If the message from team president Jason Wright wasn’t clear, Washington Commanders limited partner Mitchell Rales put the nail in the coffin on the team returning to its old name, Redskins.
Last week, Wright said a return to the team won’t consider a return to its old name, “period.”
During a meet and greet Wednesday with the Commanders’ new ownership, Rales made the team’s approach to the old name crystal clear.
“We could take the easy way out and say we’re not focused on [the team’s name] right now,” Rales said, per Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. “What I can tell you is we’re not focused on the previous name. That ship has sailed. We’re not going to relitigate the past, we’re about the future. We’re about building the future and not having a divisive culture that we’re engaged in.”
Josh Harris bought the Commanders from Dan Snyder in July. Mitchell Rales is one of several limited partners, including NBA legend Magic Johnson, under Harris.
Rales and Harris are natives of the Washington, D.C. Metro area, commonly known as the DMV. Shortly after the sale became official, Harris caused a stir, mentioning the “Redskins” name during his rounds. That initially brought up speculation the new ownership could be testing the waters on the old name.
However, Wright and Rales put the idea to bed in the course of a week. A name change is possible. A return to the previous moniker is not an option.
Changing the Commanders name appears to be an option
The Washington franchise retired the Redskins name in July 2020 after pressure from sponsors such as FedEx, Nike, and PepsiCo — based on the urging of some Native American groups. The name is considered disparaging and racist to Natives. After a two-year stint as the Washington football Team, the team unveiled a new name, the Commanders, in February 2022.
Fans have heavily criticized the Commanders’ name. The criticism hasn’t fallen on deaf ears of the new owners. The team won’t return to its old moniker, but changing from Commanders sounds likely.
“We’re going to look at everything come the end of the year, and think about a lot of different things and do a lot of testing to see what people think,” Rales continued. “And we’ll learn. The beauty is we have the time to look at all of this stuff intelligently and make fan-based decisions.”
Recently, franchise legend Joe Theismann told Pat McAfee he believes Harris and Co. will ultimately change the Commanders’ name. Theismann said to “put everything about the Washington Commanders and Washington Football Team in the rearview mirror and move forward.”
