If you are even a little bit clued in to what’s been going on with the Washington Commanders when it comes to the team’s name, you know it’s one of the most contentious issues in the history of the team.
At the heart of that issue is whether or not the team will move forward as the Commanders, which the team changed to in 2022 after spending almost a century as the Washington Redskins then 2 seasons as the generic Washington Football Team before settling on the current team name.
Team owner Josh Harris put an end to any speculation on another name change in a postseason talk with the media on February 3 — the Commanders aren’t going anywhere.
“Yes. I think it’s now being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff,” Harris said. “We’re going with that.”
Harris added that the team’s name has taken on new meaning with people within the organization and the fanbase after the Commanders went 12-5 and made a shocking run to the NFC Championship Game with superstar rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels in 2024.
Harris, Magic Johnson Bought Team in 2023
Harris bought the Commanders for a staggering $6 billion from Daniel Snyder in 2023, leading a group of investors that included NBA legend Magic Johnson.
The purchase of the team by Harris’ group was very much in doubt until the last seconds, with Snyder allegedly planning different ways to get out of selling the team up until the very end — strategies that included Snyder claiming he was under the influence of alcohol when he made some of the decisions that forced him into putting the team up for sale.
In just the second season owning the team, Harris and Johnson saw the Commanders draft Daniels No. 2 overall in 2024 and after just 1 season now believe they have a player that could make them a perennial contender for the next decade.
Harris caught some flak for his ownership of another team — the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers — following the Commanders’ blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game on January 26. after the 76ers’ social media accounts ended up being the only one of the other Philadelphia pro sports teams to not congratulate the Eagles.
“What a small, sad little man Josh Harris is,” Barstool Sports blogger Jordie wrote. “First he gets bullied and stuffed back into a locker after trying to move the Sixers from the South Philadelphia Sports Complex … He loses out on getting his own arena, and then a few weeks later he ends up getting his doors blown off in the NFC Championship Game by his next door neighbor. So what does he do? Well clearly he sent out a memo saying the Sixers wouldn’t make any acknowledgment of the Eagles after the game. That’s the only clear explanation for why the Sixers admin hasn’t fired off a ‘Go Birds’ tweet yet. The petty little (expletive) is so far in his feelings that he won’t even let the team congratulate the Eagles on social.”
The franchise has actually undergone a name change one more time besides what’s happened in the last 6 years. The team was called the Boston Braves for one season, in 1932, before becoming the Boston Redskins until they moved to Washington D.C. in 1937.
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