Commanders: DC Fans React To Washington Football Team's New Name

WASHINGTON, DC — Reaction was mixed Wednesday morning after Washington Football Team officials announced the team was getting a new name — the Washington Commanders.

Former Washington quarterback Joe Theismann, who led the team to the 1983 Super Bowl victory, said he liked the Commanders.

"It just has a ring to it. It has a sense of strength to it," Theismann said at Wednesday's ceremony unveiling the new name, logo and uniforms.

Current player Jonathan Allen also offered his support. "The name Commanders is going to mean something special to everyone in this community," the defensive tackle said at the ceremony.

The team said in July 2020 it would no longer be known as Washington Redskins, following years of charges its nickname was racist and offensive to Native Americans.

For the past two seasons, the organization was known as the Washington Football Team.

Last month, officials announced they would reveal the new name on Feb. 2. Team President Jason Wright said that fan favorites Wolves or RedWolves would not be used.

By Tuesday, the not-very-secret new name had been unofficially revealed. During a flight over FedEx Field on Tuesday, NBC Washington's Chopper4 captured a view of the team's in-stadium store and spotted "Washington Commanders" signage. For weeks, many others had also speculated the new name would be the Commanders, so Wednesday's announcement was not a surprise.

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Local politicians, sportswriters and fans offered their two cents about the new name after the announcement Wednesday morning.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement Wednesday that she is excited that the team is beginning a new chapter as the Washington Commanders.

"The next chapter for the Washington Commanders should be a return to winning, right here in D.C.," Bowser said.

The team's lease at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, expires in 2027. Many in D.C. hope the franchise moves back to its former home at RFK Stadium, where parking and public transit infrastructure are already in place from when it hosted the team before 1997.

A 25-year span from the late 1960s to the early 1990s was the heyday of the franchise when Edward Bennett Williams, followed by Jack Kent Cooke, served as majority owners of the team.

Since Daniel Snyder bought it from the estate of Cooke in 1999, the franchise has gone through a miserable stretch. With Snyder as owner for the past 22 years, the team has made the playoffs only five times and has never made it past the divisional playoff game.

That Commanders “represents a winning name," D.C. resident Jeff Jacobs, who has been a fan of the team since the 1980s, told The Washington Post.

“We’re a losing team with an abysmal culture,” Jacobs said. “I think it’s a great name to try to live up to.”

In 2000, early in Snyder's tenure as owner and with its rabid fan base still intact, Forbes ranked the Washington football team as the most valuable sports franchise in the world.

Twenty years later, the team had dropped to the 19th most valuable sports franchise, a still strong ranking considering the missteps and failures of the team over the previous 20 years.

One self-proclaimed super fan known as Road Warrior was among the dozens of people lined up outside the team's store at FedEx Field on Wednesday morning.

"At the end of the day, it's not about the name," Road Warrior said. "It's about the people."

Another lifelong fan of the team was more emphatic about his dislike for the new Commanders name and used social media to highlight his concerns.

"It's awful. It's militaristic. There's no ring to it," Donny tweeted. "It doesn't mean anything inspiring or exciting. It's overly long. It doesn't roll off the tongue. It just seems like a generic, disattached thing ... that we're supposed to just like and move on with."

On Wednesday morning, former quarterback Theismann defended the new name in an interview with NBC's Craig Melvin on the "Today" show.

"I think it's exciting, in society today, so many things are changing. It's really about the DMV and the Commanders has that kind of reach," Theismann said. "I say to people, 'Give it a chance.'"

For long-time sportswriter Dave Zirin, the new name reminded him of Australian actor Russell Crowe in the acclaimed 2003 movie "Master and Commander."

"Will there be Puffy Shirt Day at the stadium?" Zirin tweeted.

Lifelong Washington football fan and Maryland resident Rudy Gersten questioned the organization's handling of the rebranding effort.

"[Team President] Jason Wright promised fans 'a whole lot of misdirection.' Which is weird because there was exactly zero misdirection," Gersten tweeted. "Everything the team did screamed Commanders, and they never did anything to throw us off that trail. New name. Same organization."

Gersten said he does not fully understand fans rushing to buy Commanders gear.

"But that’s their choice and we should respect it," he said. "Many including my family, friends, and I will continue wearing Redskins gear to games. I hope those choices are respected as well, whether folks understand it or not."

Doug Williams, former Redskins quarterback and MVP of the 1988 Superbowl, emphasized that the team's fan base would have erupted if the team did not keep the same colors.

Said Williams: "The burgundy and gold is untouchable."

Photos: Washington Commanders Sport New Team Name, Uniforms, Logo