Washington Commanders to debut new NFL identity

[BBTV]

Cooler heads might have worked with the league to allow a special "transition" plan.

 

1.  Roll out "Commanders" as the new name, with the W and roundel and basic wordmarks (i.e. not something giant with stripes on top and underneath)

 

2.  Make the uniforms close to traditional WFT ones - whether the 2002 throwback or the current set.  Make minor tweaks so that it's not like they slapped one name on top of another, but have it be something that's still true to the franchise.  Put the W in a roundel on the helmet so it's kinda reminiscent of the traditional helmet, but without any of the problematic imagery.

 

3.  Some people will hate the name, but some of those won't care because it still "feels" like the same team, so they'll get used to it.

 

4.  After two seasons (so not the normal 5), they update like they did today (I mean... hopefully better than what they did today, but I mean that they should have let it bake in for a couple of seasons before making drastic changes.).

 

So you've got visual continuity, the name change but still the visual continuity, then the name continuity but a visual change.   Would obviously have been more the long game, and sports teams (and Nike) don't like to play the long game, but that might have made this easier.

 

 

 

[MJD7]

Although all of the leaks and the promo video pointed in this direction, it is still astonishing to see how awful the uniforms actually turned out. I try not to overreact whenever these redesigns come out, but this truly feels like Washington immediately downgraded to the worst uniform set in the NFL. 

 

The new name is safe, predictable, and boring. The ironies involved its context are quite comical.

 

The new W logo is alright, though as others have pointed out the stenciling really does give it a sort of 3D/origami effect (ironically, the 3D effect is something the Rams actively tried to pull off but couldn’t, in my eyes). The roundels are fine, definitely very soccer inspired, but I don’t see the need for the white-heavy one, I definitely prefer the one that is just burgundy & gold. The wordmark is fine, I actually like the underline & “overline,” but the font itself looks remarkably similar to the Bengals’ new font they’ve been using with their recent redesign.

 

The main burgundy helmet is decent, I even quite like the satin finish, possibly more than a regular gloss. I’m gonna miss the gold facemask though, that was a staple of Washington’s, to me at least. The black helmet, on the other hand, is almost 2013 Jaguars level bad. Putting the logo on the front of the helmet is a baffling move, and both it and the numbers on the side are far too small. The black helmet being gloss also makes it seem like they just got stock black helmets at the last-minute. Whether they wanted to go matte, satin, or gloss, I don’t care, but the two helmets should at least match (ideally they’d only have one helmet, the burgundy of course, but that gate has unfortunately been opened).

 

In a similar fashion to the logos and helmets, the home burgundy jersey is not bad at all in its own right. The gold numbers help to differentiate a bit from the Chiefs, and I like inclusion of the wordmark. The white-heavy roundel on the back collar definitely stands out too much though.

 

The other two jerseys, however, are simply the worst. If the white jersey isn’t immediately the worst in the NFL, it’s easily bottom 3. To start,  having the only gold on the jersey be on the Nike swoosh is a sin. The diamond pattern on the numbers and sleeves is simply an eyesore, the comparisons to the Diamondbacks’ 2016 redesign are appropriate, and Washington looks no better here. The wordmark on the front of the jersey looks more “placeholder” than anything from the Football Team did.

 

The black jersey isn’t quite as rough by comparison, but the carbon fiber digi-camo pattern reeks of the early 2010’s Pro Combat era, as others have pointed out. Gold numbers with a burgundy outline don’t look nearly as good as the inverse. The off-center wordmark is also an upsetting trend. One thing I actually don’t mind are the lines above and below the nameplate, if there was more cohesion and direction with that design element I think it could have worked in a better set.

 

Apologies for the long post, I obviously had a lot of thoughts on the rebrand. Overall, there’s honestly very little I find redeeming in this brand, and literally nothing I would take over the Football Team identity. This has to be right up there with the 2014 Bucs & 2015 Browns as the biggest downgrades of the Nike era. It’s truly baffling that most concept artists on here could come up with something better in a week than this set that took them a year & a half to develop.

[hormone]

I was gonna post my .02 in some big long post, but I’ll just leave it at “only the titans may be worse” total garbage. I’ve honestly come up with better on create a team that has like 4 options.

