There are a few hosts on 106.7 The Fan (ahem Danny) who are adamant that the Commanders need to re-brand under Josh Harris, a third name change since 2020 to finally rid the team of the stench of Dan Snyder.
Pete Hailey, who of course covers the Commanders for NBC Sports Washington, told BMitch & Finlay Tuesday that he agrees, as that was his answer when JP Finlay asked him about what he thinks the Josh Harris group's first major agenda items should be.
“The major ones are stadium and rebrand, and I do want them to rebrand,” Hailey said. “I think a new name of course, and the burgundy and gold color scheme matters, so I like the idea of white primary jerseys with burgundy and gold trim, and then go black jerseys with the same trim. That can be a cool way to move forward, but the trim keeps the older fans happy.”
If anything, though, Hailey just wants the Josh Harris ownership group to “be forthright and available” and “illustrate the vision.”
“You don’t have to have weekly pressers like Jerry Jones or tangle with superstar players when they come by the front row, but have preseason and postseason pressers, speak at a couple events, and just humanize yourself,” Hailey said. “Let people can recognize you and understand you are ridiculously rich, but you’re a regular guy with good values and you listen to fans. The stadium, the rebrand, the personnel moves…those will all take time, but when this bid is finalized, hold a presser and explain why you love this team and what you want it to become, and start off on the right foot.”
So, what is Hailey’s possible choice for a name?
“I understand there are basically no right names, but maybe you just have to go in a completely different direction, or maybe not limit yourself to plural names,” he said. “Justice and Power are kind of corny, but at least they have a little personality compared to Commanders, which feels a little generic. I mean, the Miami Hurricanes are named after a natural disaster – there’s so much out there you can explore if you don’t box yourself in. Maybe something related to the military.”
Getting into the Harris tenure, JP asked Hailey about what, if anything, the Sixers firing Doc Rivers means regarding Harris as an owner and his expectations, and the consensus was that he’s willing to go through the process of retooling, but expects results once that process is established.
So, given the tenures of the current Commanders’ brass so far, how significant of a job audition is 2023 going to be for some of the business and football operations?
“It’s a big job audition for a few people, but not sure how much it is for someone like Ron Rivera, whose track record is established,” Hailey said. “I think Ron is going to have to excel big-time to stick around; I’m thinking playoffs, a pretty resounding berth and maybe even a win, because Ron has shown he’ll win you seven or eight games unless he has an MVP candidate on his roster. Ron, Martin Mayhew, and Jason Wright have had a chance to put their stamp on things, and it’s been a pretty weak stamp, so they need to blow Josh Harris away or else it’s going to be a pretty large turnover there.”
Hailey also talked a little about how well the roster and schedule will get along this year (spoiler: not well) and also Sam Howell’s role going forward (as BMitch said, “fans here lose their minds when people beat Dallas, and he did that) – take a listen to it all above!
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