The Commanders say their limited sale of merchandise using the franchise’s old, controversial team name and logo in association with some former players is not an indication they intend to bring them back. But some Native American leaders tell Front Office Sports the franchise should drop them for good.
“I am against any usage of the Washington football team’s old name and logo,” says Peter Landeros of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, who is a member of the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs. “The old name is a racial slur against indigenous people.”
Landeros tells FOS the old logo “only represents a handful of tribes,” and that the style of war bonnet that it features is not what Indigenous tribes in the Washington, D.C. area would wear.
The team recently put up a limited set of merchandise with the old name and logo, tied to apparel featuring some of the franchise’s most prominent former players for sale. The items were available both online and at the Commanders’ team store—and the online items quickly sold out.
The team maintains it has not changed the stance it has held during Josh Harris’s ownership, which is that the franchise will not reverse the rebranding done under former owner Daniel Snyder and return to the previous name and logo.
“When we recognize alumni through merchandise, our goal is to ensure those products authentically reflect the era they represent, and that is shown in the handful of items we are selling,” a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement to FOS.
“It’s also important that we protect our trademarks. We are required to maintain the marks in commercial usage so that marks remain under franchise control. There are no changes to our previous position on the team name, and we’re excited to showcase the Commanders brand this season in ways that celebrate our past while looking toward the future.”
Harris declined to comment about the issue to FOS as he left the NFL owners’ meeting held Aug. 26 in Atlanta.
The NFL did not respond to a request to comment.
Attorney Ariel Givner, founder and principal of Givner Law, noted on social media that the Commanders are accurately portraying the situation regarding the preservation of their trademarks: “Under US trademark law, if you stop using a mark in commerce for three straight years, it’s presumed abandoned and anyone can try to snatch it.”
Through a corporate entity called Pro-Football Inc., the Commanders currently own 12 active trademarks that feature or reference the old name or logo, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.
But the pledge not to revert to the previous name and logo and the need to maintain the trademarks are not enough for some Native American leaders.
“Listen, I don’t believe everybody that wears a Redskins shirt is a racist,” says Victor Rocha, conference chair of the Indian Gaming Association advocacy organization. “I believe there’s a sense of nostalgia. A lot of people have nostalgia for football teams. But if they really wanted to respect us, they would stop using the name.”
FOS first reported in December 2024 that the former team logo was expected to be used on alumni shirts highlighting the careers of the franchise’s greatest players who played pre-2020.
Washington’s WUSA9 reported on Aug. 25 that the Commanders were selling a new shirt collection honoring former players Art Monk, Darrell Green, and Sean Taylor, with the former team name on the back and the former logo on the front.
Snyder said in 2013 the team would “never” change its name. But under mounting pressure from sponsors, Snyder’s franchise dropped the name and logo in July 2020, eventually unveiling the Commanders name in February 2022.
Snyder, amid a series of controversies, sold the team to Harris in 2023 for $6.05 billion. Harris has embraced the franchise’s history—including its three Super Bowl triumphs under legendary coach Joe Gibbs in the 1980s and early ‘90s—while also emphasizing its new identity as the Commanders. He has said the team is embracing the Commanders name and won’t return to the old name.
The team has kept the former name and logo in limited merchandising use, utilizing them only in association with players from that era of franchise history. It has not sold merchandise with the previous name and logo that’s not tied to former players.
President Donald Trump has said the Commanders should return to the former team name. Last year, he threatened to hold up the franchise’s planned $3.7 billion D.C. stadium deal if it did not switch back. Asked about Trump’s current views, a White House spokesperson referred FOS to a 2025 social media post in which he said the team should “IMMEDIATELY” change back.
