Washington Redskins

Hail to the Commanders: A legacy of championships and resilience.

The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The franchise was founded by George Preston Marshall as the Boston Braves in 1932, were renamed the Boston Redskins the following year, and became the Washington Redskins upon moving to Washington, D.C., in 1937. The Redskins name and logo drew criticism for decades before they were retired in 2020 as part of a wave of name changes during a period of racial unrest in the United States. The team played as the Washington Football Team for two seasons before rebranding as the Commanders in 2022. The Commanders play their home games at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, and have a headquarters and training facility in Ashburn, Virginia. The team will begin playing at the New Stadium at RFK Campus in 2030. The Commanders have played more than 1,300 games and have won more than 600. Washington was among the first NFL franchises with an original fight song, "Hail to the Commanders", which has been played by their marching band after home game touchdowns since 1937. The franchise won NFL championships in 1937 and 1942 and Super Bowls XVII (1982), XXII (1987), and XXVI (1991). The Commanders have finished a season as league runner-up six times, losing the 1936, 1940, 1943, and 1945 title games and Super Bowls VII (1972) and XVIII (1983). Washington has 14 NFC East division titles and 26 total playoff appearances. All of Washington's championships were attained during two 10-year spans. From 1936 to 1945, the team went to the NFL Championship six times, winning two of them under general manager Jack Espey and head coach Ray Flaherty. Washington appeared in four Super Bowls and won three under owner Jack Kent Cooke, general managers Bobby Beathard and Charley Casserly, and head coach Joe Gibbs from 1982 to 1991. From 1946 to 1970, Washington posted just four winning seasons and never reached the playoffs. They went without a single winning season from 1956 to 1968 and achieved their worst regular season record, 1–12–1, in 1961. Since their last Super Bowl victory in 1991, the team has won just five playoff games and four division titles.

Quick Facts

League: National Football League (NFL)

Lore & Background

American businessman George Preston Marshall founded a National Football League (NFL) franchise on July 9, 1932, in Boston, Massachusetts. The team was named after the Boston Braves baseball team, with whom they shared Braves Field, with the inaugural season coached by Lud Wray. The team saw several changes in 1933, including a name change to the "Redskins" and playing their home games at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Wray was also replaced at head coach by Lone Star Dietz. The Redskins appeared in the 1936 NFL Championship Game, their first championship appearance, but lost to the Green Bay Packers 21–6. After five years in Boston, the Redskins moved to Washington, D.C., in 1937. The team arranged to share Griffith Stadium with the Washington Senators. In their first game in D.C., the season opener, the Redskins defeated the New York Giants. The same season, they earned their first division title in Washington with a 49–14 win over the Giants. Shortly after, the team won their first championship by defeating the Chicago Bears in the 1937 NFL Championship Game. The Redskins met the Bears again in the 1940 NFL Championship Game. The result, 73–0 in favor of the Bears, remains the worst one-sided loss in NFL history. The Redskins won their second championship in 1942, defeating the Bears 14–6. In 1943, Dutch Bergman was named head coach and led the team to a return to the NFL championship game, however they were defeated by the Chicago Bears 41–21. The Redskins played in the NFL Championship one more time before a quarter-century drought that lasted until the 1972 season. With former Olympic gold medalist Dudley DeGroot as their new head coach, the Redskins went 8–2 during the 1945 season. They ended the season by losing to the Cleveland Rams in the 1945 NFL Championship Game, 15–14. The Redskins had four head coaches from 1946 to 1951, including former players Turk Edwards and Dick Todd, plus John Whelchel and Herman Ball. On June 14, 1950, the team announced that it would become the first NFL team to televise all of its games in a season, thanks to sponsorship by the American Oil Company. In February 1952, Marshall hired former Green Bay Packers coach Earl "Curly" Lambeau, but fired him two seasons later. Marshall hired Joe Kuharich, who in 1955, led the Redskins to their first winning season in ten years. In 1961, the Redskins moved into D.C.