The Washington Football Team entered the professional football ranks as the Boston Braves for the 1932 season. A year later they changed their name to the Redskins. This stuck for 86 seasons. Washington renamed their football team ahead of the NFL 2020 season. The new name, Washington Football Team, is a placeholder as the decision-makers pick a more permanent name.
The team moved South to Washington DC in 1937 and achieved instant success. They claimed the NFL Championship by beating the Chicago Bears. However, just 3 seasons down the line, they got walloped in the championship game by the same opponent.
The 73-0 humbling remains professional football's most one-sided result. The Washington Redskins, as they were known, kept winning before an alarming collapse in the mid-1940s.
They remained away from the Playoffs for 26 seasons. After 24 seasons of no Playoffs, the franchise roped in Green Bay Packers legend Vincent Lombardi to help the side turn things around.
Lombardi had helped the Wisconsin based franchise to back to back Super Bowl wins. The Washington Football Team came into the 2020 NFL season with the second-worst record in the 2019 NFL season. They won just three games and earned the second overall draft pick. They managed to turn things around in a massive way with a berth that took them to a wild card playoff game in the 2020 season.
The franchise drafted prospect Chase Young; they hired coach Ron Rivera to help turn things around. Furthermore, despite the name change, the team has retained its uniform colors of Burgundy and Gold.
In a stacked NFL East division alongside the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles, the newly renamed Washington Football Team will have its work cut out.
Advertising executive Daniel Snyder serves as principal owner of the Washington Football Team. He purchased the team for $800 million ahead of the 1999 NFL season, where they finished atop the NFC East.
The Washington Football Team boasts of five NFL season-ending game wins, including three wins in the Super Bowl era. All three Super Bowl wins came in a 10-year span between 1982 to 1991.
In this spell, they attempted to join a select few teams to have retained the trophy. However, they came up short in the 1983 Super Bowl and had to be content with being NFC Champions. They claimed the NFC title on five occasions and have won their respective division on 14 occasions.
Washington Football Team has featured 24 times in the playoffs with their latest postseason appearance coming for the 2015 NFL season.
Three players have clinched the NFL regular season MVP in a Washington NFL jersey. These are Larry Brown (1972), Mark Moseley (1982), and Joe Theismann (1983).
The franchise improved upon their 2019 season record that stood at 3-13. They placed first in the NFC East with a 2020 campaign record of 7-9. However, they would be defeated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-31 in the Wild Card Round of the Playoffs.
The Washington franchise has had multiple logos in their tenure as an NFL team. Under their previous name, the team had a variety of logos.
Most of the designs depicted a native American within a circle. However, after the logo and name controversy that prompted the team to change their name, the franchise opted to take time before rebranding themselves in earnest. As a result, they opted to rename themselves as the Washington Football Team.
Their logo is basically the letter 'W' written in gold font with a burgundy background. This indicates that the team will do its best to keep its colors despite a new name, which will come soon.
The Washington Football Team steered clear of disaster in 2020 when they almost lost some massive name sponsors due to the name-change controversy. Owner Daniel Snyder ignored the initial cries to have the Redskins name changed leading to the potential loss of Nike, FedEx, and PepsiCo. Nike is the official apparel supplier of the NFL and PepsiCo, the team beverage and snack partner.
The biggest hit would have potentially been from FedEx which is the naming sponsor of the team’s home stadium. FedEx threatened to end its naming rights deal for the stadium after the upcoming season which would have prematurely ended the $205 million deal scheduled to run through the 2025 season.
The roster following the 2020 regular season comprises three quarterbacks, four running backs, six wide receivers, three tight ends, nine offensive linemen, eight defensive linemen, eight linebackers, nine defensive backs, and three special teams players.
Quarterbacks | 4 Taylor Heinicke 6 Steven Montez 11 Alex Smith |
Running Backs | 34 Peyton Barber 24 Antonio Gibson 41 J. D. McKissic 35 Lamar Miller |
Wide Receivers | 10 Antonio Gandy-Golden 19 Robert Foster 17 Terry McLaurin 89 Cam Sims 15 Steven Sims 83 Isaiah Wright |
Tight Ends | 85 Marcus Baugh 87 Jeremy Sprinkle 82 Logan Thomas |
Offensive linemen | 60 Keith Ismael C 78 Cornelius Lucas T 67 Wes Martin G 76 Morgan Moses T 73 Chase Roullier C 72 David Sharpe T 75 Brandon Scherff 66 David Steinmetz 71 Wes Schweitzer G |
Defensive linemen | 93 Jonathan Allen DT 91 Ryan Kerrigan DE 95 Casey Toohill DE 94 Daron Payne DT 97 Tim Settle DT 96 James Smith-Williams DE 90 Montez Sweat DE 99 Chase Young DE |
Linebackers | 53 Jon Bostic MLB 58 Thomas Davis Sr. OLB 55 Cole Holcomb MLB 47 Khaleke Hudson OLB 50 Jared Norris OLB 54 Kevin Pierre-Louis OLB 48 Mychal Kendricks MLB 59 Jordan Kunaszyk |
Defensive backs | 30 Troy Apke FS 31 Kamren Curl FS 23 Ronald Darby CB 29 Kendall Fuller CB 32 Danny Johnson CB 46 Cole Luke SS 25 Fabian Moreau CB 20 Jimmy Moreland CB 39 Jeremy Reaves FS |
Special teams | 3 Dustin Hopkins K 57 Nick Sundberg LS 5 Tress Way P |
Owner Dan and Tanya Snyder created the Washington Football Charitable Foundation in 2000 and have given more than $29 M to the community. They provide support and services to nearly 178, 000 individuals (mostly children) with a focus on education, health, and wellness. Additionally, the FITT (frequency, Intensity, Time & Type)- a youth health and wellness initiative.
Moreover, the Loads of Love campaign installed washers and dryers in schools that serve students who lack access to clean clothes. Not to mention, the READ campaign makes an effort to make reading more fun in elementary school. The program centers around an in-school learning tool with monthly prompts for students to analyze books of their choice and much more.
Founded | 1932 |
Owner | Daniel Snyder |
CEO | Jason Wright |
Head Coach | Ron Rivera |
Stadium | FedEx Field |
Location | Landover, Maryland |
Sponsors | |
Championships | League championships (5) NFL Championships (pre-1970 AFL-NFL merger) (2) 1937, 1942 Super Bowl championships (3) 1982 (XVII), 1987 (XXII), 1991 (XXVI) Conference championships (5) NFC: 1972, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1991 Division championships (15) NFL Eastern: 1936, 1937, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1945 NFC East: 1972, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015, 2020 |
Official Website | Washington Football Team- www.washingtonfootball.com |