By Mark F. Gray,
Special to the AFRO
After 90 years and three world champions the once proud but now the most heavily scrutinized National Football League franchise began it’s makeover by announcing it’s new team name on national television Feb. 2 at FedEX Field in Landover.
“We are the Commanders,” said Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams Feb. 2 during the most anticipated name reveal since “Blue Ivy” and “North West” on NBC’s “Today Show.”
Ironically, on the second day of Black History Month, the legendary quarterback who is supposed to represent the franchise’s commitment to “diversity” made the announcement to the world. Williams, a respected talent evaluator in many NFL circles, has seen his power in the front office stripped of any roster decision making cut since Rivera was named head coach, seemed uneasy on the floor of FedEx Field during NBC’s Today Show as he was charged to handle the task of uttering the moniker for the next generation.
“It’s a name that has the weight and meaning befitting a 90-year-old franchise,” Washington Commanders Team President Jason Wright said. “It’s something that broadly resonated with our fans and it’s something that we believe embodies the values of service and leadership that really define the DMV and this community.”
Commanders became the reality after more popular fan names such as: Red Hogs, Admirals and Presidents, Red Wolves, and the favorite of most Black Gen X fans Red Tails were eliminated because of copyright and trademarks rights infringement possibilities.
“When we started this journey 18 months ago, I didn’t know what we would be saying at this announcement,” team president Jason Wright said. “It has been a long process but an engaging one and an insightful one that’s really been driven by our fans.”
Despite Wright’s claims that 40,000 fans had input in this decision making process, most sentiments were lukewarm to the name at best. During sports talk programs on The Team 980 an unscientific poll social media twitter poll ended during The Travis Thomas Experience radio fan early fans’ response reflected an apathy toward the new brand.
By noon Feb. 2 54 percent of their fans voted “it is what it is,” 40.5 percent responded it “it was terrible redo it,” and only 5.4 percent loved it.
“People didn’t like the rollout of the name after a two year wait, it was too bland,” said Team 980 producer Anthony Haynie. A lot of fans feel the wardrobe change looks like a team that would be playing in the XFL.”
As the Commanders, Washington kept the same burgundy and gold color scheme synonymous with the Super Bowl championship era of the 1980s and early ’90s. They also feature a third alternate black and gold uniform trimmed in burgundy. Wright and Rivera had been in favor of the new name to have a connection to the U.S. military.
“This wasn’t something where we’re going to go off in a back room and just decide,” Wright said, adding the organization had numerous conversations with focus groups, alumni, fans and community leaders. “We landed on this in part because we believe the Washington Commanders can carry the rich legacy of this team, a championship legacy.”
However, many fans don’t feel the same.
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