The Washington Redskins are a National Football League team based in Ashburn, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.. They have been known as the Boston Braves (1932), Boston Redskins (1933-1936) and now Washington Redskins (1937-present).George Preston Marshall bought the then Boston Braves NFL franchise in 1932 and named it after the city’s Major League Baseball team. However, after a financially devastating and poorly attended season in 1932, Marshall abandoned the Braves name in favor of the Redskins. The Redskins name was retained when the team was moved to Washington in 1937.There has been several controversy surrounding the team's name "Redskins". Some Native American groups have called for a new name, and some newspapers in the United States have refused to call the team by their name, instead using such circumlocutions as "The Washington football team". This is not the first racial controversy in which the team has been involved. The owner George Preston Marshall resisted integrating the team, which had no black players from its inception through 1961.

 A bizarre situation occurred in 1936, when the Redskins won the NFL Eastern division championship but Marshall, unhappy with the fan support in Boston, moved the championship game against Green Bay to the Polo Grounds in New York. Their home field advantage taken away by their owner, the Redskins lost. The Redskins then moved to Washington, D.C., for the 1937 season. Games were played in Griffith Stadium with the opener on September 16, 1937, being played under flood lights. In 1969 the Redskins hired Vince Lombardi to be their new head coach. He led the team to a 7-5-2 record, their best since 1955. Lombardi died of cancer after the season ended. Also in the same year, long time owner, and President Emeritus, George Preston Marshall died.Two years later the team signed George Allen as their head coach.

Allen helped to foster the team's rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys. This has turned into one of the NFL's most famous rivalries. The Redskins reached the Super Bowl in 1973, defeating Dallas 33-3, only to lose to the undefeated Miami Dolphins, 17-7, in Super Bowl VII.In 1981 the Redskins signed as head coach, Joe Gibbs. He coached the team to four Super Bowls, winning their first title in 40 years. Gibbs' last Super Bowl (and the team's) was a victory over the Buffalo Bills. Gibbs left to pursue interests in NASCAR; he has been one of the circuit's leading team owners in recent years.In 1997 team owner Jack Kent Cooke died. His son, John Kent Cooke, was unable to pay the death duties for the business, and the team was later sold to Daniel Snyder. The sale of the team was the most expensive in sporting history. Snyder, who grew up as a Redskins fan and who made his money in cable television, has made many controversial moves since owning the team, including signing former Cowboys defensive player Deion Sanders. Snyder also fired incumbent coach Norv Turner, tried coach Marty Schottenheimer, and in 2002, he hired University of Florida head coach Steve Spurrier to be the head coach of the team. After two mediocre years, Spurrier resigned after the 2003 season with three years left on his contract.In 2004, Snyder was succesful in bring back Gibbs as head coach. The Washinghton Redskins is one of only two teams with an official matching band in the National Football League. The other is the Baltimore Ravens. As of 2004, Forbes Magazine values the Redskins' franchise at over $1 billion, the highest in the National Football League and of any U.S. sports franchise. The Washinghton Redskins play their home games at FedEx Field which was opened September 14, 1997, and seats 86,484.