Dan Quinn, the new head coach of the Washington Commanders, donned a jersey Sunday that brought back memories of the mascots of yesteryear, and not in a good way.
The Commanders had long been known as the Washington Redskins, and their logo featured the head of an Indian inside a circle with two feathers hanging off the side.
So when Quinn donned a graphic t-shirt that combined the team’s current ‘W’ logo with those two feathers, it sparked controversy.
The team told NBC Sports yesterday that they had “no comment on the organization,” and the outlet also reported that “Quinn wore the jersey on her own, without the team knowing she would.”
But beyond the clear racial controversy, it also raises questions of copyright infringement, as the jersey is not officially licensed by the NFL.
Dan Quinn wore a controversial t-shirt that referenced the old Commanders logo.
The feathers on the ‘W’ of the pirate jersey are a callback to when the team was called the Redskins.
With Quinn entering the debate and using ‘bootleg’ products, it’s important to remember why it’s controversial in the first place.
The team was called the Redskins from 1933 until 2019. In its first year, the team was called the Braves, the name of the baseball franchise that, at the time, played in Boston.
At the time, there were many calls for the team to change its name, which many considered racist.
While not the only professional sports team to have a Native American mascot, the Redskins were one of the most prominent modern examples of that controversy.
Several groups, including the National Congress of American Indians, viewed the name “Redskins” as a racial slur and spent decades trying to change the name.
That change finally came in 2020 amid a wave of racial tension and protests throughout that summer in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
After standing firm in his convictions to keep the name in previous years, former team owner Dan Snyder announced that they would be retiring the nickname in July 2020.
For a time, the team was known simply as the ‘Washington Football Team’, before eventually becoming the Commanders in 2022.
For years, team owner Dan Snyder resisted calls to change the team’s name.
Finally, after years of pressure from individuals and groups, Washington changed its name.
Since that rebrand, many associated with the team have not liked the new name, with some advocating a return to the old nickname.
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio suggested that Quinn wearing that bootleg merchandise felt like a “trial balloon, an interim step toward possibly getting the name and logo back,” and the writer said “No accidents.”
He later changed that belief slightly: “It is our understanding that Quinn wore the jersey on his own, without the team knowing he would.” Although it might have seemed like a test of sorts for the head coach to display a combination of the current logo and the old logo, the Commanders are not testing the waters for a possible revival of the abandoned name and logo, or for their addition. of aspects from the old logo to the new.’
But even if this was an accident, questions of legality also arise with this shirt.
“The shirt is not officially licensed,” Florio reported. ‘The robots flooding social media with links to buy the shirt are selling something that infringes on the organization’s trademarks.
“The fact that Quinn has inadvertently aided and abetted the infringement efforts creates a number of headaches for the team, which will need to mobilize its attorneys to cease and desist from the jersey suppliers in order to protect the rights.” of associated authors”.
Many fans are unhappy with the rebranding to Commanders, which occurred in 2022.
But the fact that Quinn uses unofficial products is equally difficult to understand.
Other writers shared a similar belief that the logo (and the fact that it appeared on knockoff products) was bad news for the coach and the team.
‘Dan Quinn with pirated merchandise. The NFL is not going to like this,” Dallas Cowboys writer Clarence Hill Jr. wrote on Twitter.
ESPN’s Jason Reid wrote, “Everything associated with the above name gets people going, one way or another.” They just selected a QB with the second overall pick. The new general manager just had the first draft of him. The new head coach leads the rookies. Optimism abounds.
“I just don’t understand the strategy of doing something that takes attention away from the excitement on the field. If it were a trial balloon, there are ways to do better than the new HC wearing a pirate jersey. Nike pays you to wear their jerseys.
“I understand that the fans like the jersey and I don’t think it matters, but Nike has a million reasons why they expect the coach to wear official clothing. Anyway, in my experience, these things have always added up there. But maybe this time everything will work out.’
It remains to be seen whether or not Quinn will face punishment from the team or the league, or if the team decides to go after sites selling this bootleg merchandise.