"Should've never changed their name" - Former WFT HC has a controversial take on franchise's change of identity

The Washington Football Team, currently shortened to the WFT, seems ready to move on from its generic name and choose a franchise name for the years to come. On 2nd February 2022, they plan to announce a name change that will eliminate the Football Team component from the WFT.

While most people are looking forward to what the WFT will be known as next season, at least one former head coach has a difference of opinion, choosing to stay with the past. Jay Gruden, head coach of the Washington franchise from 2014 to 2019, offered his take on the whole saga and felt that the WFT, who previously went by the name "Washington Redskins," should have retained their earlier name. His full comments on the radio show Russell & Medhurst were:

“Are you guys just trying to figure out the new name? It's so exciting...I don’t think anybody really cares other than you guys...I don’t want to ruffle any feathers but they should’ve never changed the name in the first place.”

The controversy surrounding the WFT's former name

Redskins, which explicitly referred to the skin color of Native Americans, was widely considered racist since it used skin color as a moniker. However, the WFT initially resisted change to that name by pointing to the heritage of the name. It must be noted that the franchise was initially not known as the Redskins; rather, they began life as the Boston Braves before moving to Washington and adopting the Redskins suffix.

The name remained in use despite the literal association of a color with a skin, that had been used as pejorative against Native Americans. Dan Snyder, the owner of the franchise, refused to change the name for a long time.

But during and after the George Floyd protests, when it became clear that the USA was facing a racial reckoning, the WFT's old name became commercially unviable. Their merchandise partner refused to stock the items under the Redskins name. Public opinion and financial realities made WFT decide to drop the nickname and take its placeholding name "Football Team". In 2022, they will finally have a new name.

As mentioned before, it will not be the first name change in the WFT's franchise history, but people like Jay Gruden still object to it. It is an opinion that prevails among many people, including parts of the WFT fanbase. But based on the reasons highlighted above, it is not surprising to see them move on with the name change and come 2nd February 2022, we will finally know what they have chosen.