Yogibear
Footballguy
Punxsawtaney Phil and his shadow won't be the only stars of Groundhog Day next month. The Washington Football Team revealed Tuesday that it will announce its new team and logo on Feb. 2, just 11 days before the Super Bowl. While we don't know what the new name will be, team president Jason Wright let everyone know what it wouldn't be: Wolves or RedWolves. Those names were two of the most popular with fans, but Wright explained why WFT wouldn't be moving forward with either one.
"Early on we understood Wolves — or some variation of it — was one of our fan favorites. As I've said all along, we take feedback from our fans seriously, and because of your interest in this name, we put Wolves on a list of options to explore fully. Once we began looking into Wolves, however, we became aware of a notable challenge: trademarks held by other teams would limit our ability to make the name our own. And without Wolves, variations like RedWolves wouldn't have been viable either for these and other reasons.
Understanding the weight and importance of our team name, and excitement around other name options — both internally and within our fan base — we didn't want to risk going down a route that could be dotted with legal hurdles. The prospect of years of litigation wasn't something that we wanted you, our fans, to have to bear as you begin to embrace a new brand."
Wright dropped no obvious hints about the new team name, but there might be one hidden in plain sight. WFT chose Feb. 2 as the day to reveal to reveal its new name and logo, which doesn't appear to have any significance to the NFL or WFT. But it is Groundhog Day--the day a groundhog named Phil comes out of his hole in Punxsawtaney, Pennsylvania, and tells us whether there will be six more weeks of winter.
Did Washington choose Feb. 2 for a reason? Is it to indicate that it'll be choosing the "Groundhogs" as its new team name? Or did it just pick a random Wednesday before the Super Bowl to make the announcement? We only have to wait 29 days to find out.
If you ask me, it seems like the name is guaranteed to be Redhogs. What does everyone else think?
"Early on we understood Wolves — or some variation of it — was one of our fan favorites. As I've said all along, we take feedback from our fans seriously, and because of your interest in this name, we put Wolves on a list of options to explore fully. Once we began looking into Wolves, however, we became aware of a notable challenge: trademarks held by other teams would limit our ability to make the name our own. And without Wolves, variations like RedWolves wouldn't have been viable either for these and other reasons.
Understanding the weight and importance of our team name, and excitement around other name options — both internally and within our fan base — we didn't want to risk going down a route that could be dotted with legal hurdles. The prospect of years of litigation wasn't something that we wanted you, our fans, to have to bear as you begin to embrace a new brand."
Wright dropped no obvious hints about the new team name, but there might be one hidden in plain sight. WFT chose Feb. 2 as the day to reveal to reveal its new name and logo, which doesn't appear to have any significance to the NFL or WFT. But it is Groundhog Day--the day a groundhog named Phil comes out of his hole in Punxsawtaney, Pennsylvania, and tells us whether there will be six more weeks of winter.
Did Washington choose Feb. 2 for a reason? Is it to indicate that it'll be choosing the "Groundhogs" as its new team name? Or did it just pick a random Wednesday before the Super Bowl to make the announcement? We only have to wait 29 days to find out.
If you ask me, it seems like the name is guaranteed to be Redhogs. What does everyone else think?
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