Eagles Will Get First Crack at Newly Named Washington FC

Before they are scheduled to meet on Sept. 13, here's a look at their last meeting and "The Body Bag" game from 1990, just a handful of memorable games the two franchises have had against each other

Maybe you heard.

Washington’s football team is getting a new nickname.

On Monday, owner Daniel Snyder announced that the old nickname was being retired. There is no date set for when the new nickname will be up and running, but it’s probably safe to believe that it will be in place by the time the NFL season begins – if it begins – with a full slate of games on Sept. 13.

Here is the statement from Snider, from my SI.com colleague, Chris Russell, who covers Washington:

https://www.si.com/nfl/redskins/news/new-statement-from-washington-nfl-team-announces-name-logo-change

And wouldn’t you know it, the first team to play the team with the new nickname will be the Eagles.

Makes sense. The two teams have played each other twice a year since 1936.

While Washington had a short leg up in the all-time series, record with 86 wins to the Eagles’ 80, it has been the Eagles who have gotten the better of Washington these past few seasons, winning six games in a row against the rival just south on Interstate-95.

Here are the odds for the new nickname the Eagles will match up against, courtesy of www.BetOnline.ag and @betonline_ag:

Redtails 3/1

Generals 4/1

Warriors 4/1

Presidents 5/1

Redwolves 6/1

Lincolns 7/1

Monuments 8/1

Veterans 9/1

Americans 10/1

Kings 10/1

Memorials 10/1

Redhawks 10/1

Roosevelts 14/1

Skins 16/1

Jeffersons 18/1

There is a treasure trove of memories created by rivalry with the Eagles and the Washington D.C. Football Club.

The most recent being the final meeting between them on Nov. 15 at FedEx Field.

Washington held a 27-24 lead with less than five minutes to go when the Eagles got the ball back. Quarterback Carson Wentz drove the offense to Washington’s 4-yard line when he unfurled a beautiful throw to the far corner of the end zone, high enough for Greg Ward to go up and get it for a touchdown pass with just 26 seconds left.

It was the first TD catch of Ward’s career and it was the second win a row in a winning streak that would reach four games and give the Eagles their second NFC East title in three years.

That wasn’t the end of the scoring, though.

On the final play ever between the Eagles and the previous Washington DC Football Club, linebacker Nigel Bradham (still a free agent) scooped up a fumble by quarterback Dwayne Haskins and rumbled 47 yards for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. It tied the second-longest TD of a fumble recovery in team history and made the final score 37-27.

Then there was Nov. 12, 1990 and The Body Bag game at Veterans Stadium. The nickname comes from former Eagles coach Buddy Ryan, who said prior to the game that his team would inflict such a beating on Washington that “they’ll have to be carted off in body bags.”

Nine Washington players left the game with injuries and the Eagles won, 28-14. Weeks later, however, Washington got its revenge in the only game the two teams played in the postseason when The D.C. Football Club won a wild-card game, 20-6.

That sort of history – old and recent – won’t go away, even as the old nickname dies away.

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