New Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris appeared on “The Adam Schefter Podcast” this week, talking about taking over as Washington’s owner and what lies ahead.
Schefter asks Harris, a longtime Washington fan, what it was like watching one of the NFL’s “crown-jewel” franchises become a laughingstock over the last two decades.
Instead of Harris throwing former owner Daniel Snyder under the bus — which would make fans happy — Harris had the perfect answer.
“Obviously, this is a new era for Washington Football,” Harris said. “Everyone wants to be with the team that is winning, and so that’s our job to create that again. We have taken teams in Philly and New Jersey that weren’t doing as much winning, weren’t as engaged with the community, and we’ve created elite franchises that are competing……….. And Washington is a bigger stage, a bigger version of that, where we have to deliver and excite the city. A lot of it comes down to being in that position of winning. I actually love it when my hometown team is winning.”
Harris said his time owning the 76ers and Devils can help him as he transitions to NFL ownership. He mentioned analytics, creating a culture of winning, attracting the best talent [not just on the field] and even mentioned new training facilities. All refreshing stuff for Washington fans, players and coaches.
One other topic that just will not go away is the team name. Harris’s partner Magic Johnson said in an interview last week that “everything is on the table” but did not promise anything. Yet, it still got a large portion of the fan base excited.
Harris himself was asked about the name in his introductory press conference, and it wasn’t about what he thought but what the fans thought. That is another perfect answer.
So it was not a surprise when Schefter broached the subject on his podcast.
Harris offered a similar answer to his initial answer last week.
“Do you like the Commanders’ name; Are you sticking with that?” Schefter asked Harris.
“It’s not important what I like; it’s important what the fans in the city like. Like I said, we’re getting into all this, you know, what I love about Washington, is the fans, especially the football fans, are passionate about a lot of issues. They are passionate about all kinds of things. But we’re focused on the three priorities I said earlier, which is the football season, the community and the fan experience right now.”
Here’s the interesting part. As Harris finished his first sentence stating it wasn’t important what he liked, Schefter interrupted with the following:
“They don’t like the name.”
Harris no-sold it and kept focused on his response. Again, he didn’t dismiss it but reiterated the immediate priorities. It was the right response.
Harris knows how everyone feels about the name. There is a large segment of the fan base that hates it. There is another segment that is tired of the name debate and ready to focus on football only. Neither is wrong. The name is an issue, and Harris and his group are right not to completely dismiss it.
It would be interesting to know what Harris and some of his partners actually think of the name, but that’s probably something we’ll never know.
