Ask any NFL fan over the age of 25, and they will still think of the Washington Commanders as the Washington Redskins. It has been five years since the team did away with the name and logo. A contingent of fans and former players want to see the team return to them but recognize it is unlikely.
Former quarterback Mark Rypien is one of them. 🚨NEWS: Legendary Washington QB Mark Rypien is NOT A FAN of the team name Commanders. “It’s not growing on me, and it never will, I’m not a Commanders legend, I’M A REDSKINS LEGEND, but we’ll support this thing because it’s where we are now.
” 👀 (via @1067theFan ) pic.twitter.com/Lin2gD3B8s The family of Walter "Blackie" Wetzel who designed the iconic logo are among those who were upset to see it go.
They view it as "the beautiful history of Native American culture." They encourage people not to "be ashamed of it." They want people to embrace it and still hold out hope that it will make a return.
In a private ceremony today at Northwest Stadium, the Washington Commanders honored Walter "Blackie" Wetzel with a memorial. It's open to the public located on the Club level, between sections 306 and 307. In the memorial, the team credits Wetzel for creating the warrior logo.
pic.twitter.com/iCqx1QSxJ0 Josh Harris and the Washington Commanders ownership team took a positive step forward with the Wetzel family by creating a display inside Northwest Stadium to honor Blackie Wetzel's work and explain the history behind it.
A focal point of the display is a bronze helmet with the Redskins warrior logo used by the team from 1972-2019. Located on the club level concourse outside section 307, a new memorial at @NWStadium honors the legacy of Walter “Blackie” Wetzel pic.twitter.
com/xdm3nZ0TPl The NFL is not inclined to turn back the clock on this decision anytime soon. However, putting the display in the stadium does make fans wonder if the logo will be worn again. Could it show up on a throwback uniform? The Redskins were in existence from 1933 to 2019 (1933 to 1936 as the Boston Redskins, 1937 to 2019 as the Washington Redskins), and the Commanders came into existence in 2022 after two seasons of being known as the Washington Football Team.
This is only the third year as the Commanders so it makes sense that people have an affinity for a team name that lasted over 80 years..
