Washington Redskins, now Washington Commanders old helmet (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
The family of Blackfeet chief John Two Guns White Calf wants his image back in the league with the Washington Commanders.
White Calf was erased from the NFL under mounting pressure from the league as well as sponsors.
‘The fans want him back, and we want him back,’ Thomas White Calf, a great nephew of late Blackfeet Nation chief John Two Guns White Calf, told Fox News after meeting with Senator Steve Daines of Montana.
His pleas for the Washington Commanders to go back come four years after the team was forced to temporarily rebrand as the Washington Football Team before adopting ‘Commanders’ and dropping the feathered John Two Guns White Calf emblem.
🚨BREAKING🚨 The family of a Blackfeet chief, who served as the face of the Washington Redskins for 48 years, WANT THE TEAM TO CHANGE THIER NAME BACK.
👀👀👀
“The fans want him back and we want him back,” family told Fox.
90% of Native Americans supported the Redskins name. pic.twitter.com/ZGIbfF4BXD
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 15, 2024
‘Our ancestor was the most famous and most photographed native in history,’ Thomas told Fox alongside his mother, Delphine White Calf, a niece of the late Blackfeet chief. ‘Two Guns was also the face on the Indian head nickel. I’m proud of him. The Blackfeet are proud of him.’
The team’s primary logo now is a “W” that appears on helmets.
In 2021, the team played as the Washington Football Team. It was widely mocked before fans had quickly become accustomed to it.
However, they eventually adopted the Commander’s nickname and are likely to remain that way for many years to come.
Senator Demands Washington Commanders Return to Old Logo
Earlier in 2024, a Montana senator demanded that Washington Commanders team ownership bring back the old Indian logo when the team was named the “Redskins.”
Amid mounting pressure that was helped by the George Floyd protests, Washington changed the “Redskins” name in 2020 under former owner Daniel Snyder.
The team then called itself the “Washington Football Team” before rebranding as the Washington Commanders in 2022.
Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, demanded that the current Commanders’ ownership and the NFL “honor the pride, history, and heritage of the Blackfeet Tribe, who are my constituents in Montana, for the tribe’s contributions to the team’s legacy.”
Daines added that the team’s old logo was based on the image of Chief Two Guns White Calf, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe.
