The former team name (the Washington Redskins) has long been a source of controversy, being considered an ethnic slur against Native Americans (so much so that a Federal agency voted to cancel six trademarks owned by the franchise, a decision later rendered moot by a Supreme Court ruling in a similar case involving an Asian-American rock band called "The Slants" -- another ethnic slur -- which was ruled to be private speech and thus protected by the First Amendment).
However, current team owner Daniel Snyder -- though considered one of the worst owners in sports for his overall mismanagement of the franchise -- long resisted any calls to change the name. But Snyder also desired to relocate the franchise -- which moved outside of the District to the Maryland suburbs in 1997 -- back into the District's boundaries (and to get the District to pay for a new stadium with taxpayer money), yet was told repeatedly that the District would never consider doing so as long as the team remained the Redskins. Finally, in July 2020 (following pressure from the media, the District, and anonymous corporate liberals associated with the [[2020 Antifa riots|Antifa and BLM rioters]]), Snyder gave in and announced the team would be changing its name, though a new mascot had not yet been decided on.<ref>https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2020/07/12/report-washington-to-shed-redskins-name-monday/</ref> They changed their name to the "Washington Football Team" for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, before announcing the "Commanders" name shortly thereafter.
==NFC East Rivals==