Washington Football Team Rules Out Warriors as Next Mascot

Washington Football Team president Jason Wright announced Monday that one name the team will not be called in its 2022 reveal is the Warriors.

In a story published Saturday in The Washington Post, Wright let out a new nickname and logo would be unveiled sometime early next year. With speculation swirling as to what the new nickname might be, Wright scratched one off the list.

In a letter posted to the team's website, Wright wrote "Warriors" comes too close to the "Redskins" moniker that the team ditched one year ago.

"One might look at this name as a natural, and even harmless transition considering that it does not necessarily or specifically carry a negative connotation," Wright wrote.

"Feedback from across communities we engaged clearly revealed deep-seated discomfort around Warriors, with the clear acknowledgment that it too closely aligns with Native American themes. Such an embrace of potentially Native-adjacent iconography and imagery would not represent a clear departure that many communities have so forcefully advocated for us to embrace, and that frankly, we set out to do when we started this process a year ago.

"To that end, we will choose an identity that unequivocally departs from any use of or approximate linkage to Native American imagery."

The team will retain its gold and burgundy colors, Wright said in the Post story.

The team will compete as the Washington Football Team for the 2021 season.