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The Pittsburgh Steelers have a change to their 2020 regular season schedule. Originally slated to face the Washington Redskins in Week 12 at Heinz Field, the Steelers will now be hosting “The Washington Football Team”
Effective immediately, Washington will call itself the “Washington Football Team”, pending adoption of a new name, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 23, 2020
This is not a final renaming and rebranding for team; this is the name it wants to use until pending adoption of a new name in the future. pic.twitter.com/sBs0Uo0ICm
The Washington franchise began in 1932 in Boston as the Braves but changed its name to the Redskins the following year in 1933. So the Redskins name has been around as long as the Steelers have had a franchise in the NFL.
The mascot in Washington has been a point of contention for years. In 2013 owner Daniel Snyder wrote a letter to fans stating the team would keep the logo as approximately 90% of Native Americans did not find the logo offensive. But public opinion changed dramatically over the last seven years. Earlier this month, FedEx notified the team about a desire for the name to change. Having the sponsorship to the stadium in Landover, Maryland, it began a process in which other sponsors of the team also requested the mascot be changed. After undergoing a thorough review, the franchise acted quickly in order to change their mascot for the 2020 season.
With the Washington franchise is apparently struggling with trademark issues for a desired new mascot, the decision was made to discard the old logo and go is simply as The Washington Football Team for the 2020 season. With the team already caught up in a scandal of reported misconduct at multiple levels of the franchise, the last thing the team needed was discussions on using their old logo temporarily as they continue to work out the legality of a new name.
As for the uniforms, Washington will reportedly keep their burgundy and gold colors and replace the logo on their helmets with player’s number.
Washington will not have any change to its color scheme. It will still use burgundy and gold. The Redskins logo on the helmet will be replaced by the player’s number in gold. The Washington Football Team will debut its home uniforms in week 1 against the Eagles. pic.twitter.com/8DpC6b0Tyj
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 23, 2020
As for the game being played on the field, the Steelers are 33-42-3 all-time against the Washington franchise. Since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, the Steelers have dominated the matchup and are 8-3 with 6 straight victories with their last loss coming in 1991.
Stay tuned to Behind The Steel Curtain for breaking news, player updates, and all things Pittsburgh Steelers.
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