ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders have not seen many glory days since final profitable a Tremendous Bowl in 1992. Whether or not they can match their most profitable interval stays to be seen — however they’re going to put on a glance that harkens again to that period.
The Commanders unveiled their new uniforms Wednesday, returning to their extra conventional coloration scheme — and to a glance much like when the franchise received three Tremendous Bowls between 1981-91.
“They’re related to some unimaginable moments,” Washington crew president Mark Clouse stated.
When Washington formally modified its identify to the Commanders in February 2022, it additionally went away from its conventional look.
The crew additionally unveiled an alternate jersey — dubbed the Hail Raiser — that contains a spear knifing by the burgundy W on each side of a black helmet, nearly assembly within the entrance. The franchise featured a spear with a feather dangling from it on its burgundy helmet from 1965-68.
Clouse stated they needed to bridge “the evolution from the Redskins period to the Commander period.”
“The spear is simply such an excellent gadget,” he stated. “That was half [of] the heritage of the crew and in addition can reside on this ecosystem that we have been constructing round defining a Commander.”
Clouse stated they’re attempting to marry the previous with their imaginative and prescient of the longer term. Their new stadium, scheduled to open in 2030, will resemble RFK Stadium, their residence from 1961-96 — and the location of their best groups. All of that is purposeful.
“I am positive there will probably be some which are at all times searching for a full reversal,” Clouse stated concerning the previous identify and brand, “and that is not the trail we’re on, however I feel it is a nice option to proceed to have fun that.
“We have been very purposeful in attempting to deliver again the celebration and integration of our heritage whereas persevering with to maneuver ahead to construct the Commander model. It is extraordinarily vital that the weather of these issues are introduced collectively.”
There’s additionally a primary clarification for the return to a well-known look.
“We needed to deliver again all the normal parts,” Commanders chief advertising officer Patrick Arthur stated, “so when folks come to Northwest Stadium subsequent 12 months they usually’re watching the sport, they see their crew that they grew up rooting for on the sector.”
Washington will use block numbers on their jerseys, and have returned to 3 stripes down the center of their helmets — white on the skin and gold in between. The Commanders will proceed to make use of a gold W on their shiny burgundy helmets in addition to on the black alternate ones. The black helmet can have two gold stripes with a burgundy one down the center.
The burgundy helmets will function a gold face masks.
The crew used the Tremendous Bowl period jerseys as alternate ones in 2025 — there was discuss final 12 months that these would finally change into everlasting. Clouse and Arthur each stated they talked to followers, whether or not at video games or coaching camp or different websites, about potential uniform adjustments.
However Clouse stated the gamers’ response to these uniforms was “our greatest piece of analysis.”
“They actually appreciated the heritage of the crew,” Clouse stated. “That was actual encouragement for us.”
The uniforms can have numbers on the aspect of the jerseys and return to stripes down the aspect of the pants: burgundy and gold on the white pants; gold and white on the burgundy pants and burgundy and white on the gold pants.
Over the previous 12 months, the Commanders have leaned into attempting to outline their nickname, dubbing it a “chief of warriors.” They present a video presentation shortly earlier than kickoff at residence video games — with a medieval “Sport of Thrones” look — to emphasise what it means.
The identify has not been standard amongst Washington followers; it hasn’t helped that the franchise has not but returned to constant on-field success. The Commanders reached the NFC Championship Sport within the 2024 season, profitable 12 regular-season video games — their most because the ’91 marketing campaign. However they had been 5-12 final 12 months and have misplaced double-digit video games thrice in 5 seasons.
And for a lot of followers the brand new identify serves as a reminder of the failed Dan Snyder period. He was the proprietor throughout this era; Josh Harris bought the crew in July 2023. Harris has repeatedly stated they would not return to the previous identify, however that they needed to embrace the previous.
“The precedence is honoring our previous after which trying to the longer term,” Harris stated on the NFL league assembly in Phoenix final month. “I lived by how wonderful these groups had been and what an affect it had on me. And I do know that hundreds of our followers or hundreds of thousands perhaps really feel the identical means. And so I feel it is vital to return to that as a lot as you may, however on the similar time, we now have a vivid future forward.”
Clouse, who labored within the meals trade from 1996 till 2024 when he joined the Commanders, stated he realized throughout that point that “you don’t change a number of issues on the similar time. You evolve very slowly and purposefully.”
He stated they nonetheless must convert some followers to their new identification.
“They might not agree with every part that we’re doing,” Clouse stated, “however hopefully at the very least they’re understanding what we’re attempting to perform.”
