RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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New merchandise featuring the Washington Redskins’ retired name and logo sold out at the Commanders’ team store less than 48 hours after going on sale, WUSA9 reported Thursday.
The limited-edition collection at Northwest Stadium in Summerfield, Maryland, included Mitchell & Ness shirts honoring Hall of Famers Art Monk and Darrell Green and former player Sean Taylor. It also included a replica Taylor jersey, which appears to still be available for purchase on Fanatics.com.
The T-shirts featured “Washington Redskins” on the back above each player’s career statistics and the team’s retired logo on a helmet graphic on the front. The shirts were displayed on racks near the store’s entrance, according to WUSA9.
Washington retired the Redskins name and logo in 2020 following years of criticism that the name was offensive to Native Americans . The team briefly became the Washington Football Team before adopting the Commanders name in 2022.
The Commanders confirmed the merchandise was authentic and said the team is selling products featuring its former trademarks to maintain control of the old name and image.
"We are required to maintain the marks in commercial usage so that marks remain under franchise control,” a Commanders spokesperson told WUSA9.
If the trademarks go unused, they could expire and become available for others to use, potentially allowing unauthorized merchandise featuring the branding, the outlet reported. That means if the team didn’t use the logo, someone else could.
The team also pushed back on the idea that the former name had never appeared on merchandise since the rebrand. A spokesperson pointed to a black Sean Taylor T-shirt sold last season that featured the Redskins name in small print on his jersey.
However, WUSA9 reports that the retired name had never appeared as prominently on official team merchandise as it does on the newly released collection.
The Commanders have said they have no plans to bring back the Redskins name or logo, with the new merchandise limited to throwback items honoring players who wore the former branding during their Washington careers.
Still, the sale has drawn criticism from the Association on American Indian Affairs, a Maryland-based Native American advocacy group.
"The Association on American Indian Affairs condemns the sale of merchandise by the Washington Commanders bearing the former racist team name and Native imagery," the group said in a statement to The Independent. “... . Reviving harmful imagery—that has been proven to harm Native youth—for nostalgia and profit only perpetuates the stereotypes Native Peoples have spent decades demanding be left behind. And, that the sponsors of the Washington Commanders have said should be left behind.”
“Native Peoples have been clear, consistent and unwavering: We are not your mascot,” the group concluded its statement.
The Independent has contacted the Commanders, NFL and the Association on American Indian Affairs for comment.
The Commanders are set to open the 2026 NFL regular season against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 13 at 4:25 p.m. EST.
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