Jason Wright is correct: Washington Football Team name isn’t “weird”

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The football team in Washington has been known for a full football season as the Washington Football Team. That could be the permanent name, or maybe some other name will be adopted.

Some apparently don’t like the WFT name. In an interview of Washington president Jason Wright, Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei called the name “weird.” Wright disagreed.

“I don’t think it’s that weird, but there are definitely mixed views on this,” Wright said, via Sports Business Daily. “The thinking prior was, ‘Hey, we need to get something that can be a great placeholder.’ But there’s also precedent for a team that is named for the place that it’s in.”

Wright noted that the team’s prior name was “obviously a derogatory term.” Obviously, however, it wasn’t so obviously derogatory to get the team to change it without a broader racial reckoning in America and a specific effort by sponsors to pressure the team to make the change.

Indeed, owner Daniel Snyder previously had insisted that he’d all-caps never change the name.

The current name is far from “weird.” The current name is a reflection of the speed with which the franchise decided to do the right thing. Before a new name can be adopted, certain rights need to be secured.

Until then (and maybe longer), it’s Washington Football Team. Even if that’s “weird,” weird is far better than what it was.