snyder’s one positive contribution to the team’s history. Well, that and the choice of “Commanders”, which fits beautifully into the city’s history, as its replacement.
It was essential to abandon a name that, for decades, stood for suppression and oppression. Washington went one better by adopting a new name that reflects strength and glory. And it was equally impressive that, upon taking command of the franchise in July 2023, new owner Josh Harris declared his commitment to the Commanders brand and defended the decision by explaining, “Sports are supposed to bring people together and not be a distraction.”
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The question hasn’t gone away entirely. Harris was asked about it at a postseason news conference in February. He’ll certainly be asked again the next time he is available to reporters, perhaps at some point adjacent to the opening of training camp Friday at the team’s headquarters in Ashburn, Va. His answer following the Commanders’ brilliant 2024 season ought to suffice.
“I think it’s now being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff,” Harris said. “So we’re going with that.
“Now, in this building, the name ‘Commanders’ means something. It’s about players who love football, are great at football, hit hard, mentally tough, great teammates. It’s really meaningful. That name is growing in meaning.”
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The team’s old name grows ever more repulsive as time progresses. Merriam-Webster defines the team’s former nickname as “an insulting and contemptuous term”. Dictionary.com calls it, “Older slang: disparaging and offensive.” Twitter’s Grok service declared it to be “widely considered offensive and insensitive today due to its association with racism, stereotypes and the marginalization of Native American communities.”
There had been surveys done over the years about the old Washington nickname, the most comprehensive of which was conducted by two major universities in 2020. It showed that 49 percent of Native Americans found that word offensive or very offensive. The best summary of the opinion polls on the subject, though, came from Louis Gray, a member of the Osage nation, in a 2013 Tulsa World article.
“Why would you take a poll to see if something is racially offensive?” he said. “You wouldn’t do that with any other race. You wouldn’t have African-Americans vote to decide whether or not any sort of racial (epithet) would be offensive.”
Washington’s NFL team left all that behind, at last, five years ago. The new era constructed since has included the introduction of “Commanders” as a replacement, the installation of the Harris ownership group and, most important, the ascent of a team that compiled a 12-5 record last season behind rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. By throwing for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns and winning 70.5 of his starts, Daniels added Sporting News Rookie of the Year award to the Heisman Trophy he won a year earlier at LSU.
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With the quarterback position expected to be improved even from that exceptional performance, and with important additions made through free agency (defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw) to address a deficient run defense and the draft (offensive tackle Josh Conerly) to help protect the glistening asset at QB, the Commanders have substantial momentum toward a new era of excellence.
Management astutely recognizes it would be reckless to risk disrupting the team's momentum with any sort of regressive move.
In April, the team held a news conference to announce the development of a new stadium on the site of the team’s former home at RFK Stadium, which would cost $2.7 billion and be completed in 2030 and, because the plans call for covered stands and playing surface, would make Washington a viable contender for such events as the Super Bowl, Final Four and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Moving the team back to D.C. after more than three decades in the suburbs would be wonderful for the community. The football franchise enjoys a tremendous amount of leverage in this circumstance, however, with WUSA reporting July 16 leaders from Maryland and Virginia both contacted the team to renew their interest in becoming the team’s home after D.C.’s exclusive window to approve stadium construction expired.
So if there were to be some sort of threat to the franchise’s planned return to D.C., alternatives are abundant. The Commanders already have made the most important move. They’ve recovered their own dignity.