Jason Wright: A return to the ‘Redskins’ nickname not on table

ASHBURN — The Washington Commanders are not going to become the Washington Redskins again. 

Team President Jason Wright said in a local radio interview Wednesday that a return to the former name is “not being considered” by the team. Wright’s response comes after an online petition amassed more than 125,000 signatures in an attempt for the team to change its name back to the Redskins. 

“It is not being considered,” Wright told 106.7 The Fan. “Period.” 

Washington retired its Redskins moniker three years ago amid renewed societal and corporate backlash. But last month, speculation over the former name picked up steam when new owner Josh Harris and his partners openly referred to the “Redskins” during their introductory press conference.

That fueled interest in the petition, which started in June (a full month before Harris took over). The petition calls for the Commanders to “reinstate a symbol of unity, strength, and shared identity that has inspired generations of fans.”

A Commanders spokesperson later said that references by the new owner and others to “the Redskins” did not “signify a shift” in team policy. 

“Making a historical reference to watching and rooting for the Redskins does not signify a shift nor does it change the reasons for dropping the name,” the spokesperson said in a statement. 

Those reasons included a boycott from companies who pressured the franchise to ditch Redskins in 2020. Target, Nike and Amazon were among the retailers that stopped selling the team’s merchandise online. Shipping giant FedEx — which sponsors Washington’s stadium and whose CEO was then a Redskins minority owner — asked the team to retire the name, threatening to pull its sponsorship if the team did not. 

The retirement of the Redskins name was also part of a nationwide movement in which American society has grappled with race-related issues in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police. In addition to Washington changing its name, MLB’s Cleveland Indians rebranded to the Cleveland Guardians, NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from races and Confederate statues around the country have been taken down. 

The Commanders’ decision to keep the former name retired prompted plenty of reaction.

The National Congress of American Indians cheered the decision as a “meaningful first step toward the Commanders owning the history of its former name and taking accountability for the unspeakable harm caused to tribal citizens after decades of racism and erasure.” 

Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative, said in a statement that it was “great” the Commanders won’t revert back to their former name, but called on the team to publicly acknowledge “the harm” to the American Indian community as the reason the name needed to be changed.

“It wasn’t solely money or sponsorships that prompted the name change,” Echo Hawk said. “For decades, Native activists called on the organization to change their name and acknowledge the pain it caused the Native community, but neither previous nor current ownership ever did so. Publicly acknowledging the reason why will not only help to educate their fan base to move forward, but also send a powerful signal to the schools and teams that still use racist mascots and team names today that racism in sports is wrong and cannot be tolerated.”

But the Native American Guardians Association, the group that backed the online petition, took came down on the other side of the issue.

“NAGA will not be intimidated or silenced to cancel culture shills,” the association wrote on “X,” the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The new ownership has not closed the door on the possibility of another name change, though.

At his opening press conference, Harris deflected when asked if he was a fan of the name Commanders and said that he had other priorities to address before thinking about a rebrand. NBA legend Magic Johnson, who is a Commanders limited partner, said in a television interview that “everything’s on the table” after this coming season. 

Wright repeated the company line when asked Wednesday about another rebrand. 

“There’s three big priorities for ownership,” Wright said, rattling off their goals to build a “championship-caliber team” on the field, improve the guest experience and reengage with the community. “Those are the things Josh and the team are focused on right now.” 

If Harris decides to change the Commanders’ name, it would be the team’s third rebrand since 2020. But if he does, the Redskins won’t be on the table.