If you’ve been waiting for Washington to reveal its new name, well you’ll have to wait a bit longer. The Landover-based franchise announced Thursday the team will forego an official name and simply be known as the “Washington Football Team” throughout the 2020 NFL season. Washington will also debut new uniforms, though the team’s iconic burgundy and gold color scheme will remain intact. In lieu of a logo, helmets will feature each player’s individual number.
Obviously, Thursday wasn’t the outcome most fans were hoping for, particularly with “Redtails” and “Red Wolves” beginning to gain momentum on social media (an observant Reddit user theorized Washington was also considering "Sentinels," a nod to the fictional team portrayed in The Replacements, a 2000 film starring Keanu Reaves as embattled quarterback Shane Falco). Washington could obviously still circle back to one of those names, but apparently that won’t happen until next season at the earliest.
While “Washington Football Team” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, logistically, it would have been difficult for Washington to rebrand itself before the start of the regular season on September 13. Ironically, Washington debuted its new non-name at almost the exact moment as the NHL’s expansion Seattle Kraken, whose unique moniker and clever logo have already drawn widespread praise.
After years of resisting, owner Daniel Snyder finally pulled the plug on Washington’s problematic name (a blatant Native American slur) earlier this month amid mounting pressure from corporate interests including stadium naming-rights-holder FedEx. Shortly after, Electronic Arts, designer of the long-running Madden video-game series, announced plans to scrap the team’s controversial name and logo from its latest Madden installment scheduled for release next month.
ESPN's Adam Schefter shared images of the team’s new uniforms (though they don’t look all that different from their old ones), which will be on display when Washington hosts division-rival Philadelphia in Week 1.
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