Four years ago, the Washington franchise, after former owner Daniel Snyder said he would NEVER change the team’s name and logo, changed the team’s name and logo. Now, as the one-year anniversary of the post-Snyder era approaches, it’s still not entirely clear that the organization has abandoned the old name and logo.
It’s not about whether the team should use its old name and logo. There is a debate that may never end over whether the team should bring back the name and logo. (The logo, for example, became an issue this week in the effort to build a new stadium for the team on the site of RFK Stadium in D.C.) It’s about whether the franchise is sending mixed messages about its position on the old name and logo.
Last year, for example, new owner Josh Harris used the abandoned name several times when speaking to fans. Limited partner Magic Johnson also used the old name on Twitter.
Last weekend, coach Dan Quinn wore an unlicensed jersey that incorporates a portion of the old logo. The team had no official comment. However, the unofficial commentary was that Quinn acted on his behalf and without ownership knowledge.
This weekend, the team posted birthday wishes for former linebacker London Fletcher. In the image, a helmet with the old logo draws attention.
(It wouldn’t have been difficult to post an image of Fletcher without the logo being visible. The Commanders did it on his birthday in 2023. And in 2022. And in 2021. The image used for Fletcher’s birthday in 2018 and in 2017, before before the name changed, it was also filmed from an angle that omitted the old logo).
If there is a clear organizational commitment under Josh Harris to abandon the old name and logo, every employee would (or should) know it, from coaches to social media employees to PR reps and everyone. Memos and emails would be sent instructing everyone to never use the abandoned name or logo.
As it stands, the Harris-led team is floating (deliberately or not) in a vague space of plausible deniability. On the one hand, they say they will never get the name and logo back. On the other hand, the old name and logo have not been completely and completely erased.
Again, it’s not about whether the team should use its old name and logo. It’s about whether the team has made a compelling enough case that the old name and logo are gone forever, or whether it is allowing the scent to linger long enough for the name and logo to be re-adopted if the team ever decides it. that the positive aspects of doing so would outweigh the consequences.
Then what is? Is the old name and logo gone forever? Or will they make appearances periodically, followed by an organizational statement of “oops,” until the team decides the time is right to bring them back?
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