Pro Football Hall of Famer Demands Name Be Taken Off Commander Jerseys

Pro Football Hall of Famer John Riggins has demanded that his name be taken off of the new Washington Commanders jerseys, saying that he felt "dirty" seeing his name on a team jersey that wasn't his own.

"I feel completely disenfranchised. I can't understand how anyone who once played under the old franchise name could possibly want to be a part of anything to do with the Washington Commanders," Riggins, who was a star rusher for the Washington Redskins in the 1970s and 1980s, said.

Due to the offensive nature of the term redskins to Native Americans, the team dropped that name in 2020, a move that Riggins stated he had supported. In his podcast, The John Riggins Show, however, he said that, while he knew the name change was coming, he never dreamed he was going to feel the way he does after seeing his name on the new jerseys. Riggins said that he didn't like his name on a jersey associated with a team he didn't play for.

"That makes me feel filthy," Riggins added. "I feel dirty, I don't want anything to do with it. Maybe I will change. Maybe I need a little more time, I don't know. It just doesn't feel right to me."

Riggins made history in 1983 in Super Bowl XVII when he scored the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Miami Dolphins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

In discussing his old teammates being a part of the new jerseys, Riggins said, "I look at them and say, 'What's wrong with you? Don't you get it? You were invited to your own funeral.'"

Fanatics, the online retail company producing the jerseys, has since pulled all of the Commanders jerseys with Riggins' name above the 44, his old number.

Riggins voiced his sadness for how people might remember him should his name be on the new jerseys, saying, "Well, who did he play for? I don't know. Can't say that. Can you?"

The team announced the official change from the Washington Football Team, which had been its interim name for the last 18 months, to the Commanders on February 2, but the rebrand was met with overwhelmingly negative responses.

Pat McAfee, a former punter for the Indianapolis Colts, joked in a tweet when the new name first dropped, "Now of course.. They're gonna be called The Commies.. they're red.. in the Nation's capital," he added, "but nonetheless.. Commanders is a good name."

Newsweek reached out to Fanatics for additional comment. Attempts to reach Riggins for comment were unsuccessful.