New Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris is doing everything possible to move on from the ill-fated Daniel Snyder tenure. That includes considering yet another name change after two over the past half-decade.
More than 128,000 signatures have been added to a petition to change the Washington’s name back to its Redskins roots. In talking about this possibility, Commanders president Jason Wright shot it down completely.
“Going back to the old name is not being considered. Period,” Wright told 106.7 The Fan in D.C. on Wednesday.
The Washington NFL franchise was named the Redskins dating back to its inception in Boston all the way back to 1934. After major public backlash, then-owner Daniel Snyder changed the franchise’s name to the Washington Football Team in 2020. That lasted two years before another name change to the Commanders took place ahead of the 2022 season.
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It’s not a surprise that conversations have taken place on this front since Harris bought the Commanders for a whopping $6.05 billion from Snyder. But there’s no way this current Commanders ownership group is going to go back to the Redskins, which would create more controversy for an organization that was strife with them during the latter years of Snyder’s tenure.
As for a potential name change moving forward, a report shortly after Harris’ purchase was finalized indicated that something could be on the horizon.
“I think there’s a pretty good chance of that to erase any part of the Snyder legacy to have a complete do-over. I would not be surprised at all, Rich, to see a name change and a complete re-branding,” report on Washington Commanders potential name change.