If you’re a fan of the Washington Football Team, I can almost assure you that a question that you’ve answered more than once this year goes something like this:
“Are they really called the Washington Football Team? When are they going to change their name?”
We’re all used to it at this point, and it’s pretty easy to laugh off with a shrug. However, the question still stands — when is the WFT going to change their name and pick something new?
Well, according to team president Jason Wright, it still could be a little while.
“Everybody needs to take a deep breath,” Wright said in an interview with WJLA. “It’s not coming tomorrow. It’s a business decision, we need to understand that market. More importantly, it’s important to engage the community and the fans. We’re also in the process of identifying the folks that should weigh in over time. We want this name and brand to represent the entire area, to represent the fan base, but to also attract new folks to this fan base. We want to grow this fan base as part of our new identity.”
If you were to take to social media and try to get a sense of what the loudest fans are in favor of, suggestions of Redwolves, Redtails, Capitals, and Warriors would likely be prevalent, along with the stubborn few who stand by the opinion that the name should have never changed in the first place. No matter which camp you’re in, though, it may be at least one more season as the ‘Football Team’ before anything really changes.
“I think next year is fast because of how the brand has to come together through uniforms, through approval processes through the league,” Wright said. “Next year is fast. There is a pretty good chance we will still be the Washington Football Team next season. We could get there quicker, it’s actually pretty hard to get there that quickly because of all the steps that need to happen.”
It’s not the end of the world, but it does mean that you’ll need to keep answering those annoying questions for the time being.
