Commanders Sell, Then Pull, Geographically Challenged Merchandise

Merchandise bearing the team’s logo against a geographically incorrect backdrop was offered for sale on Sunday.

The NFL used to be geographically challenged.

Many fans can remember a league that once aligned Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans in the NFC West and Arizona in the NFC East.

Most of that nonsense was cleared up when the NFL realigned to eight divisions to accommodate the expansion Texans in 2002. The Panthers, Falcons and Saints joined Tampa Bay in the newly created NFC South, and the Cardinals moved westward to join the 49ers, Seahawks and Rams in the NFC West. Of course, the Rams were based in St. Louis at the time, but we digress.

Fast-forward to Sunday, when the Commanders offered coffee mugs with their team logo against a silhouette of Washington state. Of course, the Commanders represent the District of Columbia and play their home games in Maryland. The state of Washington lies about 2,500 miles west of the team’s footprint.

Elsewhere at the stadium: I’m being told there are mugs with outlines of the state Washington for sale pic.twitter.com/1fzp4RrdNV

— Pete Hailey (@PeteHaileyNBCS) September 11, 2022

Pete Hailey of NBC Sports Washington reported that the mugs were pulled from display at some point, presumably when someone with the team realized the mistake. A team official told Hailey the mugs were for sale at a truck outside the stadium, as opposed to inside the stadium.

That said, it was an official team truck that offered the items for sale, according to Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. It was not, apparently, bootleg merchandise.

It’s not the first time such a mistake has happened. The league’s official online merchandise store sold license plates with the team’s previous logo against a Washington state backdrop a few years ago.

Fortunately for Commanders fans, the team got off to a much better start on the field, with Carson Wentz throwing two touchdown passes to lead the team to a 14-3 halftime lead over the visiting Jaguars. In the end, Washington had to rally behind Wentz’s two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to beat Jacksonville, 28-22.