The Washington Commanders are the Arizona Cardinals’ first 2023 regular-season opponent. There is energy and excitement surrounding the Commanders because of the change in ownership from Daniel Snyder to Josh Harris.
The home opener against the Cardinals is sold out.
With the change to Harris, who grew up in the D.C. area, there has been noise about perhaps having the name changed back to Washington Redskins, its original name.
Since then, they became the Washington Football Team and, last year, adopted the name the Commanders.
Harris made it clear it was not going to change.
“Obviously, I grew up in D.C. and I was there during the glory years, so I understand why fans love the former name,” Harris said, according to The Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala. “But, look, there was a portion of our fan base that felt disrespected by the former name. Sports are supposed to bring people together and not be a distraction. I don’t want distractions. … I thought it was important that we end the conversation.”
This doesn’t impact Cardinals fans but it is worth noting, considering the Cardinals used to be in the NFC East with Washington until divisional realignment in 2002.
The Commanders’ name will not be changing back and probably won’t be changing to anything else.
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