The Washington Football Team is no more.
Meet the Washington Commanders – and thank Brad Freitas, helicopter reporter for NBC4, who captured video of a banner with the apparent team name on it inside the Washington Football Team’s stadium Tuesday night to spoil Wednesday morning’s announcement.
In the helicopter shot, a bold banner could be seen through a second floor window with ample lighting sporting “Commanders” in gold block print. Freitas posted the video on Twitter, warning his followers with the hashtag #SpoilerAlert.
The D.C.-based NFL team finally unveiled its new nickname on Wednesday morning, two years after the Dan Snyder-owned franchise dropped the “Redskins” as its nickname. For the last two seasons, the team has simply been called the Washington Football Team.
The term “Redskin” is considered by many to be a racial slur that disparages Native Americans.
Criticism of the team’s nickname had swelled for years; the franchise and its owner Daniel Snyder have resisted changing the name until 2020 amid the protests against systemic racism that were sparked by the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. The incident and the nationwide movement that has followed forced a re-examination of cultural sensitivities.
The team finally relented following a request from its largest corporate sponsor, FedEx, whose name adorns its stadium. FedEx added that if the team did not change its name, it would remove its signage from the stadium. Along with FedEx, a group of investors worth more than $600 billion wrote letters to Nike and PepsiCo to encourage them to pressure the team to change its name. Nike removed all “Redskins” merchandise from its online store.
The MLB’s Cleveland Indians also underwent a name change and are now known as the Cleveland Guardians.
The franchise began as the Boston Braves in 1932, before changing its name to the Redskins in 1933. It moved to the nation’s capital in 1937.
The seven other names in consideration for the team included “RedWolves,” “Armada,” “Presidents,” “Brigade,” “Defenders” and “Redhogs.”
Some fans and viewers were skeptical, while others downright do not like the highly possible new name. Many found humor in the situation.