Some Guy Has Squatted On Trademarks For Potential Washington Football Team Names And It’s Unclear If He’s A Hero Or Villain

The Spun – Martin McCaulay has been squatting on trademarks for a number of possible Washington (football) team names. That includes a few popular options, including the Washington Redtails, Redhawks, Renegades, and Americans, which he says are the “only four viable options” to proceed in time for the 2020 season. He swears that he isn’t looking to turn a profit on this effort.

“I want them to change the name and am embarrassed if I did anything that slows that down,” McCaulay tweeted this morning. “I thought if I hoarded all the good names that would keep someone else who might be a pain in the neck from getting them.”

Further, McCaulay says that he hasn’t heard from the team itself on how to proceed. There is speculation that it is because the team is currently looking to choose another name, aside from the ones that he has. The Washington Red Wolves has gained serious momentum in recent weeks, including among prominent former and current Washington players.

Martin McCaulay has been basically livetweeting his existential crises over potential Washington NFL teams that he has trademarked:

The guy really runs the gamut from “tortured Washington football fan” to “hero with all the important replacement names” to “annoying martyr,” but he very likely has the Washington team over a barrel if they want one of the obvious selections. McCaulay also revealed why one other popular name choice may not be an option at all:

Fear not, Golden State fans. Your team name clout will be unharmed by Daniel Snyder.

Overall, though, I can see how a motivated Washington fan like Martin McCaulay may be overreaching a bit with the trademark claims he lined up for himself. There’s no way he could have foreseen the racism bloodletting that 2020 has been, but eventually Washington was going to have to change the name. And, if McCaulay is a fan like he claims, he may have even hoped he’d do business with a new owner who’d rescue the team from Daniel Snyder’s tyrannical grips. If he’s not charging them an exorbitant fee to claim the new trademarks while getting himself a nice profit (while securing the future of his favorite team), I’m Team Martin McCaulay.

But if Washington ends up with its equivalent of a terrible “Charlotte Bobcats” nickname because this guy wants a ton of money for any of the good and logical names … well, that’s just life as a fan of Washington’s football team I guess. And then all the other NFC East teams get the joy of another incompetent Washington move. Win-win?


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