The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland; its headquarters and training facility are in Ashburn, Virginia. The Commanders have played more than 1,300 games and have won more than 600. Washington was among the first NFL franchises with a fight song, "Hail to the Commanders", which is played by their marching band after every home game touchdown. The Commanders are owned by a group managed by Josh Harris, who acquired the franchise from Daniel Snyder in 2023 for $6.05 billion.
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fictional, representative spokespeople for consumer products.
Redskin is a slang term for Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada. The term redskin underwent pejoration through the 19th to early 20th centuries and in contemporary dictionaries of American English, it is labeled as offensive, disparaging, or insulting. Although the term has almost disappeared from contemporary use, it remains in use as a sports team name. The most prominent was the NFL's Washington Redskins, who resisted decades of opposition before retiring the name in 2020 following renewed attention to racial justice in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests. While the usage by other teams has been declining steadily, 37 high schools in the United States continue to be Redskins. School administrators and alumni assert that their use of the name is honoring their local tradition and not insulting to Native Americans.
Joseph John Bugel was an American professional football coach in the National Football League (NFL). For many years, he was acknowledged as the greatest offensive line coach in the league, particularly with the Washington Redskins under head coach Joe Gibbs in the 1980s. He was the architect behind "The Hogs", the Redskins' dominant offensive line that helped lead them to three Super Bowl wins.
Joseph Erwin Jacoby is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowls during his tenure with the team.
Russell Scott Grimm is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He has also served as an assistant coach for the Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Tennessee Titans. As a professional, Grimm had multiple selections to both the All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Grimm played 11 seasons for the Redskins and was a first-team selection to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team.
The Hogs were a nickname given to the offensive line of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League during the 1980s and early 1990s. Renowned for their ability to control the line of scrimmage, the Hogs helped the Redskins win three Super Bowl championships under head coach Joe Gibbs. The Washington Commanders pay homage to the Hogs with their mascot, Major Tuddy.
Big Red is the main costumed mascot of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Since 1910, the mascot is modeled after the wild razorback hog. In 1964, he was named Big Red.
The 2009 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Razorbacks played five home games at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas and two home games at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas. Head coach Bobby Petrino was in his second season at Arkansas. The Razorbacks finished the season 8–5, 3–5 in SEC play and won the Liberty Bowl 20–17 against East Carolina.
The 1982 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the Pacific-10 Conference in the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Paul Wiggin, the Cardinal had an overall record of 5–6.
The 2012 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, the 76th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 6, 2012 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season.
Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota is an American professional football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks, becoming the first player at the school and the first Hawaii-born athlete to win the Heisman Trophy in 2014.
The Battle Line Rivalry is the name given to the Arkansas–Missouri football rivalry due to the state line between the two states dividing the North and South during the Civil War. It is an American college football rivalry game between the Arkansas Razorbacks and Missouri Tigers. The teams have met fifteen times, between November 1906 and November 2023. They have faced off twice in bowl games, first in the 2003 Independence Bowl and second in the 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic. The rivalry was formally introduced in 2014, and the Battle Line trophy was first awarded in 2015.
Antonio Gibson is an American professional football running back and kickoff returner for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at East Central Community College in Mississippi for two years prior to transferring to Memphis in 2018. As a return specialist and wide receiver with Memphis, Gibson was named American Athletic Conference (AAC) special teams player of the year in 2019 and received conference honors for both positions. He entered the 2020 NFL draft as a running back, where he was selected by the Washington Football Team in the third round and played four seasons.
Jaret Patterson is an American professional football running back for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Buffalo before signing with the Washington Commanders, then known as the Washington Football Team, as an undrafted free agent in 2021. Alongside Howard Griffith, Patterson holds the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision record for most rushing touchdowns in a single game with eight.
Drake London is an American professional football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and was selected eighth overall by the Falcons in the 2022 NFL draft.
The 2022 season was the Washington Commanders' 91st in the National Football League (NFL) and the first under the Commanders branding, with new logos and uniforms being introduced after temporarily playing as the Washington Football Team for the previous two seasons following the retirement of the Redskins branding in 2020. The team placed fourth in the NFC East and missed the playoffs with an 8–8–1 record. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin, defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, punter Tress Way, and special teamer Jeremy Reaves made the 2023 Pro Bowl, with Reaves also being named first-team All-Pro.
