Washington Commanders

The Washington Commanders are already reaping the financial benefits of their rebrand.

Not only are the Commanders the top-selling team at the moment on Fanatics, which is the NFL's official online merchandise partner, but they are also dominating the list of hottest individual items.

This is a point some argued before Washington initially ditched its old nickname and went by the temporary "Washington Football Team" moniker. Fans would inevitably flock to team stores and online outlets to purchase new gear, thus padding the franchise's bottom line.

The Cleveland Guardians enjoyed a bump to their sales this past fall after they rolled out their rebrand.

In general, reaction to Wednesday's reveal was a bit mixed, but the market is telling a different story.

The NFL playoffs have been awesome…but there’s a stench coming from the Washington Commanders' dump after the name change.

BR Video

The Washington NFL team will now be known as the Commanders after the organization announced the name change Wednesday.

In addition to a new name, the franchise showed off its new logo and uniforms in the following video on Twitter:

The new name will take effect for the 2022 season after the franchise spent 2020 and 2021 as the Washington Football Team.

Owner Dan Snyder first announced in July 2020 the organization would be "retiring" the Redskins moniker that had been with the organization since 1933 in Boston.

The change came amid ongoing protests against racial injustice throughout the world, as well as financial pressure put on Snyder and the football team. The previous nickname is a racial slur referring to Indigenous people.

Sponsors Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo also pushed to change the name after 87 investment firms and shareholders worth a collective $620 billion sent letters to the three companies asking them to sever ties, per Mary Emily O'Hara of Adweek. FedEx holds the naming rights to the stadium and formally sent a request to change the team name in early July 2020.

Commissioner Roger Goodell received a letter from over a dozen Indigenous leaders and organizations asking the franchise to change the name. It said the NFL needed to "repair the decades of emotional violence and other serious harms this racist team name has caused to Native Peoples."

It left the organization to decide on a new mascot, with team president Jason Wright cautioning that it's a long process. It ultimately took about two years.

The website WashingtonJourney.com provided updates on the plans to create a name that would last "the next 100 years." It also gave the opportunity for fans to submit ideas for a new name, a list that included the Generals, Justice, Wolves and Rhinos.

Wright announced in August that they had narrowed their options to three finalists, while the team revealed in January the official name would be released on Feb. 2:

After using a temporary name of Washington Football Team, the squad will now go by the Commanders for the foreseeable future.

The next step will be to improve the product on the field after producing a losing record for the fifth straight season in 2021.

The Washington Football Team reportedly plans on addressing the quarterback position in a major way this offseason.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported the NFC East team is "preparing to take a big swing" at the position with more than $40 million of cap space and the No. 11 pick in the draft it could use in a trade.

Taylor Heinicke is the only signal-caller on the roster at this point, underscoring the need to add depth even if Washington doesn't land a superstar.

This won't be the first time the Football Team has pursued a game-changing quarterback.

Breer noted they attempted to acquire Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions via trade before the NFC North team sent him to the Los Angeles Rams last offseason. They signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one-year deal as their backup option only to see him suffer an injury in Week 1.

All Stafford did was lead the Rams to the Super Bowl this season in his first year away from the Lions.

The inability to trade for Stafford and Fitzpatrick's injury left Heinicke under center, and he responded by completing 65 percent of his passes for 3,419 yards, 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions as someone who could make big plays but also struggled with consistency and turnovers.

The result was a 7-10 record and renewed urgency to finally land a franchise quarterback after years of searching for the answer.

Washington has a number of pieces in place, including star wide receiver Terry McLaurin, a talented running back in Antonio Gibson, a solid offensive line and a foundational player along the defensive front in Chase Young.

Yet it has a clear ceiling as long as the quarterback spot remains a concern, especially in a division that has Dak Prescott on the Dallas Cowboys.

The plan is to change that this offseason in hopes of building a team that can win its first playoff game since the 2005 campaign.         

The United States Congress announced Thursday that it will hold a hearing examining the Washington Football Team's workplace culture on Feb. 3.

JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington tweeted a screenshot of the notice sent out by Congress:

The roundtable discussion, which is entitled "Examining the Washington Football Team's Toxic Workplace Culture," will take place at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., and will also be available virtually on Zoom.

