Trent Williams in 2018. Sep 9, 2018; Glendale, AZ, USA; Washington Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams (71) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

There are many things the Washington Commanders are currently being criticized for, from negotiations on if owner Dan Snyder will actually testify before the congressional committee investigating the team’s business practices and past handling of workplace harassment to discussions of their potential stadium move to talk about defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio‘s incendiary comments on the storming of the Capitol. Some remarkably preventable own goals have come around team branding efforts, though, including using the year of the Super Bowl rather than the year of the season on their crest (which they eventually changed after significant public backlash). And now, they’ve modified their ballot for the players and coaches to be added to their “90 Greatest” list after many criticized that ballot for leaving off Trent Williams (seen above with the team in September 2018) and Robert Griffin III. Here’s that initial ballot:

And here’s the team’s tweet on their changes Monday:

This is part of the team’s celebration of the franchise’s 90th season (they began life as the Boston Braves back in 1932). Around their 70th season 20 years ago, they selected their 70 Greatest figures, then added 10 more a decade ago. They’re now having fans vote for 10 more additions to that list, bringing it up to 90. But the omissions of Williams and Griffin drew a lot of criticism.

Yes, both Griffin and Williams left the team in messy fashion, including disputes over medical treatment. Griffin, now an ESPN analyst, spent the entire 2015-16 regular season inactive amidst disputes over concussion evaluation, then was released after that season. He later said his experience in Washington “would break a lot of people,” and said he planned to write a tell-all book called Surviving Washington about his time with the team (but that project was  eventually scrapped).

Williams, now with the San Francisco 49ers, held out for part of the 2019-20 season in protest of the team medical staff’s past handling of a growth on his head that was later found to be cancerous, saying he “lost all trust” in the team as a result of that. He eventually reported to the team after that season’s trade deadline, but experienced issues with his helmet thanks to post-surgery lesions, and was put on the non-football injury list. He was then was traded to the 49ers for third- and fifth-round picks that offseason, and has been a key piece for them since.

Despite Williams and Griffin not leaving the franchise on good terms, though, it seems a little foolish to not even present them as potential candidates here. Both of those players were key to the success the team did find during the last 10 years. And the franchise took a lot of criticism for not presenting them as a choice initially (and also for misspellings of names of two of the figures who were included, something they also fixed on this new ballot):

It’s not clear how the team will handle the count here, as they presumably already received quite a few ballots during the days where Williams and Griffin were not listed as options. But those players are now available as part of the 17 candidates here, and that’s at least a positive response to the criticism the Commanders received for initially excluding them. We’ll see who’s eventually selected.

[CommandLegacy.com; photo from Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.