The Washington Football Team released an extensive list of possible team names to season ticket holders earlier this week. Each season ticket holder received ten possible names and was asked to pick their two favorites. Although the WFT will stick with their generic name for the 2021 NFL season, another name change could be coming for the 2022 season. Given that the Washington Football Team is my favorite team, I wanted to provide some input as well. Here are grades for each of the potential team names for Washington’s NFL franchise.
Aces
Grade: D+
Kinda cool, but way too Las Vegas for my liking. Unless we’re also moving the team, this one doesn’t really make much sense.
Ambassadors
Grade: C+
This one is okay as far as representing the nation’s capital, but the Ambassadors would be such a lame moniker for a football team.
Anchors
Grade: C-
I’m not really seeing the connection to D.C. with this one. If someone made a cool jersey mockup for this, I might be more interested, but for now it’s a no.
Archers
Grade: C
This is a solid mid-level option. Not amazing, not terrible, just meh.
Armada
Grade: A-
I like this one a lot. It just sounds so dope. I also don’t think this name will get the consideration it deserves. Armada could come with a sick gunship logo or something like that. I’m on board for this.
Aviators
Grade: D+
Does D.C. have any sort of major accomplishments in aviation I wasn’t aware of? There’s a much better flight-related name later on this list anyway.
Beacons
Grade: D
Nah. Next.
Belters
Grade: C-
Unique, sure, but what does this even mean? Is it a reference to the Capital Beltway? If it is, I’ve never heard this term before in my life.
Brigade
Grade: B-
This one’s pretty cool. Not as cool as Armada, but not bad at all.
Commanders
Grade: B
Solid, but it sounds kind of generic.
Defenders
Grade: C+
This was the name of Washington D.C.’s XFL team, but I’m honestly not sure if that helps it or hurts it. I’ll give it a middling grade for now.
Demon Cats
Grade: B-
This one is so off the wall and makes so little sense that I actually like it more. If this became the new name, I probably wouldn’t complain about it.
First City Football Club (FCFC)
Grade: F
Nope. FC should only be attached to soccer teams. Not only is there one FC, this name has two of them. Awful.
Griffins
Grade: D-
This one just doesn’t fit the team or the city at all. Get it off the list.
Guardians
Grade: B
Basically in the same tier as the Commanders for me.
Icons
Grade: F
This one just sounds awful. Can you imagine anyone cheering for a team called the Icons? Neither can I.
Majors
Grade: C-
Not really liking this one.
Monarchs
Grade: F
This one is hilariously bad. Let’s call a team the Monarchs when they’re based in the capital of a country that was established on overthrowing the monarchy. That’s an F. And that F is for freedom. (Also, the Kansas City Monarchs were a prominent Negro League team and I think they should keep the name for themselves.)
Pilots
Grade: D-
This is just the Aviators, but less creative.
Presidents
Grade: C+
Almost too obvious to be any good.
Razorbacks
Grade: D+
The University of Arkansas wore it much better. At the end of the day, any name already associated with a major team or brand just isn’t going to work.
Redtails
Grade: A
I wrote about this one a while back. There’s a lot to like here. The preliminary jersey mockups are clean and it pays homage to the Tuskegee Airmen. Pretty sick.
Redwolves
Grade: A+
This only gets a bump above the Redtails because it’s my personal favorite. I wrote about this one in my old post as well. It just sounds absolutely fire. Going from the Washington Football Team to the Redwolves would be a major glowup.
Red Hogs
Grade: B+
This one is cool because it is a callback to the dominant Washington offensive lines of the 1980s and 1990s. A look back at the team’s history makes for a good name.
Renegades
Grade: B
Not bad. Wouldn’t mind this one.
Riders
Grade: C-
I’ll pass.
Rising
Grade: C+
Using a verb as a noun in a name is a bold choice, and I randomly remembered that’s called a gerund. At the end of the day, this loses points because it made me think of obscure grammatical terms.
Royals
Grade: F
Kansas City called and they want their MLB team name back. Plus, the whole reason I think the Monarchs is a bad idea applies here too.
Rubies
Grade: F
No. This sounds unbearably dumb.
Swifts
Grade: D+
I don’t mind Taylor Swift, but the amount of flack the team would catch from the rest of the league for this makes it a bad idea.
Warriors
Grade: F
Yeah, let’s name the team after one of the greatest sports dynasties in recent memory. Nope, not happening.
Washington DC Football Club (DCFC)
Grade: F
The FC thing again. Stop that.
Washington Capital City Football Club (CCFC)
Grade: F
The FC thing for a third time. Stop that.
Wayfarers
Grade: C-
I don’t want the new team name to be an SAT word, thanks.
Wild Hogs
Grade: B+
The same as the Red Hogs for me.
32FC (W32)
Grade: F
Imagine if your favorite team’s name looked like the WiFi password to a vacation rental property. It took me forever to figure out that the 32 was because the WFT was founded in 1932. This idea is absolutely ridiculous.
Football Team
Grade: B-
Not gonna lie, the Washington Football Team has grown on me a little bit. I would prefer if we had a different name, but I don’t think I would hate it if we just left the WFT where it is.
So to recap, my top replacements for the new WFT name are the Redwolves, Redtails, Red Hogs, Wild Hogs, and Armada. There are a few others that would be okay, but those are my favorites as of now. As long as it isn’t the Rubies or one of the FCs. Those are terrible.
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