Joe Theismann Believes New Washington Owners Will Change Commanders Name

The former quarterback thinks the new owners want a fresh start.

A petition created by Commanders fan Daniel Fazzolare imploring the franchise to change the team’s name back “Redskins” has over 129,000 signatures as of Thursday morning. The petition has led to a lot of dialogue, but team president Jason Wright shut down any notion that the team would revert to the controversial nickname on Wednesday when he said, “It is not being considered. Period.”

But what about a totally new nickname for the team?

Former Washington quarterback Joe Theismann thinks new team owner Josh Harris wants to change the name yet again in order to further distance the organization from beleaguered former owner Dan Snyder.

"I think Washington wants to move towards a new name..

Josh Harris has done a terrific job and we're seeing something very positive going on in Washington" ~ @Theismann7 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/hcYIV20xLV

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 31, 2023

“I think they wanna move toward a new name and sort of put everything about the Washington Commanders, the Washington Football Team in the rearview mirror and move forward,” Theismann said on the The Pat McAfee Show. 

Washington changed its nickname to the Washington Football Team in July 2020 after decades of criticism. The franchise then became the Commanders in 2022. Snyder sold the team to a group led by Harris in July after several scandals within the organization. 

Any name change wouldn’t happen for at least a year or two and would require league approval.