A Montana family has been working to have the NFL team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, preserve its logo, which was used for nearly a half-century.
The late Walter "Blackie" Wetzel helped design that logo as a tribute to chiefs of the Blackfeet Nation.
It is a helmet logo worn by Joe Theismann, Doug Williams, and Mark Rypien, who each quarterbacked the team to victories respectively in Super Bowls XVII, XXII, XXVI.
And for the family, it's not about bringing back the name Redskins, but it's all about the history, tradition and importance of the logo.
The Washington Commanders welcomed 22 members of the Wetzel family to Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland on Sept. 15.
A display honors Walter Wetzel and his helmet decal inspiration for the team once known as the Redskins.
“The Commanders have acknowledged my grandfather and his contribution in designing this logo,” Ryan Wetzel said to MTN Sportsaround the time the family had gone to Washington. “They have acknowledged our family and being able to be a part of the family has been something that I know my grandfather would have always wanted.”
The team used the logo starting in the 1972 season until 2020 when the team changed both its name and logo amidst concerns.
Wetzel talked with Q2 in June when he was at the Montana Football Hall Of Fame ceremony.
“It's not a cartoon,” Wetzel said. “There's a huge story to it and it's a positive story in somehow some way, we need to continue to share that in connection to this franchise.”
The Wetzel family has a long history in the Blackfeet Nation.
Ryan’s dad was a tribal leader and athlete. His grandfather, Walter "Blackie" Wetzel served as tribal chair in the fifties and later as president of the National Congress of American Indians.
“Left a legacy that's still impacting society today,” Ryan said.
Ryan Wetzel says he was raised using the words Redskins and Red Nation.
“Redskins was part of how you would identify a cultural person being Native American,” Wetzel said. “You have the black people, the brown people, the white people, and then the red people. And often times there was a reference to the Red Nation. That's how I was brought up.”
He also understands the negative connotation of Redskins and scalping.
“And there's that division and a lot of people now are aware and conscious of that,” Ryan Wetzel said. “And that's where we as the Wetzel family wanted to just really praise the logo and not necessarily the name.”
It's perhaps no surprise that the Wetzels were big fans of the Washington team that won three Super Bowls after the 1982, 1987, and 1991 seasons.
“It was like a family member had just gotten married or something,” Ryan Wetzel said. “It was a joyful time and to see the smile on my grandfather's face because I tell you he had a piece of that, right? I remember as a young kid just calling it Grandpa's team.”
And now the Wetzel family and the Blackfeet Tribe are enshrined in NFL history.
The man behind a logo, perhaps now gone but never forgotten.
“He was a remarkable man,” Ryan Wetzel said. “His vision was always about his people first and it was recognition the right way.”
The team and the Wetzels sent a joint statement:
“The Washington Commanders and the Wetzel Family are proud to unveil the Walter "Blackie" Wetzel Memorial at Northwest Stadium. In 1971, Blackie created an iconic logo worn by Super Bowl-winning teams and fans across the globe. Now, half a century later, his story and contributions are memorialized forever at the home of the Commanders. The Washington Commanders and the Wetzel Family look forward to the future and continuing our work together."
