Dan Quinn Clarifies His Commanders Shirt That Featured a Nod to Controversial Logo

Even their new head coach isn’t immune from controversy, which the Washington Commanders never seem to be far from. Dan Quinn was forced to defend his choice of shirt, which paid homage to the team’s once-controversial, old emblem, on Tuesday.

Quinn donned a shirt with the team’s enormous “W” emblem and the words “Commanders” underneath it on Saturday. However, in reference to the previous name and logo of the business, two feathers dangled from the “W”.

It wasn’t shocking that the shirt created a decent amount of controversy. On Tuesday, Quinn addressed it head on.

“I think one of the parts of me taking this job, I was excited to bridge the past and the present. What a cool privilege that is to do,” he said, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “I also recognize there’s a lot of layers to that. So, it was a great lesson for me. What I really hate is that any attention that would’ve been taken away from this amazing crew and these newbies. That is something no one wants to do.”

Quinn won’t be wearing that shirt again, I have a feeling.

After serving as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator for the last three seasons, the 53-year-old is starting his first season in Washington. He led the Atlanta Falcons as their head coach for six seasons before that. Atlanta finished 43–42 under Quinn and advanced to Super Bowl LI, defeating the New England Patriots 28–3 in the second half. Fans of the Falcons have endured enough; there’s no need to talk about what happened afterward.

Quinn managed the shirt controversy, let’s just say, far better than he handled the last few minutes of that Super Bowl.