The sale of the Washington Commanders is expected to be completed soon. While the sale is unique and could be approved in stages, per a report from The Washington Post last week, the Commanders will have a new owner, and all signs point to a group led by Josh Harris.
Since Washington initially changed its name in July 2020, there has been much debate about the new name. The franchise played the “Football Team” moniker for two seasons while researching possibilities for a permanent name.
The team settled on the “Commanders” in February 2022, and to say it hasn’t been received well by the fan base is an understatement.
Most fans hate the name. Some don’t care, one way or the other, while another segment just wants a winning team. It hasn’t helped that the franchise has continued to struggle on the field and deal with controversy after controversy off the field. However, with new ownership coming, there’s hope for the future.
One thing many can agree on is potentially changing the name — again.
On Friday, author and sportswriter John Feinstein joined “The Sports Junkies” for his weekly segment on 106.7 The Fan and weighed in on the current name.
“They took two years to come up with Commanders, and I think we all reacted the same way, kind of like, ‘Huh?’” Feinstein said via Lou DiPietro of Audacy.com.
“Wizards is no better, but at least Abe Pollin voluntarily said he didn’t want Bullets to be the name; Dan Snyder was dragged kicking and screaming to change the name, and I remember that when they announced the Commanders name, you would’ve thought they discovered the cure for cancer – it’s not original in any way, and has nothing to do with Washington.”
Some good points.
Then, Feinstein had a suggestion.
“My suggestion was Monuments,” he said. “There’s nothing that’s more a symbol of Washington, other than maybe the White House, than the Washington Monument. It’s totally apolitical, everyone knows what it is, and it would make for cool-looking uniforms. So why not? I know the new owners will have a million important things to do when they take over because the franchise is a dumpster fire, but it’s not that hard for them to deal with this right away.”
Feinstein has loved poking fun at the franchise for years, much of it deserved. However, isn’t the goal of changing the name to make it better than the previous version?
The name “Monuments” doesn’t do that. And, no, that’s not defending the current name.
But Feinstein did have a good point in changing the name — to something.
“There’s no reason to keep Commanders; one of the reasons to not lose the old name was all the tradition surrounding it, but there’s none of that on Commanders,” Feinstein said. “So, just get it gone; come up with a name that relates in some way to Washington D.C., and do it.”
That’s something most fans can agree on. Arriving at that consensus is the hard part.
