Redskins officially rebrand as 'Washington Football Team,' at least for now

Originality is not football's strong suit, apparently.

On Thursday, the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins rolled out a long-awaited rebrand, except it wasn't the name change anyone was waiting for. The team will be known as "Washington Football Team" through the 2020 season and presumably until it comes up with a more permanent replacement for the name it ditched for its racist connotations, ESPN reports.

Images leaked to ESPN show a logo-less burgundy and gold uniform and an image reading "Washington Football Team, est. 1932" in the same colors. Sources tell ESPN the team hopes to eradicate its name physically and digitally over the next 50 days, and will use the new name and uniforms for their first game of the season on Sept. 13.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

The team hadn't announced its name change as of 1:20 p.m. Thursday, but its Twitter page name had been updated to "Washington Football Team." Its Facebook page still was called "Washington Redskins" at the time, and both profile pictures for the team were still of its Native American head logo.