By james art 
Tradition in sports is what can bring a community together. The same cheers or chants bond the fans and make you feel part of something.
The NFL is steeped in tradition, with fans buying into every touch. You have the Jets and their fans spelling jets and saying Jets three times. Eagles spell eagles and then exclaim eagles! Commanders play their “Commanders’ Salute” battle song.
Some traditions have to be fixed over time. The NFL franchise in Washington was called the Redskins and the song was known as “Hail to the Redskins,” which led to the evolution of signs, messages, and hashtags that all said “HTTR.” Amid heavy scrutiny and economic pressure to change its team name, Washington let go of the Redskins manager and became the Washington Football Team and the Washington Commanders.
The song was changed to fit the team’s new identity, but it wasn’t the first time a fight song was changed. Sports News examines the history of the “hail of commanders” and the changes they have undergone.
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History of “hail of commanders”
The Washington franchise was originally founded in 1932. in Boston. George Preston Marshall was the first owner and the team played at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. They were originally the Boston Braves, but that conflicted with the baseball team of the same name that also played at Fenway. The team became the Boston Redskins and kept the name when the franchise moved to Washington in 1937.
When the franchise moved to a new city, a song was adopted. It was created by Barney Breshkin and written by Corinne Griffith, the wife of George Preston Marshall. Brishn was the leader of a marching band that Marshall commissioned to try to add some fanfare to Washington games and make them feel more like college football games.
“Hail to the Redskins/Commanders” is the second-oldest fight song for an American football team. “Go! You’re packages! Go!” was composed only six years before. The “Redskins/Commanders Cheer” was originally played at home games beginning in 1938.
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Hail to the commanders’ texts
Here are the song’s long-running lyrics. It is worth noting that they try to capture the warrior aspect of the Native Americans and have since been updated.
- Greetings redskins! Hail Vic-to-Ry!
- Braves on the Warpath Fight for old DC
- Scalp ’em, Swamp ’em, we’re gonna score big!
- Read them, cry them, touchdown – we want more!
- Fight fight until you win
- Sons of Wash-ton (Rah! Rah! Rah!)
- Greetings redskins! Hail Vic-to-Ry!
- Braves on the Warpath, fight! For old DC
The original lyrics mentioned Dixie in the first stanza, but this was changed to “Fight for Old DC” in 1965. The lyrics were changed again in 1972, and the third and fourth lines were changed accordingly.
- Run or Pass and Score, we want a lot more!
- Beat ’em, swamp ’em, touchdown – let the points soar!
The song did not play in 2020 and 2021 as the franchise was known as the Washington football team. After the Commanders rebranded in 2022, it was brought back with the Commanders replacing the Redskins and “fighting for our Commanders” as the first part of the last line.
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“Commanders’ Salute” and the Dallas Cowboys
The Chiefs and Cowboys are division rivals in the NFC East. The NFL was going to expand to Texas, but owner Washington Marshall wanted a monopoly on southern football franchises, so they blocked the move.
Clint Murchison, a potential NFL franchise owner, decided to convince Marshall to let the expansion happen by buying the rights to the 1958 “Hail of the Red Commands/Commanders”. He threatened to prevent Marshall from playing him at football games in Washington, and Marshall backed down.
Murchison found an NFL franchise in Texas, and in return returned the rights to the song to Marshall.
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