ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders are set to square off against the Cleveland Browns in the team’s first preseason game of the year Friday.
It will also be the first preseason game under the team’s new ownership group. Despite the excitement around this new era of Washington football, some fans think new ownership could mean another name change.
An online petition — launched in June by fan Daniel Fazzalore — asking for the original name has garnered more than 62,000 signatures as of Monday evening.
He said the Commanders name is not best for the team.
“It lacks the uniqueness, emotional connection, and pride that our team’s original name embodies. The change to ‘Commanders’ dilutes our team’s identity and weakens the connection with its devoted fanbase,” Fazzalore writes.
We asked Commanders Team President Jason Wright about how much conversation surrounding a name change has happened among the team’s new owners.
“Plenty,” Wright said, with a smile.
The name change process was a lengthy one, but Wright said that is not factoring in to any discussions so far.
“The work we put in is not an issue,” Wright told WUSA9 Sports Director Darren Haynes. “We’re looking at everything, we’re discussing everything. It doesn’t matter what effort went in before, or any of that stuff. If it comes to discussing it, we’ll discuss it.”
Native American Guardians Association Project Manager Tony Andrews would like to see a return to the original team name.
In a conversation with Haynes, Andrews cited several Washington Post studies, including one in 2016 that noted that 9 in 10 Native Americans are not offended by the original team name.
“We should be listening to the Native Americans on the subject and not listening to the 10%,” Andrews said. “Let’s have a working group together, look at the facts, understand it and make the right decision.”
Wright notes that it’s important to listen to what fans are saying.
“If the fans are talking about it, then it’s something you gotta talk about, period. You can’t just turn a deaf ear to something that a segment of the fanbase is passionate about. It’s very simple.” Wright said.