Washington's NFL team announced this month that it would be dropping its name, Washington Redskins, as well as its logo. According to CNN, the team has faced building pressure to change the controversial name, which has long been denounced by Native American groups. The team has now announced a new name: Washington Football Team. How on earth did they come up with that?
If it sounds a little uninspired, don't worry – the name is only temporary. Pending adoption of a new name, the team will go by Washington Football Team for the duration of the 2020 NFL season. Also gone is the team's original logo (featuring a Native American in profile), replaced with a temporary logo (below). If the team is looking for tips for its new identity, our logo design guide is a great place to start.
Effective immediately, Washington will call itself the “Washington Football Team”, pending adoption of a new name, sources tell ESPN.This is not a final renaming and rebranding for team; this is the name it wants to use until pending adoption of a new name in the future. pic.twitter.com/sBs0Uo0ICmJuly 23, 2020
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According to a blog post on the team's website, the temporary name and logo will allow the team "to undertake an in-depth branding process to properly include player, alumni, fan, community, and sponsor input". The team has begun a "50-day process" of retiring all previous Redskin branding from uniforms and physical spaces. The team also shared new uniform concepts (below) showing the temporary Washington Football team branding.
One of the team's new uniform concepts (Image credit: Washington Football Team)
Fans have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts on the new name, with many amused by the apparent lack of thought that went into it. Even basketball player LeBron James had something to say about it:
Just waking back up from my pregame nap to see about The Washington Football team??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. Is that real?? No way! Oh man they had a thorough intense long board meeting about that one huh. 🥴🤦🏾♂️July 23, 2020
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Still, we can't help but admire the team's refusal to rush into a quick rebrand, and can forgive the slightly self-explanatory temporary name and logo. It'll be interesting to see what Washington Football Team eventually becomes – football team logos are incredibly precious to their fans, and redesigns can go either way. Some are popular, like the new logo for Iceland's national team, and some aren't – as LA Rams recently found out the hard way.
Daniel John is Senior News Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of art, design, branding and lifestyle tech (which often translates to tech made by Apple). He joined in 2020 after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more.
