New era of Washington Football commences with Commanders nickname

Over two years of buildup and anticipation, and it wasn’t even a surprise.

On Wednesday morning, the Washington Football franchise kicked off a new era in style, announcing its new Commanders nickname live on the NBC Today Show.

It’s a rebrand that doesn’t come with much shock, unfortunately.

There were leaks throughout the announcement process, including during a promotion video for the name reveal. By the time we were weeks away from Feb. 2, however, the Commanders buzz had ramped up tenfold.

Between t-shirts sporting the new “W” logo and Commanders nickname surfacing out of the blue on social media, and an NBC Chopper hovering over FedEx Field and uncovering Commanders wordmark inside the stadium on Tuesday night, fans have been trying to warm up to the nickname for weeks, if not months.

Here’s a look at the revealing tape from the helicopter.

The Washington Football Team announced its new Commanders nickname on Monday.

So an NBC4 chopper spoiled a reveal that was scheduled to take place live on the NBC Today Show? Got it. That certainly goes beyond faulty links back to the team site and all of Twitter doing their best Sherlock Holmes impression.

It’s impossible to blame the franchise for this particular leak, though. FedEx Field was stocked with equipment to be sold to fans early the next morning. How would you have liked them to prepare for this?

Getting back to the lack of surprise, this mishap came two days after team legend Joe Theismann practically dragged the name across the finish line during an interview on CBS Sports Radio. Again, two days before the announcement. Are we really supposed to blame Washington for that, too?

But the spoilers didn’t end there.

On top of the Commanders merch spotted inside FedEx Field, a well-known Washington Football Twitter fan account unearthed what appears to be Washington’s new uniform set for the 2022 season late Tuesday.

While the home uniform being reminiscent of the team’s last home uniform is a positive, the road white reminding us of two Cardinals teams — Arizona and Louisville — goes down as a negative in the old notebook.

The alternate black has received mixed reviews on social media, but our initial grade was a three out of five stars. Not sure why, but we have a strong hunch that the helmet and pants are going to help it become a big hit.

See for yourself.

Here’s another look from the official Washington Commanders Twitter account.

Upon further review, the white looks A LOT better with the matte helmet. In another positive, Washington nailed the release video.

Job well done, indeed.

In the end, it wasn’t the greatest misdirection of all time. The evidence had been staring us in the face for what feels like months. All things considered, though, we have to tip our cap to the organization.

It’s not their fault fans started turning every stone on social media to uncover the new nickname. Furthermore, all of the leaks that preluded the helicopter fiasco were merely circumstantial. Nothing overly definitive.

Let’s not go out of the way to find reasons to be negative.

The newest era of Washington Football has arrived. That’s what matters. The Commanders moniker isn’t charismatic, but it suits the location of the franchise and perfectly aligns with the coveted military theme.

It was the safest pick, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was the wrong one, either.