Getty Washington Commanders fans in Landover, Maryland, in 2023.
The Washington Commanders‘ plan to move back to Washington D.C. and create a new RFK Memorial Stadium has run into the most D.C. of problems — a politician standing in the way.
According to a story from The Washington Post’s Sam Fortier on May 13, Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana) is actively standing in the way of any movement toward building a new stadium in D.C. and moving away from the team’s current site in Landover, Maryland, where the team has been since 1997.
“Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) intends to block legislation that would give the District greater control over the RFK Stadium site until the Washington Commanders honor a Native American family that helped design the team’s former logo,” Fortier wrote. “At a (May 15) hearing in the Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee on National Parks, Daines will call for Commanders officials to meet with the family of Walter ‘Blackie’ Wetzel and members of the Blackfeet Tribe. ”
Daines clarified in a prepared statement to The Post that he wasn’t advocating for the return of the old team name.
Wetzel helped create the franchise’s primary logo used from 1972 until 2020, when the team dropped Redskins as its team name. The team played as the Washington Football Team in 2020 and 2021 before changing its name to the Commanders in 2022.
Wetzel’s logo depicted the profile of an Indian warrior.
Commanders New Stadium Needs Political Support
The D.C. RFK Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act would allow the Commanders to build a new stadium on federally-owned land on the Anacostia River in D.C. The bill passed through the House in February and now needs to pass through the Senate.
The Senate does not usually consider bills the size of what the Stadium Act represents — a smaller or individual matter — without unanimous support in order to avoid a full “roll call” vote.
Therefore, Daines alone could stand in the way of the stadium. Either by threat of voting against it or actually showing up to kill the bill.
The Senate is set to go on break from late June through September, briefly returning before the elections in November.
The Commanders met with Wetzel’s grandson, Ryan Wentzel, on May 13, with Ryan Wentzel saying the meeting went “fantastic.”
“We have spoken directly with the Wetzel family and are working collaboratively to recognize Blackie Wetzel for his contributions in creating our former logo,” a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement.
Franchise Has Struggled Since Leaving RFK
Washington played at District of Columbia Stadium/RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., from 1961 through 1996, making it to the Super Bowl in 1972 then winning three Super Bowls from 1982 through 1991.
Since moving to its current stadium in Landover, Maryland, in 1997, Washington has only had six winning seasons — none since 2016 — and hasn’t advanced past the NFC Divisional Round.
The Commanders, who selected LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels at No. 2 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, haven’t won a playoff game since 2005.
Daines sent a list of demands to The Post, including “that the new team leadership and the NFL sit down with the Wetzel family, sit down with the Blackfeet (Nation), sit down with tribal leaders, and find a way to properly honor the history of the logo and heritage of our tribal nations, and to rededicate the organization as an advocate for Indian Country.”