When NFL owners approved the sale of the Washington Commanders from Daniel Snyder to an investment group led by Josh Harris in July, it was “like a breath of fresh air” for Colin Fowler, a 43-year-old D.C. native whose earliest memory was running around the house with a rubber pig snout fastened over his nose while quarterback Doug Williams lit up the scoreboard in Super Bowl XXII.
Fowler’s lifelong love of the team that had helped him feel connected to D.C. during his college years at Michigan and after moves to New York and later Portland, Ore., had been sapped over the past two decades, so much so that he didn’t feel much of anything when the franchise said it would retire its controversial name in July 2020.
“I thought, ‘Great,'” said Fowler, a design director in charge of sports accounts for a creative agency. “And then when they said they were going to be the Washington Football Team, I said, ‘Oh, you botched this already.’ ”
Commanders, which the team announced as its new name in February 2022 after an 18-month rebrand process, didn’t resonate with Fowler, but Snyder’s ouster and the hope it signified got his creative juices flowing. During his free time at nights and on weekends over the past six weeks, Fowler developed a detailed conceptual rebrand for the only NFL franchise he will ever love. Now he’s putting it out into the world in hopes of starting a conversation.
Advertisement
Fowler’s proposed name — Hogs — is a familiar callback to the team’s glory years. The nickname was coined by Washington assistant coach Joe Bugel during training camp in 1982 for the dominating and not-afraid-to-get-dirty offensive line that paved the way to three Super Bowl titles. Hogs was among the many fan-suggested names during the team’s rebrand; in fact, five months before the big reveal, former co-CEO Tanya Snyder said Red Hogs was one of eight unofficial finalists.
In a departure from tradition, Fowler, whose clients have included the Las Vegas Raiders, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings, makes the case for the team to drop Washington from its name in favor of District. Years ago, while designing the preview center for D.C. United’s Audi Field, someone told Fowler that United likes to tell people it’s “D.C.'s only team,” and it stuck with him. (In addition to the Commanders, the city’s MLB, NBA, NHL, NWSL and WNBA teams all use ‘Washington’ in their names.)
“I think the brand Hogs could work with either Washington or District, but I love this idea of embracing the DMV as the District — the collection of places that make up this family, because it brings us all in, and that’s how we refer to ourselves anyway,” Fowler said. “The DNA of Maryland and Virginia is part of D.C. … We’re from this place and it’s molded us, and it’s a point of pride.”
Advertisement
As Fowler notes on the website he created for his project, the New England Patriots “are a relevant and appropriate parallel for what a team can mean to a region, despite city or state location.”
Fowler enlisted the help of his friend and former colleague, Travis Hanson, for his carefully thought-out passion project. It goes beyond proposing a new name and logos, including a sharp retro “H” design that evokes memories of the Joe Gibbs era. There’s purpose and meaning behind every detail. For instance, Aquia Creek cream joins Mudbank Burgundy and Daybreak Gold among the hypothetical Hogs’ official colors. Sandstone quarried from Aquia Creek in Stafford was used to create D.C.’s original boundary stones and was selected by George Washington to be the primary material in the District’s federal buildings.
“The baseline of everything we do, and what I love to do, is storytelling,” Fowler said. “There are a lot of people out there who can make really interesting stuff, super talented designers, but if you can connect that design to an authentic story, it’s going to last and it’s going to mean something to people.”
Advertisement
The vague storytelling that accompanied the Commanders’ name and logo reveal was virtually nonexistent.
“It’s a name befitting a 90-year old franchise,” team president Jason Wright said after announcing the new name on NBC’s “Today.” “It’s something that broadly resonated with our fans and something that we believe embodies the values of service and leadership that really defines the DMV and this community.”
A Washington Post poll found nearly half of Washingtonians don’t like the name.
“I just don’t get it,” Fowler said of the Commanders’ name, which remains unpopular with fans. “Obviously, there’s the military connection to D.C., and I know the NFL values its military connection. Washington commanded the army? There’s nothing there.”
The Commanders’ uninspired primary logo is what the team calls a “powerful W,” with angled cuts and serifs at the top intended to “depict progress and forward movement.” The bland Commanders wordmark features “tall and proud” letters.
The Hogs logo designed by Fowler and Hanson, by contrast, features several subtle flourishes that require a second look. The shape of the District forms the hog’s mohawk, and the three stars and two bars of D.C.'s flag are cleverly incorporated across the hog’s face. Fowler found inspiration for the Hogs wordmark in go-go concert posters, and named the custom typography he created “CB Serif Bold” in honor of Chuck Brown.
“You can’t reconnect to the history of this place without including Chuck Brown,” Fowler said. “There’s little bits of storytelling in there that I hope land well and are authentic enough to connect, and also subtle enough not to shift the focus away from what it needs to be.”
Fowler’s stated mission is to respect the past, repair the present and redefine the future. He sees moving on from Commanders as a way for the new ownership group to sever ties with one of Snyder’s final acts with the team and to create an identity that everyone can be proud of. (In case you’re wondering, Commanders mascot Major Tuddy wouldn’t become bacon as part of Fowler’s rebrand. Instead, he would be renamed OG TheHog.)
Advertisement
For his part, Harris hasn’t ruled out another name change, but he has made it clear that a potential rebrand is not among his immediate priorities. Wright recently said a return to Washington’s former name is “not being considered.”
On Sunday, Fowler plans to head to Yur’s, a Portland dive bar owned by former Washington offensive tackle Terry Hermeling and a popular gathering spot for Commanders fans, to watch the Burgundy and Gold open the season against the Arizona Cardinals and “see if the pilot light” of his fandom is still on.
“I’m watching what happens,” he said. “I want to be a fan. I’ll always love this franchise. It’ll always be a part of my story, but I need them to do stuff to make me an active participant at this point.”
In the meantime, Fowler is just excited to share his fun projectwith the fan base.
“This thing is not a solution,” he said. “It’s a first statement in a conversation, and it has to be back and forth. This is a reflection of my part of the story, but it needs honing. It needs repair. The Hogs need to be a part of it. … The professional in me would love to work on this project and be a part of whatever it ends up being, but I have no expectation of that. The fan in me just wants it to get talked about. I had to get the idea out of my head. Passion, that’s all this was.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGeAcHyYaGdwZ5Okuq6tzZ2cq6tdmba0wNGimq1lmKS0tHs%3D