Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins (now Commanders) is a professional franchise from the capital of the US – Washington, DC. It was established in 1932. This team has spent all of its time in the National Football League. First, it was the Eastern Division, and then the franchise moved to the Capitol Division of the Eastern Conference. In 1970, the team appeared in the NFC East and hasn’t changed its location since then.

Franchise history

The American businessman George Preston Marshall led the NFL franchise to Boston in 1931. The Redskins launched their competition next year as Boston Braves because they shared the field with the Boston Braves baseball team. Their inaugurational game on October 2, 1932, against the Brooklyn Dodgers ended in a shutout 0-14 loss. However, the Braves ended their first 1932 season in fourth place.

They moved to Fenway Park next season. That relocation caused the rebranding to Redskins. The team preserved it when they decided to stop in the capital of the United States. It used this name until 2020 despite the protests and controversy.

The team moved to Washington in 1937 because Marshall considered Boston to have a minor interest in football. The Redskins had to share Griffith Park with the baseball team Washington Senators. The Washington players defeated the famous New York Giants in their inaugurational game in the new city. That season led them to the first title in the history. Their primary competitor in the pre-Super Bowl era was the Chicago Bears. Redskins defeated them in 1937 and 1942 and lost in 1940 and 1943. All games were for the BFL championship title. The last playoff appearance happened in 1945 when the Rams had beaten them in the playoff.

The team claimed their first playoff in the National Football Conference 1971 but failed to advance through the Divisional round. Next year they qualified for their first Super Bowl in their history, but the Redskins lost the title to the Miami Dolphins. The playoff appearances became regular since that but without great success.

The shortened 1982 season brought them the first Super Bowl when the Redskins revenged to Dolphins for the 1972 loss. Redskins could defend their title next year, but the Raiders were more successful than their opponents. The team triumphed also in 1987 and 1991.

Integration scandal

The first owner of the team, Peter Marshall, considered football only a game for whites. While other competitors broke the barrier and integrated the black players into the sport, Marshall still refused to do so in such a way. The situation changed when the Kennedy administration pressured the owner to hire black players, or Mr President would initiate legal and social action.

They chose Ernie Davis at the 1962 NFL Draft. This running back was the first Afro-American to win the Heisman Trophy. However, Peter Marshall soon traded the rights to him in favour of the Cleveland Browns, who wanted Davis as the backfield rusher in the company of Jim Brown. But Davis was diagnosed with leukaemia and died without playing professional football. Wahington also took the fullback Ron Hatcher, who became the first player to sign a contract with the team.

Controversy around the name

As we know from literature, the Redskins is the nickname of the native Indians. These people consider it as racist and discriminational. Thus, their opposition to the brand is understandable. They launched the mascot controversy against that. To the honesty of the early owners, they chose that name to match the Boston Red Sox baseball team, who competed at Fenway Park, too.

During the 1930s-1960s, nobody heard about the native Americans. Those times were full of racism and discrimination. But in the 1960s, Vince Lombardi introduced black Americans to football and broke the barrier. Other people suffering from discrimination could raise their heads to fight for their rights.

Despite this, the National Congress of American Indians achieved very little success in this question. As the 2013 National Congress of American Indians explained, the capital team’s history is rooted in racism and discrimination. The Redskins’ owner Preston Marchall accepted the first black player in 1962 under the league’s pressure when the league forced him to do so. Congress had declared the current owners had to remove the harmful spot in the history.

The sports magazines and organizations initiated a set of name opinion polls. 81 per cent of voters in 2002 Sports Illustrated didn’t consider the images and logo of the Washington team discriminational. The 2004 Annenberg and 2016 Washington Post surveys showed that most respondents don’t bother about the racist name.

However, George Floyd’s case has boosted the transformation processes. The society and sponsors initiated the hate campaign if Washington didn’t change the name to something more pleasant. Thus, the team’s management decided to rebrand in 2020, when the pandemic peaked.

Rebranding

The rebranding process started in 2020 when the team decided to connect with the Washington metropolitan area until the fan society chose the new team. Their first step was Jason Wright’s becoming the first black president in NFL history. Rivera became the head manager of the team. He became known for returning the Turner coaching dynasty Turner to Washington. Norv Turner coached the Redskins from 1994 to 2000, and his son Scott joined the team as offensive coordinator in 2020.

The rebranding itself started in 2020 when the Redskins converted into Washington football tea. The new management initiated the cultural changes. For example, they changed the fight song to make it less vulnerable and retired the unofficial mascot, Chief Zee. Despite the Afro-American man looking like Native Indian, the local people considered it as a laugh. Thus, the team retired that name after Chief Zee’s (Zema Williams) death. Later, in 2022, they imtroduced a new mascot, Major Tuddy. The pig corresponds well with the new brand, Commanders. The final step in this process was rebranding professional cheerleading squad Redskinettes in the Command Force.

Rivalries

The team has intense rivalries with its divisional opponents. These are Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. The history of the competition with the Dallas Cowboys is interesting because the Redskins were in the competitive conference. The teams played only one game in 1960 season. Next season, the Cowboys started in the same conference and later division with Washington, so these teams compete twice per regular season.

The rivalries between commanders on one side and Eagles with Giants on the opposite can be determined as a Northeast Regional derby due to this rail service serving all three cities. These rivalries are the oldest, as they launched in the 1930s and continue to intensify.

Notable athletes and management

Here we want to note Hall of Famers Tuck Edwards, Sammy Baugh and Cliff Battler first. Edwards and Battler were the inaugurational players of the Redskins. Offensive tackle Cliff even moved to Washington, while quarterback Sammy Baugh who often acted as punter or safety, was the first player who joined the Washington Redskins. However, only Baugh’s impact was so great that the team retired his number 33 from the circuit.

Other retired numbers include Sonny Jurgensen (9), Sean Taylor (21), and Bobby Mitchell (49). All of them except free safety Sean Taylor are members of Hall of Fame. Interestingly, the Hall of Fame inductee is Deion Sanders, who performed as a cornerback and wore number 21, too. Taylor used it in 2004-2007 seasons.

The famous coach Vince Lombardi coached the team in the 1969 season but didn’t end it due to fatal cancer. Another famous coach who
worked with the team was Curley Lambeau, who’s been raised in a family of Green Bay Packers season.