After stripping off its old nickname “Redskins” earlier this month, Washington announced Thursday that they will be called the “Washington Football Team” as they head toward 2020. This will not be the club’s permanent rebranding, but simply a placeholder until they find a name that suits them better in the future for the next century. However, that permanent name that Washington continues to look for doesn’t seem to be on the horizon anytime soon.
“No, we are not close to making a decision,” said Washington head coach Ron Rivera. CBS this morning Friday about finding a new name for Washington. “The most important thing we have learned is that this is going to take action. This cannot happen automatically, so we will have to go through the process. On July 3, we mentioned that we were going to go through a thorough background check of everything and we discovered it’s going to be a little bit harder than we expected.
“We went out and said we were going to remove the name and logo. Yesterday, we went out and said that what we have done is put a placeholder in terms of the name. We will be known as the Washington Football Team because, honestly, this is a process 16-18 months to do it the right way and really not miss out on the chance to rename ourselves, hopefully for the next 100 years. “
In Thursday’s announcement of the placeholder name, Washington also revealed its new uniforms, which had only minor adjustments (numbers on the helmet, “Washington” written on the chest) to what they normally wore. The color scheme was also the same and that will remain so as they embark on a rebranding in the future.
“The colors will remain,” Rivera confirmed. “The big reason is because there is so much tradition and history with this soccer team. Changing the colors could distract a little from what this team has done in terms of its past history with the championships it won.”
Rivera, who said he grew up being a fan of the team, admitted, however, that the team’s name and logo rename is simply a piece of the general culture that Washington is trying to restore.
“I think what people have to understand is that this is going to be a little transition, it is not going to happen right away,” he said. “We are going to try to beat the fans by playing good soccer more than anything else. When you play well, when you win soccer games, people will back you up and support you. We have to go out there and show our fans that we are the same football team, just a different name right now, a little placeholder.
“We have to do things the right way, we have to change the culture of who we are. We really not only change the name, but we also change the style of soccer we are going to play, we change the way we do things, and that is probably one of the most important things we have to do right now. “
For the next 50 days, the team will continue to withdraw its old name in physical and digital spaces as they head to their debut as the Washington Soccer Team when they open their regular season against the Eagles on September 13.
