Ever since the feckless Washington Redskins knuckled under to pressure to change the team name they have held since 1932, speculation has been running high as to what the new name would be. In June, even before the announcement confirming the decision was made, the sports website Bleacher Report floated several possibilities. Among these were Senators (the name of the Washington team in 1921), the Federals, the Braves, the Warriors, and simply the Skins. It’s worth noting that the name Cowards isn’t taken, and considering the circumstances of the name change it wouldn’t be be an inappropriate choice.
Today the wait ended. ESPN reports that for the 2020 season at least, the Washington Football Team will be known as — drum roll! — the Washington Football Team. Come to think of it, cancel that drum roll. The article quotes the team’s new executive vice president and chief marketing officer Terry Bateman as explaining that the team wants to include fans, business partners, and alumni in the process, which is time-consuming:
You’re doing a rebranding process that correctly takes 12 to 18 months. If you want to do it right you have to take a deep breath, take a step back and go through the process. We want to do it right, we want something thoughtful and inclusive and smart and bring a lot of points of views into this and come out the other side with something everyone is proud of and can rally behind.
The article notes that fans will be able to purchase “Washington Football Team” merchandise from Fanatics and the NFL Shop in the days to come, though it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to. That’s like having a framed birth certificate for your baby in which his name appear as “Baby.”
