Madden NFL 21 Replacing Washington Redskins With Generic Team

Madden 21 will be changing the Washington football team’s name and uniforms to a generic template until the team can decide what their new brand identity will be. In a week full of news about Dan Snyder’s club, this announcement from EA is just the latest domino to fall. Yesterday, there was a long-form expose on sexual harassment and team culture from the Washington Post, and now the video game publisher is addressing the naming issue head-on after making a statement to Polygon. There had been many calls for Snyder to change the name of his franchise, but things came to a head when FedEx and other sponsors decided to make their voices heard in recent weeks. Larger conversations about racism led to examining the name and now the Washington club and Cleveland’s professional baseball team are working toward a rebrand to separate themselves from their histories.

“We are pleased to see Washington’s decision to change their team name and visual identity,” EA said in their statement. “We are quickly working to update Madden NFL 21 to feature a generic Washington team, while we await final word on the updated team name and logo design.”

In an official statement from the team, Snyder and other officials laid out their approach to finding a new team identity.

“On July 3rd, we announced the commencement of a thorough review of the team’s name. That review has begun in earnest. As part of this process, we want to keep our sponsors, fans, and community apprised of our thinking as we go forward. Today, we are announcing we will be retiring the R****** name and logo upon completion of this review. Dan Snyder and Coach Rivera are working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition, rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans, and community for the next 100 years.”

Snyder said in a previous statement, “This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise but also input from our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the National Football League and the local community it is proud to represent on and off the field.”

Will you be using Washington in Madden 21? Let us know in the comments!

Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports