NFL 2020: Washington ‘Warriors’ or ‘Sentinels’? No, it’s the ‘Washington Football Team’ — for now

The National Football League club based in Washington, D.C., is going through a historical time as its owner finally decided to retire the moniker “redskins.” However, they may not have had enough time to finalize and register a new moniker after unveiling their new name and logo that is simply the Washington Football Team.

NFL’s Washington, DC club starts rebranding, ditches @redskins on social media

The name and logo of the Washington Football Team were officially unveiled on Thursday as the NFL 2020 training camp approaches. So far, the major change has been applied to the team’s official social media accounts using the handle @washingtonnfl on Twitter and Instagram from the former @redskins.

Washington Football Team’s website domain remains redskins.com, but it is most likely to change as well. The delay is understandable, considering there are more technicalities involved in changing a domain name compared to changing social media handles.

Washington Football Team may sound a little too generic, especially for avid sports fans who are used to seeing striking monikers. It is then worth noting that the franchise suggested that the new name and logo that the club will act more like a placeholder during the NFL 2020 season. “For updated brand clarity and consistency purposes, we will call ourselves the ‘Washington Football Team’ pending adoption of our new name,” the club said in a statement.

Why the franchise dropped its controversial name after 80+ years

The Washington Football Team is a franchise reportedly worth $3.4 billion as of last September, according to Forbes, so the name change is undeniably a huge deal for its brand. Not to mention, Redskins had been the team’s name for more than 80 years.

However, the history of the “Redskins” brand has been marred with controversy and calls for the franchise to change it as it has been considered a slur against the Native Americans. As the issue of racial equality became a worldwide discussion this year, the club announced last July 3 that the Washington Redskins name was being reviewed.

Washington Warriors or Sentinels?

When the club confirmed on July 13 that the “Redskins” brand will be retired, rumors started to emerge online on what the team’s new name should be. Two of the most mentioned names have been “Warriors” and “Sentinels.”

NBC Sports reported that there were multiple attempted from Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder to file a trademark application for the brands “Washington Warriors” and “Warriors.” But it is unclear if Snyder has revisited this effort after the name change was finalized.

Meanwhile, the “Sentinels” name came up after a Reddit user reportedly discovered that the same company managing the Redskins.com domain registration has filed for a new down -- DCSentinels.com. If some fans think the name is familiar, it’s because that was the name of Keanu Reeve’s fictional team in the movie “The Replacements.”