The hearing will focus on allegations that the Washington Football Team created a toxic work environment that included the sexual harassment of female employees over a 15-year period.

Per ESPN, the Washington Football Team was under investigation from July 2020 until last year as a result of the allegations.

The investigation, which was conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson, featured testimony by more than 150 people, most of whom were current or former WFT employees.

In the wake of the investigation, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement noting that the investigation "concluded that for many years the workplace environment at the Washington Football Team, both generally and particularly for women, was highly unprofessional. Bullying and intimidation frequently took place and many described the culture as one of fear, and numerous female employees reported having experienced sexual harassment and a general lack of respect in the workplace."

Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder said in a subsequent statement that he agreed with Goodell and vowed to implement 10 recommendations made by Wilkinson.

Ultimately, the Washington Football Team was fined $10 million by the NFL, and Snyder agreed to step aside in favor of his wife, Tanya Snyder, taking over the day-to-day operations of the team for "several months."

As noted by Finlay, the Washington Football Team is set to announce its new name one day before the congressional hearing occurs.

Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera expressed frustration about comments made by New York Giants counterpart Joe Judge that were viewed as a jab toward Washington.

Judge made the remark Sunday after the Giants lost their fourth consecutive game, a 29-3 blowout defeat to the Chicago Bears, to drop their record to 4-12.

"This ain't a team that's having fistfights on the sidelines," he told reporters. "This ain't some clown show organization or something else, OK?"

Some viewed that as a shot toward Washington after Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne were shown in an altercation on the sideline during the team's Week 16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Judge has denied that was his intent with the comments.

Rivera was asked about the situation Friday during an appearance on The Kevin Sheehan Show (via MSN's Ed Valentine) and said he believes Judge should focus on his own team because he doesn't understand the context elsewhere:

To be upfront about it, it disappoints me because for somebody to make a comment like that and not really know the circumstances of the situation we've gone through. I mean for goodness sake you know if you pay attention to what's happening you would have found out that we had just had one of our most popular players [Deshazor Everett], a guy that's very popular amongst his teammates, was in a terrible car accident where his longtime girlfriend is killed. We had another player [Montez Sweat] who lost his brother to murder and then we had another player who lost another brother.

There's reasons why things happen, and to take a shot at people when people are going through what they're going through, that's not right. If you don't know and understand other people's teams, talk about yourself, talk about your own team. That's what's fair.

Washington (6-10) and New York (4-12) both entered 2021 with high expectations in what's typically a wide-open NFC East race. Instead, Dallas (11-5) ran away with the division title and the Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) also made the playoffs out of the NFC East.

So the exchange between the coaches adds a little drama to Sunday's regular-season finale between the Football Team and the Giants, which have both been eliminated from playoff contention.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has asked the NFL and the Washington Football Team to look into the collapse of a portion of the railing at FedEx Field. 

Hurts addressed a letter to the league and Washington to "inquire about what follow-up action is being considered in response to the near-tragic incident" that occurred after Sunday's game.

Hurts was walking to the locker room and waving at fans in the stands when the railing on one side of the tunnel collapsed, and several fans fell to the ground.

The railing came close to falling on Hurts. 

"I'm just happy everybody is safe from it. That's crazy stuff right there," Hurts told reporters after the game. "That was a real dangerous situation. I'm just so happy everybody bounced back from it, it seemed like. Passionate Eagles fans. I love it."

Washington said in a statement: "To our knowledge, everyone involved was offered onsite medical evaluation and left the stadium of their own accord. We're very glad no one appears to have been seriously injured. The safety of our fans and guests is of the utmost importance and we are looking into what occurred."

Per ESPN's Tim McManus, four of the people who fell disputed Washington's statement about offering medical assistance.

"They didn't ask if anyone was hurt, and they sure as hell didn't ask if anybody needed medical attention," Andrew Collins of Brooklawn, New Jersey, told McManus. "The only thing the staff said to us was to get the F off the field."

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told McManus in an email the league is "reviewing the matter with the club to understand what happened and to ensure it does not happen again."

The Eagles defeated Washington 20-16 and have clinched a playoff berth after missing the postseason last year.    

The Washington Football Team announced Tuesday it will reveal its new nickname and logo Feb. 2.

