Commanders Head Coach Dan Quinn Comments on Controversial T-Shirt

His efforts were to simply celebrate the past and present of the Washington Commanders, but coach Dan Quinn's display was not received the way he intended.

Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn during the NFL Scouting / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Commanders franchise has a deep history. Including a history tied to a different team name the franchise ultimately moved away from after significant pressure. The team then moved forward for a period of time under the Washington Football Team while they figured out a permanent team name.

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Over the weekend, first-year Commanders head coach Dan Quinn wore a crossover t-shirt that reflected the new age Commanders logo tied in with some of the past logo and the responses varied from those who appreciated it and those who took offense to it.

Dan Quinn debuted a new Commanders shirt today too. Little bit of a throwback to the old logo. If it’s for sale, it will definitely sell. pic.twitter.com/pJbYkzXv8e

— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) May 11, 2024

During his media availability on Tuesday, Quinn took a moment to address the concerns regarding his shirt that he wore over the weekend.

"I think one of the parts of me taking this job, I was excited to bridge the past and the present and what a cool privilege that is to do," Quinn said. "And I also recognized there's a lot of layers to that. So it was a great lesson for me. And what I really hate is that any attention that would've been taken away from these rookies and this awesome crew. So no one wants to do that, but great lesson."

It is good to see Quinn be open about it, especially with the position he is in. He explained his reasoning behind it, while also acknowledging that it might have rubbed some people the wrong way. It ultimately created somewhat of a distraction from his team, and now he knows moving forward it is likely best to just play things safe.

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Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio shared a statement from the team over the weekend, writing, "It’s our understanding that Quinn wore the T-shirt on his own, without the team knowing he’d be doing it. Although it might have seemed like a trial balloon of sorts for the head coach to display a mashup of the current logo and the former logo, the Commanders aren’t testing the waters for a potential revival of the abandoned name and logo, or for incorporation of aspects of the old logo into the new one."

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