We now know the new team name of the Washington Football Club of the National Football League. According to John Keim of ESPN, the team will be known as the Washington Commanders.
Washington’s football team was known as the Redskins from 1937 to 2019, but the name was seen as discriminatory by Native North Americans. Over the last two years, they have been known as the Washington Football Team until a new name had been determined. Prior to playing in Washington in 1937, the franchise was in Boston as the team was known as the Boston Braves in 1932, and then the Boston Redskins from 1933 to 1936.
The term Commanders has a connection to Washington. That is because Washington is home to the Commander-in-Chief, who is also the president of the United States. It should be noted that even though the President is the Commander-in-Chief, the amount of power he contains has been up for debate within American congress.
The change of name to the Commanders comes just over two months after the Cleveland Indians changed their name to the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball for the 2022 season. Also in 2021, the Edmonton Eskimos changed their name to the Edmonton Elks.
The First Nations connotations continues with many other North American sports organizations. Chicago’s National Hockey League team is still the Blackhawks. Kansas City’s National Football League team is still the Chiefs and Atlanta’s Major League Baseball team is still the Braves. Meanwhile, at the American collegiate level, Florida State University is still known as the Seminoles.
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