The Washington Football Team (fka Redskins) have a new name. I am sure if you are interested (or even not so interested) that you know it by now. It’s the Washington Commanders.
My first reactions: Boo. Boring. Generic. Dumb.
I spent the better part of yesterday and even woke up at 3am today thinking about it. My second, third, and fourth reactions are not much better, but I have given it a lot of thought. Enough so that I’m writing a new blog entry over 2 years after my last entry.
The Reveal
Only a Dan Snyder owned team could screw this up. When the Cleveland Indians changed their name to the Guardians, they didn’t leave the fan base in limbo for nearly two years with a temporary name. They changed the name in the middle of the season, put out a press release, and released a pretty cool video narrated by Tom Hanks.
What does Washington do? Announce that 2.2.22 will be the big reveal on the nationally televised NBC Today show. I do not have a problem with setting an actual date, but the choice of venue makes no sense. Where is the pomp and circumstance? This is supposed to be a HUGE deal. Instead, we get Craig Melvin interviewing team President Jason Wright, legend and Super Bowl winning QB Doug Williams, and the best player on the team Jonathan Allen in the frigid cold on the grass at FedEx Field.
Credit to Craig Melvin for asking about the sexual harrassment allegations and the Brian Flores lawsuit. This Today show appearance was clearly not well thought out by the team. When it was time to announce the name, I was expecting Jason Wright to say something like “roll the video” or to have players wearing jerseys bursting from the tunnel. Nope. Instead Jason says, “Doug, go ahead and tell them.” And Doug Williams says, “We are the Commanders.” That’s it. So underwhelming.
When Craig Melvin asked about a mascot and a fight song, Mr. Wright said they are still working on it. They have had nearly two years to think about this!
There actually is a video that was released and it is good and inspiring, but that should have been the brand introduction. Not that sad display on the Today show.
The Name
The team allowed fans to submit names. Supposedly, they got 40K entries. From that they “whittled” them down to a list of real candidates. I put whittled in quotes because if you get 40K entries, chances are the ones the team already had in mind would be included. They said they held focus groups. With who? A focus group would rate Commanders highly?
Why I don’t like Commanders
Here are all the reasons I don’t like Commanders:
- It is too long. It is 3 syllables and 10 letters. It’s kind of a mouthful.
- It is boring
- It is generic
- It is the name of the now defunct AAF San Antonio football team
- It does not lend itself to a good nickname. Like Pats for Patriots or Bucs for Buccaneers. As Tony Kornheiser hilariously declared on PTI that the only possible nickname is “The Commies” — for the team representing capital of the USA!
My Preference
The early fan favorites were Red Tails and Red Wolves. I actually would have been happy with either. However, I really wanted the team to be the Washington Justice. That name was not in the list of 10 that they released.
Of the list of 10, there were only two that I liked:
- Hogs or Red Hogs because of the obvious association with the team (when they actually won Super Bowls)
- Brigade if I had to choose a military themed name, which was obviously the direction the team wanted to go.
Brigade Would Have Been Great
What do all NFL teams have in common? They are all plural nouns and end with an “s”.
A commander is a person that leads. Have you heard the expression, “Too many cooks in the kitchen”? With many commanders, I picture everyone trying to be a leader. That is not how a team operates effectively.
Brigade is different. It is a singular noun, but it conjures images of a fighting force. I can picture 11 men on the field all with the same goal: To fight together as one to defeat the opponent. What a fantastic image!
When they used the temporary Washington Football Team name, it was unique and many fans wanted that to be the permanent name. The cool thing is that it was unique and different. I feel like Washington Brigade would have had the same impact. Definitely a missed opportunity.
The Uniforms
Thank goodness they decided early on in the rebranding process to keep the burgundy and gold color scheme. They would not be my team without those colors.
The best part about the uniform is the burgundy helmet with the very cool W logo. I love the matte finish on the helmets.
The colors are good, but not what I was expecting. I was hoping they would deepen the shades like the awesome throwback uniforms that the team occasionally wears. It could be my imagination, but the burgundy actually looks a few shades lighter than the old uniforms.
Burgundy Uniforms
Love the color. Love the design of the numbers.
I hate the awkward looking “COMMANDERS” above the numbers.
Black Uniforms?!?
Black uniforms?!? This is totally unnecessary and feels like a Dan Snyder demand to me. Ironically, the black uniform is my favorite. Let me rephrase that. The design of the black uniform is my favorite. I like the DC flag on the sleeve. I like the placement of the Commanders above and to the left of the numbers. I love the Gold numbers with the Burgundy trim. All of the design elements from this uniform should be on the other uniforms.
I kind of even like the black helmet — except that it’s shiny black. Why not matte black? Matte black would have looked amazing. The W on the crest of the helmet is an interesting choice and I’m ok with that. I’m just having trouble understanding why the helmet has a shiny finish.
White Uniforms
Umm…was there a mistake? The white uniforms look like they were made for a different team. The only gold I saw on the uniform was the Nike swoosh on the sleeve. They are effectively Red and Black. Was this design a hold over from the Jim Zorn era? Even the design of the numbers don’t match the Burgundy and Black uniforms. I read a Washington Post article that explained all of the design choices. The numbers have lines to remind you of military stripes. No lines on the numbers on the white uniforms and it has a distracting gradient that the other two uniforms do not have. This is embarrassing.
No Gold Pants
This is the worst choice of all. Maybe they have them, but didn’t display them. In general, I like the pants. Solid color is better than some awful stripes or other design elements. No complaints except no Gold pants!!
The Crest
Something unique to the branding is a circular crest. It’s a circle that around the top says Washington Football and around the bottom lists all of the years we won championships. They include pre-Super Bowl championships which kind of feels like a cheat, but whatever. In the middle, the circle is divided into quadrants that include the year the team was founded, the W logo, and 3 stars to represent the DC flag. No complaints here. It is admittedly cool.
Conclusion
They are the Washington Commanders now. Are they still my team? Yes. Will I still root for them? Yes. Do I like the name? No. Will it grow on me? Maybe. I rarely think of the Bullets when the Washington Wizards are mentioned. Maybe the same thing will eventually happen with Commanders.
Most importantly for Dan Snyder. Will I buy gear? Most likely. My son who was absolutely livid about the name has already asked if I could buy him a shirt.
What am I hoping for? A winning team that will rejuvenate the fan base. Then the name will not matter.
What am I really hoping for? I hope Dan Snyder is forced to sell the team and the new owner hates the name and we go through another rebrand. Imagine if Jeff Bezos bought the team. We could be the Washington Prime.
And now a haiku:
Generic and bland
Non-offensive was the goal
Where are the Gold pants?
I basically composed this in my head lying awake in bed at 3am. I am tired. I want to go back and add links to relevant content, but I am feeling kind of lazy and just want to be done thinking about this.
Better Off Jed 