[burgundy]

1 hour ago, Bill0813 said:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/02/02/washington-commanders-name

 

53 minutes ago, kmccarthy27 said:

She was the one responsible for all the Mall locations of the Team shop closing. She wanted them to be more boutiques and not one stop team shops. Essentially she thought there was too much merch in stores. 
 

Numerous people I know got let go from just her taking over. 

 

So Washington goes from a manchild who treated them as his own personal fantasy team, to a lady who treats the team as her own boutique fashion line. Jeebus forking christ.

 

[DEAD!]

What bothered me the most about this new identity is the home/burgundy uniforms.  It is the aspect that the team should nail it out of the park. But they decided to bunt on two strikes. All the elements don't mesh with each other.

A helmet with one, yellow stripe, matched with a jersey with alternating yellow/white/yellow stripes and pants with no stripes?  Now the helmet and jersey in isolation look ok. but combining them? oy! 

They could have just swapped the colors for the white jersey instead of throwing a can of paint against the wall. 

The black jersey? Well, totally unnecessary. They could have stuck with the burgundy and white jerseys and waited a year or two to release the black one. 

 

[Captain Apollo]

[KCScout76]

As a Cowboys fan, I love beating the Washington Football Team.

With that said, I really like the simplicity and clean look.   The simple "military" W is nice.

You know they are going to build off these logos and change them up over the years.

 

I like the name, unique.  It is similar to the Cleveland Guardians, in that is reflects the city and is a name

not in common use.    For now, 

 

[lahaye7]

I just want the rejected ones released too, so we can all have barf all over our keyboards 

[ltjets21]

2 hours ago, habsfan1 said:

- Capitals

- Nationals

- Commanders

 

If the Wizards change their name, all of their big 4 sports teams will have a Washington-esque identity.

Also it is kind of interesting that everyone other than the Capitals changed their name at some point. Bullets--> Wizards, Senators---> Nats different franchise but you catch my drift and now this.

[LogoFan]

Still absorbing this head-on train collision.  So disjointed it's like elements for each jersey were pulled separately out of a hat.  The circle logo is the busiest, cluttered, disjointed mess of crap I've ever seen from a professional designer.  I'm surprised they didn't squeeze in years of division titles, founder, current owner and GPS coordinates of the stadium.

 

 

This whole hellish nightmare is like someone proclaiming Oregon's crazy sets to be the worst it can get, and Nike said, "hold my beer".

[LMU]

The mascot's just sitting out there.  Even the right colors.

[LogoFan]

Deleted accidental double post

[AstroCreep]

The name and logo is fine. The uniforms are....not. Not a fan of this trend of

GIANT TEAM NAME ON CHEST IN CASE YOU FORGOT WHO WE ARE

 

I guess they felt they need an entire new set but they really didn't. The home jersey looks like a knockoff of the previous traditional set. 

The away uniform doesn't match the helmet at all. I don't like the gradient numbers. Why are we doing this? It's not a good aesthetic! 

 

The alt is the alt. It's whatever. I guess I should wait till they actually play in them but, ugh, I dunno. This is not a good look. 

[Brave-Bird 08]

The good:

• the nickname is fine, honestly
• I love the satin shell of the red helmet, and don't mind switching to a red facemask either

 

***stretches fingers***

 

The bad?

• "W" monogram and roundel are generic, uninspired, have nothing to do with moniker. 
• W stencil logo on helmet uses negative space, but number font has white key-line that actually ruins the stencil numbers, which would look decent if they were yellow with burgundy stitching outline to create the same negative 
• The sleeve stripe on the home jersey is literally just a larger version of the Chiefs. Cool, you just got rid of a classic look and ironically, while trying to move away from your old native American brand, adopted a stripe from an iconic team with a native American brand
• The white roundel on the back of the home jersey looks ridiculous and will be distracting 
• The "COMMANDERS" script with the topper font makes the jersey script look really clunky
• The pants and socks being monochrome are clearly a sign that the NFL players think it's "cool" and "slick." Kind of like how Atlanta was doing this until only after a season they realized it looked bad and started at least wearing contrasting pants
• You can't really wear the white pants with the burgundy jersey because the numbers are yellow, so it won't look balanced
• The road jersey is the biggest slap in the face to the franchise possible, considering they have worn white jerseys preferably at home since the 80s. The dotted gradient is a holdover of Nike technology from the Pro Combat era, which was one of their lowest points UNTIL NOW. 
• Again, and I can't scream enough, no details on pants or socks at all????
• The little flag patch on the alt is kind of cool -- why not lean into that?
• If simply bordering a nameplate with two random stripes is supposed to be unique, you need new designers. I get there are two stripes in the flag, but they aren't oriented that way at all 
• The black helmet with the little W sticker on the front is one of the worst things I have ever seen and has no place on an NFL field
• AGAIN, WHO IS DECIDING THAT THE UNITARD LOOK with mono pants and socks is good? This all black uniform is an atrocity

