Tag: Washington Redskins 1937-2019

Will the Harris Ownership Group eventually change the name?

One longtime Washington reporter believes ownership will eventually change the name.

Two older Redskins fans from the DMV got together on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast. Wednesday.

Tom Friend grew up in Chevy Chase, Md., and went to Rolling Wood Elementary, as did Commanders’ new majority owner, Josh Harris and minority owner Mark Ein. Friend stated that his sister was in their class.

I recall Friend covering the Redskins as the beat writer for The Washington Post back in the late 1980s. He is now a writer for the Sports Business Journal.

Sheehan asked Friend regarding the “Commanders” team name.  He referenced that at one point, the franchise did attempt to move from Redskins to Warriors, but it was shot down.

Friend continued with an objection, “I don’t know why. You look at what the Chiefs fans do, and the Braves fans do, and you think, ‘What is the problem?'”

“I had someone else tell me they (Harris Ownership Group) are looking at it now. More than look at it, they are going to do it at some point. It’s just a matter of when. I am not reporting this. I am just telling you what I hear from people close to the situation.”

Friend told Sheehan that Dan Snyder got rid of Redskins quickly, changing the name, so why couldn’t they get rid of this name that virtually very few in the fan base likes? He went as far as saying, “No one likes it; get the heck rid of it!”

When Sheehan asked if Friend’s sources are “in the know,” Friend instantly responded, “Somewhat in the know, for sure, for sure, absolutely, 100 percent.”

Friend continued, “This was always a franchise that did nothing but celebrate Native Americans. I went to RFK my entire life from six years old, and not once did I ever Tomahawk chop or do the war chant. All we said was, ‘Hail to the Redskins!’ In all seriousness, there was no mocking going on.”

Of course, Friend is correct; the hypocrisy is evident. But the bigger news was Friend saying the Harris ownership group is already discussing changing the Commanders’ team name in the future.

Should we be surprised? The Harris Ownership Group has been impressively ahead of the game, and in time, they are going to get this right as well.

Commanders this weekend offering a deal for season opener

The Commanders are celebrating a milestone and want to pack FedEx Field for the beginning of a new era.

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The Washington Commanders are commemorating a significant date in franchise history.

July 9, 1932, Boston, Massachusetts, was awarded an NFL football franchise. The team’s majority owner was George Preston Marshall. Other men sharing an interest in the ownership of the new football franchise were Vincent Bendix, Jay O’Brien, and Dorland Doyle.

Sunday, marking 91 years since the official founding of the franchise, the current Commanders are offering their fans a deal for the 2023 season opener at FedEx Field against the Cardinals.

For Washington NFL fans who don’t yet have a ticket to the first game of the post-Daniel Snyder era (1999-2022), the Commanders are offering two upper-level tickets for only $79. For that same price of $79, the Commanders are also offering one lower-level ticket.

But again, it is only this weekend. It is an opportunity for many fans to seize the chance and be a part of this season’s home opener.

The Commanders tweeted announcing the opportunity to their fan base Friday.

It is interesting that the team did not determine to make this opportunity for the fans on the weekend of July 20. That will be the day that the NFL has scheduled for the convening of NFL franchise owners to officially cast their vote to accept the new ownership group of the Commanders headed by Josh Harris.

The controversy will continue regarding the name change for those who have been long-term fans. Some will claim the Commanders began on 2-2-22, and therefore the Commanders have no right to claim the history of the Washington Redskins/Boston Redskins/Boston Braves as they are doing in this celebration of 91 years.

It’s such a difficult issue. Those who were not diehard fans and students of the history of the franchise will naturally have a much easier time accepting the new name, new uniforms and such ventures by the Commanders to link the history of the Redskins and Commanders.

But two things remain both clear and certain. One, July 20, 2023, will be a day both Redskins fans and Commanders fans will join in unity of being glad the Daniel Snyder era will come to an end. He is not to be blamed for “everything,” but the unity will come with the finalization of his era.

Secondly, if the Commanders can put together a winner in 2023 and continue to post winning records over the next few years, it will go a LONG way to regaining the fan support they have lost through the Daniel Snyder era and the many seasons of losing football.