Super Bowl Champions (2023): Washington Commanders

The illustrated “Super Bowl Champions” series provides elementary-aged readers with an introduction to some of the most successful and storied professional football teams ever to play in the National Football League (NFL). Each volume in this series provides readers with background information about the history of a championship team, some of the franchise’s greatest players, and how they were able to capture perhaps the most coveted championship trophy in the pantheon of North American professional sports. This volume in the series focuses on the Washington Commanders, a team with a rich history and three different club names. The Commanders were originally founded as the Boston Braves in 1932. A year later, the team owner changed the name to Redskins, a moniker the franchise would maintain until 2020. In 1937, the team was moved to Washington, D.C. where it remains today. As the Redskins, the team won several NFL championships in the 1940s, was a consistent playoff team in the 1970s, and won three Super Bowls in 1983, 1988, and 1992. In 2020, under pressure from a variety of sources, the team ownership decided that the team’s name was racially offensive and needed to be changed. For two seasons, the team played under the name of “Washington Football Team,” and it was officially renamed as the Commanders in 2022. While recent years have found the team to be far less successful than past seasons, the Commanders still boast a rich history. Over the ninety years of the team’s existence, such football greats as Sammy Baugh, Sam Huff, Sonny Jurgenson, Billy Kilmer, John Riggins, Dexter Manley, Joe Theismann, and Doug Williams have all played for the team. The story of the Washington Commanders is well told in this colorfully illustrated book. oung readers of this book with an interest in the NFL should find enough content to whet their appetite and capture their interest.

–Children's Literature, 10/09/2022