Wolves? Commanders? Defenders? - NFL fans react to WFT's rebranding

After two long years, the NFL will finally learn the new identity of the Washington Football Team. Originally known as the Washington Redskins, the team elected to change their name amid public pressure, calling the name insensitive to certain groups.

Over the last two years, the Washington Football Team has been the center of many jokes over the generic nature of the name.

It has been announced that the Washington Football Team's name will be revealed on February 2, 2022, exclusively on the Today Show on NBC. The news has stoked social media into speculating about the new name.

Considering how rarely NFL teams change names, this will be the team's name for decades to come. Here are some of the reactions to the news.

NFL fans show curiosity about WFT name change

The Washington Football Team is offering hints to help stoke interest in the name change while keeping expectations in check.

According to Jake Russell, the team's president, Jason Wright, has already said the team will not be called the Red Wolves or Wolves due to trademark issues. As such, there are still a multitude of possibilities.

What will the name be? Since a date has been set for the franchise to reveal it, one can surmise that the team's ruling powers have likely agreed on the final choice.

If that is the case, there are a handful of people who know about the change and likely plenty of documents available that contain the new name.

Will the name change be leaked?

Since they've made it public knowledge that a name change is coming, they've opened the door to the NFL world poking and prodding every level of the organization for the scoop.

Considering how rare name changes occur in sports, it is likely there isn't a foolproof system of process in keeping a tight lid on the information.

If that is the case, a leak in the days or weeks leading up to the reveal seems likely. The case of the name change echoes another industry famous for leaks: video games.

The biggest video games are often revealed to the world live on press conference stages that millions of gamers watch online.

For the biggest games, the name reveal often occurs due to a leak in the days or weeks leading up to the event.

In several ways, the Washington Football Team's name change in the NFL is similar to a game name revealed in the video game industry at E3, a video game trade event that premieres current and upcoming games.

One can make a safe bet that the NFL world will likely know the name of the Washington Football Team before the second day in February.

About the author

Ian brings with him more than 6.5 years of sports writing experience to the Sportskeeda NFL team. He played offensive line in middle school and high school, and also made it to the top 0% matchmaking ranking in MUT play in Madden.

He possesses the quality of identifying unique story angles from quotes in press conferences, social media and interviews. He assimilates facts for his stories with a lawyer-like precision and verifies each and every piece of information.

Ian admires Peyton Manning for his ability to beat teams with his mind despite not being the best athlete, and is also a fan of Tom Brady. The Denver Broncos are his favorite team, and their Super Bowl 50 win in Manning’s last game is etched in his memory forever. Bill Belichick is his all-time favorite coach.

He has also grown to admire the Los Angeles Rams mainly because he and Cooper Kupp went to the same college, Eastern Washington University, with both finishing their college careers at the same time.

In his career so far, Ian has had the privilege of exclusively interviewing Los Angeles Rams General Manager Les Snead, Kwity Paye of the Indianpolis Colts and Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jamari Thrash. When not writing, he likes to play video games and be outdoors.

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