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July 13, 2020: the date the NFL's Washington-based team officially announced the retirement of the 'Redskins' team name and logo. Why? It was a moniker that indigenous people around the country found offensive. Since then their 'Redskins' logo has been removed from all on and off field gear, Its been replaced on the helmets with the player's numeral and replaced on shirts and hats with a bold 'W'. Team colors remained the same. I'm not here to debate whether or not that was the right decision. I'm here to talk about where the team goes from here.
Why should I care? I've been an NFL fan since I was a kid. I had NFL team pajamas and bedding. I collected NFL trading cards, played NFL Electric Football and even drew team logos on my school book covers. I'm also a fan of Cleveland sports teams. I love the Browns, Cavs and Indians (sorry, Guardians). I have never thought that Chief Wahoo, The Redskins logo or anything from the Chiefs, Blackhawks, Seminoles, etc was offensive. But then again I am not of Native American heritage. Whatever they come up with needs to be cool to look at, to wear, something that unites the fan base, something bold, something that sounds tough. They wouldn't want to choose "The Washington Water Lilies", would they? (Oh great! Now I've upset the fans of water lilies.)
For months the possible team names "Wolves" and "Red Wolves" have been floating around. Unlike the Cleveland Baseball Team which chose Guardians only to discover the Cleveland Roller Derby Team of the same name, sufficient research uncovered licensing issues with those names. Somewhere, some team(s), owns a the trademarks to those names 'Wolves' and Red Wolves' so they're out. The Associated Press revealed what the WFT organization claims is the list of finalists: the Admirals, Armada, Brigade, Commanders, Defenders, Presidents, Redhawks, Red Hogs and Sentinels. I like the sound of The Washington Brigade, The Washington Armada and The Washington Sentinels, but I don't get a vote. 'Red Hogs' harkens back to when the Redskins' ferocious offensive line was nicknamed 'The Hogs'. 'Red Hogs' might be the one considering the big announcement is slated for Groundhog Day. We'll see!