Parts of the Commanders’ Past Finding Their Way Into Harris Era

The Commanders remain in the midst of significant change under owner Josh Harris (above), marked in large part by an attempted on-field rebuild, a long-running search for a new stadium, and perhaps a new name.

But the weight of and the fan allure for the team’s glory days—particularly the Joe Gibbs era that resulted in three Super Bowl titles and helped fuel last year’s record-setting $6.05 billion sale—are still rather close at hand for the Commanders. 

As training camp is quickly approaching with rookies due to report on July 18, the team has made two notable moves this week to honor its past.

• The family of Walter “Blackie” Wetzel—the late Blackfeet Nation member who helped design the logo used from 1972 to 2020—is expected to be in attendance at the team’s home opener on Sept. 15, when a plaque acknowledging Wetzel will be unveiled at Commanders Field, Ryan Wetzel, a grandson of the late Walter Wetzel, told Front Office Sports. A Commanders spokesperson said “conversations with the Wetzel family are progressing well, but we cannot confirm details at this time.”
• The team also has announced the return of its traditional, and widely popular, gold pants. While uniform changes are a regular occurrence for many teams, shifts like this for the Commanders carry extra weight. That’s particularly the case given the fans’ love of the franchise’s past, as well as the sensitivity around many elements of that history, including its former logo, the “R” name, and the combative and controversial era of former owner Dan Snyder. 

Fan Unrest

Harris has often been forced to navigate the team’s past-present tightrope since he was unanimously approved by NFL ownership last July. At his introductory news conference, Harris said the team’s old “R” name when referencing the Commanders’ past accomplishments.

The Wetzels, meanwhile, have seized on the unpopularity of the Commanders name—a moniker that has the support of only 16% of the fan base, per a recent Washington Post survey—in hopes that a potential name change could incorporate the old logo. Beyond the visit and a plaque, the Wetzels and Montana Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) have continued to lobby the Commanders to bring back the logo in some form.

“The Commanders are listening,” Ryan Wetzel said. “We’d like to see the logo come back in some form. As to what capacity, I don’t know. They’ve been a little coy about that in our conversations.”

“Let’s restore the logo to a place of pride!!” Daines wrote in an X post Wednesday. 

Multiple NFL sources told FOS that the return of the old logo remains off the table and restoring the old “R” name is a complete nonstarter, however. The Commanders continue to have conversations with the Wetzels in hopes of finding a way to further recognize Walter Wetzel short of bringing back Native American imagery, a divisive issue that led to the name change in the first place. 

Not All Is Great

Daines, meanwhile, remains a key figure in the Commanders’ still-uncertain stadium deliberations. He has threatened to block the RFK Stadium bill that passed the House earlier this year unless the Commanders give proper recognition to the descendants of the Indigenous leader who helped create the logo.  

If the Commanders manage to thread the needle by appeasing the Wetzels, Daines will still need to back off his opposition to the bill that doesn’t even guarantee a stadium will be built on the RFK Stadium site.