In 1986 (Jay Schroeder’s Pro Bowl year!), the Washington Redskins celebrated their 50th season in the Nation’s Capital. You may remember this logo:

I remember I had a Redskins pennant with that logo and there are probably still several Mobil Oil glasses with it in my parents basement. I should ebay them.

I don’t recall any more anniversary celebrations until 2002, when the Redskins celebrated 70 years as an NFL Franchise. That means they change how they measured their anniversary in two ways:

1.) They counted years, instead of seasons

2.) They included the 5 season prior to arriving in D.C.

The Redskins started as the Boston Braves, playing at Braves Field. They moved to Fenway Park and were renamed the Redskins because it was similar to Red Sox. Then they moved to D.C. in time for the 1937 season and promptly won the NFL championship with rookie Sammy Baugh at quarterback. Any how, the Redskins celebrated the 70th year by wearing fauxbacks that looked like the 1960s uniforms with a spear on the helmet. They also celebrated by naming the 70 greatest Redskins. They also had this logo:

Five years later, the Redskins celebrated their 75th year overall (70th as a Washington team) with the logo below:

They also wore their early 1970s uniforms for a game or two.

Now, five years later they are celebrating their 80th year overall. I think they should be celebrating the 75th in D.C., but I suppose it would be awkward to change direction after the 2002 decision. The logo is just an update of the 75th:

They are also going to wear approximations of the Baugh era uniforms. They are trying to mimic the look of a leather helmet and the rest of the kit looks like something Boston College would wear. Given the origins of the team, that’s probably not a coincidence. As an aside, those are gold pants.

Had it been up to me, the team would have honored quarter-century anniversaries of their arrival in D.C., but I don’t feel too strongly about it.