The Washington Football Team was also criticized by fans after it announced it would retire the uniform number of Sean Taylor, a beloved star defender who at age 27 was murdered in a home invasion in 2007, just days after The New York Times published emails in which Jon Gruden made homophobic and misogynistic remarks in emails he sent to Bruce Allen, the team’s former president.
Taylor’s jersey retirement ceremony took place three days after the announcement, leaving little time for his former teammates to attend; his family posed for photos with the street sign renamed for him where the team had placed a line of portable toilets; and the brother of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes unknowingly danced on the on-field logo with Taylor’s number.
Afterward, Wright apologized in a statement, saying “we screwed up the execution and, as a result, we realize that we hurt many of our fans deeply. And for that I and we as an organization are sorry.”
There were just 50,137 tickets sold to that game, far short of FedEx Field’s capacity. Washington is last in the 32-team league in attendance, filling just 64 percent of its seats at home games.
At 6-10 with one game remaining in the 2021 season, Washington is assured of its 14th losing campaign this century. It has won just one playoff game — in the 2005 season — during that span.
The videos released on Tuesday expressed the team’s hope that its new name and identity will change its fortunes in the coming year.
“No doubt about it, we’re going forward,” Doug Williams, the team’s Super Bowl-winning former quarterback, said.