WFT posted a video on Twitter that included a sneak peek at the jersey design (5:20 mark):

Team president Jason Wright confirmed the new moniker won't be Wolves or RedWolves, which had received ample support from the fanbase:

Early on we understood Wolves—or some variation of it—was one of our fan favorites. As I've said all along, we take feedback from our fans seriously, and because of your interest in this name, we put Wolves on a list of options to explore fully. Once we began looking into Wolves, however, we became aware of a notable challenge: trademarks held by other teams would limit our ability to make the name our own. And without Wolves, variations like RedWolves wouldn't have been viable either for these and other reasons.

Wright provided no further information about the final choice but noted he's confident the selection "aligns with our values, carries forth our rich history, represents the region and, most importantly, is inspired and informed by you, our fans."

He said the team's color scheme will remain burgundy and gold, which was evident based on the jersey sneak peek in the video.

The Washington Football Team has operated without a nickname since July 2020, when it dropped its former moniker and logo, which had received longtime criticism as racist toward the Native American community.

Team owner Daniel Snyder told USA Today in May 2013 that he'd "never" change the nickname despite the outside criticism, but he changed his stance in 2020 after FedEx threatened to back out of its stadium naming rights deal if the nickname wasn't altered.

The franchise, which was founded as the Boston Braves in 1932, had used its prior nickname since 1933. The organization moved to Washington, D.C., in 1937.

Washington has compiled a 6-10 record during the 2021 season and was previously eliminated from playoff contention.

It'll play its last game under the generic Washington Football Team name Sunday when it visits the New York Giants to close out the campaign.

Four of the fans who fell onto FedEx Field after a railing broke following the game, suffering minor injuries, told ESPN's Tim McManus that the Washington Football Team didn't offer them medical evaluation at the stadium despite a statement suggesting otherwise. 

"They didn't ask if anyone was hurt, and they sure as hell didn't ask if anybody needed medical attention," 26-year-old Andrew Collins told McManus. "The only thing the staff said to us was to get the F off the field."

The WFT released the following statement after the incident:

But Mike Naimoli, 26, called that statement "completely incorrect," and said the fans who fell were told: "'Everybody get the F off the field,' and [they] quickly grabbed us away from Jalen [Hurts] and shooed us up into the stands."

Naimoli said he went to the hospital after the game and was diagnosed with a cervical strain,  a head injury and elbow and knee contusions.

"I was the last person to fall," 24-year-old Morgan French, Naimoli's fiancee, told McManus. "I was on top of everyone so I quickly jumped up, and the security guard literally pulled me up by my two arms and got me off the field. I didn't have time to process. I was more so in shock."

She said she suffered bruises on each leg from the fall. 

While the WFT contended that the area the fans fell from was a disabled section designed for wheelchairs, and that the railing wasn't load bearing, Naimoli said that security guards told him and others that they were allowed in that section. 

"If Washington Football Team wants to come out and say that the area is restricted, there was no documentation of that at all," he said. "The one security guard that was right in front of that area swept us in there and was like, 'OK, go ahead over to the tunnel.'"

FedEx Field has had more than a few issues this season, including water being sprayed on fans on two different occasions: 

The Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) beat Washington (6-10) on Sunday, 20-16, officially eliminating the WFT from playoff contention. The Eagles clinched a playoff berth later on Sunday night after the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings. 

The Washington Football Team announced that no fans were seriously injured after a railing broke near the team tunnel, causing several fans to fall onto the ground following a 20-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The railing collapsed as Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was leaving the field:

"I'm just happy everybody is safe from it. That's crazy stuff right there," Hurts told reporters after the game. "That was a real dangerous situation. I'm just so happy everybody bounced back from it, it seemed like. Passionate Eagles fans. I love it."

It hasn't been a banner year for FedEx Field, Washington's stadium since 1997. 

In September, a pipe burst in the stadium, spilling water on fans. 

"The leak came from a storage tank filled with rainwater," a WFT spokesperson told ESPN's John Keim at the time. "We gave the fans in the section the option to move to a suite for the rest of the game, and we're going to give them tickets to a game of their choice in the future. They were also given Washington Football Team gear."

And in November, fans were hit with water in one section of the stadium when the sprinkler system went off:

As for the football on the field, Washington (6-10) saw its playoff hopes officially extinguished on Sunday against a Philadelphia team (9-7) that saw its own postseason aspirations bolstered in a major way with the win.