This is honestly the laziest rebrand the NFL has had with Nike. Cleveland got really funky, but honestly the only thing I disliked for them was the wordmark pants -- they at least emphasized the tri-stripe, I thought the seam stitching being colored was kind of neat, the helmet update was fine. The Seahawks, Vikings, Lions, Jets Bengals and Falcons did a really great job of putting up guard rails and making sure Nike could get in there without losing sight of their brand (yes, I think the Falcons uniforms, now that we have seen them in the right combos, are really nice). The Buccaneers, Jaguars circa 2013-14, and this are utter disasters. 

 

They needed to change their name, not their visual identity. I would have loved some minor tweaks, maybe add the satin helmets, tweak the striping in the DC flag pattern but make it consistent across the board, add pant combos and fine, a black alternate.

 

But this is discombobulated, lazy, and honestly arrogantly an affront to what fans appreciate about the NFL. Yes, Nike has pushed some pretty weird things into the hopper since taking over, but the mistake here falls on the Washington franchise for clearly not having any thoughtful people pulling the strings with the branding. 

 

Embarrassing. The Clippers rehash from 10ish years ago with the stupid lines is the only one I can think of that is this close to an inexcusable disaster. And this post is this long because people on this board are super talented and can cook up stuff 1,000 times better during their lunch break on a Monday.

 

 

[Cujo]

Quote

- Capitals

- Nationals

- Commanders

 

If the Wizards change their name, all of their big 4 sports teams will have a Washington-esque identity.

 

Looking back, how the hell did the ex-Bullets land on Wizards anyways, and not some cringe DC related name like the Presidents or Monuments?

[JLJ]

I like the name. The popular thing these days is “that’s an XFL name” but I don’t see it here. I kinda feel that critique doesn’t work for a lot of new names (aside from the obviously wacky ones) anyhow. I like the logo as well. It’s simple, clean, and gets across what it’s supposed to represent. No complaints.

 

The uniforms are the disappointment of this rebrand. As far as positives go, the burgundy helmet and the burgundy jersey is really nice. THAT’S IT. The white jersey looks like it’s for a different team. Just so many unnecessary details, and lack of all team colors sucks. The black is an alternate so I’m less bothered by it, but that black helmet is stupid.

 

The other thing that bothered me about these uniforms are the lack of stripes on the pants. They have a nice stripe pattern on the burgundy jersey…put that on the pants! Honestly, make white and black versions of the burgandy jersey, and do pants stripes and this is a great look. Huge miss here.

[BBTV]

47 minutes ago, LMU said:

The mascot's just sitting out there.  Even the right colors.

 

Post of the thread.  If he's not the honorary captain for the first game (wearing a #1 jersey) then there's truly nothing redeemable about this mess.

[kmccarthy27]

5 minutes ago, Cujo said:

 

Looking back, how the hell did the ex-Bullets land on Wizards anyways, and not some cringe DC related name like the Presidents or Monuments?

There was a mail in suggestion thing. That somehow ended up on the top 5 list. They did a “fan vote” thing with NBC4 and they said that won. It could be Polin liked and did what Snyder did with Commanders and just do some false vote to make it seem the people wanted it. 

[Ridleylash]

7 minutes ago, JLJ said:

I like the name. The popular thing these days is “that’s an XFL name” but I don’t see it here. I kinda feel that critique doesn’t work for a lot of new names (aside from the obviously wacky ones) anyhow. I like the logo as well. It’s simple, clean, and gets across what it’s supposed to represent. No complaints.

I mean, it is a AAF name...they even used the same hashtag as San Antonio did  

[DCarp1231]

No, no they won’t