Sports
Fan Vote To Decide Washington Commanders New Fight Song
Voting is now open to decide the exact lyrics of the Washington Commanders' new fight song. Fans have two options to choose from.
ASHBURN, VA — The Washington Commanders are hosting a fan vote to decide the lyrics for the team's new fight song. Voters can choose between two options on the Commanders' website until Aug. 6.
The team says its marching band will unveil the winning revamped fight song at the opening preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 13.
Both of the new options heavily feature the melody, lyrics and phrases from the franchise's original fight song.
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The new lyric options only differ at two points, in the first and final stanzas. One option includes the phrase "Fight for our Commanders" as the third line of the first and last stanza. The other option uses "Leaders on a mission" in the same spots.
Fans can hear both of the new options performed on the Commanders' website.
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The original music was composed in 1938 by Barnee Breeskin, the team's band leader. The original lyrics, which contained racist stereotypes of Native Americans, were written by Corinne Griffith, the wife of the team's founder. Some of the offensive lyrics, which referenced scalping, were removed in 1972.
The new music and lyrics were created by Barnee Breeskin's son David Breeskin and Barnee's granddaughter Maria Breeskin-McLain.
"Our first season as the Commanders is all about connecting our past and present and we are excited to work closely with fans to help bring back these traditions under a new banner and combine them with new traditions fans will help to create," team president Jason Wright said in a news release.
On Tuesday, the franchise also said it would open voting for its new mascot at its game against the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 13. Fans who attend the game will receive an initial look at mascot categories, and the first round of voting will run from Aug. 13 to Aug. 21.
The team plans to create renderings of the most popular mascot categories and present them to fans at a home game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 25. The next round of voting would run through Sept. 27.
The Commanders said team officials would unveil the new mascot at the franchise's fan appreciation game against the Cleveland Browns on Jan. 1, 2023.
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