Washington Commanders Trivia
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8correct to beat the crowd
49 free Washington Commanders trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
This Washington Commanders trivia quiz covers a franchise with three names and five titles: George Preston Marshall's Boston Braves, the move to Washington in 1937, Slingin' Sammy Baugh's championships, the 73–0 humiliation, the last team to integrate, and the fight song that has followed touchdowns since 1937. Then the glory years — George Allen's Over-the-Hill Gang, Joe Gibbs, the Hogs, John Riggins on 70 Chip, Doug Williams' 35-point quarter, Mark Rypien and Super Bowl XXVI, Darrell Green and Art Monk — and the long Snyder era: RG3, Sean Taylor, the retirement of the Redskins name, the Football Team, the Commanders, Josh Harris's $6.05 billion purchase, and Jayden Daniels taking Washington back to an NFC Championship Game. Questions run from easy to hard with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which city was the franchise founded in 1932, before moving to Washington in 1937?
Boston
Boston never warmed to the team: in 1936 owner George Preston Marshall, angry at the small crowds, moved the NFL title game to New York, and a year later he moved the franchise to Washington.
Q 02Under what name did the franchise play 2020 and 2021, between 'Redskins' and 'Commanders'?
Washington Football Team
The club played as the Washington Football Team in 2020 and 2021 after retiring the old name in July 2020 under sponsor pressure, then unveiled the Commanders name in February 2022.
Q 03Who beat Washington 73–0 in the 1940 NFL Championship Game?
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears had lost 7–3 to Washington three weeks earlier, after which owner George Preston Marshall called them crybabies; George Halas showed his players the clippings before the rematch.
Q 04Sammy Baugh led the NFL in which three statistical categories in 1943?
Passing, punting and interceptions
Passing, punting and interceptions: Baugh rarely left the field in 1943, throwing as a tailback, picking off 11 passes as a defensive back and averaging 45.9 yards a punt.
Q 05What freak play cost Washington the 1945 NFL title game?
A pass hit the goalpost for a safety
A pass hit the goalpost for a safety when Sammy Baugh threw from his own end zone, and Washington lost 15–14; the rule was later changed so that such a pass is simply incomplete.
Q 06In 1962 Washington became the last NFL franchise to do what?
Integrate its roster
Washington was the last NFL club to integrate its roster, doing so in 1962 after Interior Secretary Stewart Udall threatened to bar a segregated team from the federally owned D.C. Stadium.
Q 07Washington drafted Heisman winner Ernie Davis first overall in 1962 and traded his rights to Cleveland for whom?
Bobby Mitchell
Bobby Mitchell led the NFL in receiving yards in his first Washington season and reached the Hall of Fame, while Davis was diagnosed with leukaemia and died in 1963 without playing an NFL game.
Q 08Which legendary coach led Washington to a 7–5–2 record in 1969, then died before the next season?
Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi came out of retirement to coach Washington in 1969, its first winning season since 1955, and died of cancer on September 3, 1970, before the next season.
Q 09George Allen's Washington teams of the 1970s were known by what nickname?
The Over-the-Hill Gang
The Over-the-Hill Gang earned its name because Allen, whose motto was 'the future is now', traded draft picks for ageing veterans; they reached Super Bowl VII but lost to unbeaten Miami.
Q 10Which running back was named NFL MVP in 1972, the year Washington reached its first Super Bowl?
Larry Brown
Larry Brown ran for 1,216 yards in 1972 despite being deaf in one ear, a problem found when his first pro coach noticed him starting late off the snap and ordered tests.
Q 11Which head coach won three Super Bowls in Washington with three different starting quarterbacks?
Joe Gibbs
Joe Gibbs won Super Bowls XVII, XXII and XXVI with a different starting quarterback each time, then founded Joe Gibbs Racing and added multiple NASCAR Cup championships as a team owner.
Q 12Washington's 1981 head-coaching hire had been offensive coordinator of which team's 'Air Coryell' passing attack?
San Diego Chargers
Washington's new coach came from the San Diego Chargers, where he had been Don Coryell's offensive coordinator in 1979 and 1980; he started 0–5, finished 8–8, and won the Super Bowl a year later.
Q 13In Super Bowl XVII, the winning 43-yard touchdown run came on a play called what?
70 Chip
Q 21Which owner presided over all three Super Bowl wins and left the team to a foundation with orders to sell it?
Jack Kent Cooke
Jack Kent Cooke had sold the Lakers, the Kings and their arena to Jerry Buss in 1979 for a then-record price; he owned Washington through all three Super Bowl wins, and his will ordered the team sold after his death in 1997.
Q 22After Daniel Snyder's group bought the team in 1999, which company bought the stadium's naming rights?
FedEx
FedEx agreed in 1999 to pay an average of $7.6 million a year for 27 years; two decades later, in July 2020, its public call for a new team name helped end the Redskins era.
Q 23Which celebrated college coach did Daniel Snyder hire in 2002 on what was then the NFL's richest coaching contract?
'70 Chip' was the call on fourth-and-one with Washington trailing Miami 17–13; the runner burst through Don McNeal's tackle for a 43-yard score and was MVP of the 27–17 win.
Q 14What did kicker Mark Moseley achieve in the strike-shortened 1982 season?
Won the league MVP award
Mark Moseley won the league MVP award for 1982, the first pure kicker so honoured, after making 20 of 21 field goals and breaking the record for consecutive kicks in the nine-game strike season.
Q 15What was the nickname of Washington's dominant 1980s offensive line coached by Joe Bugel?
The Hogs
The Hogs was the nickname line coach Joe Bugel gave Washington's offensive front in 1982; fans known as the Hogettes wore frocks and pig snouts in tribute.
Q 16Which Washington quarterback broke his leg in a 1985 Monday Night sack by Lawrence Taylor?
Joe Theismann
Joe Theismann, the 1983 NFL MVP, suffered a compound fracture of his right leg when Lawrence Taylor sacked him on November 18, 1985, ending his career at 36.
Q 17Which quarterback threw four touchdown passes in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII?
Doug Williams
Doug Williams had begun the season as a backup and lost both of his regular-season starts, yet his four scoring passes fuelled a 35-point quarter and made him the game's MVP.
Q 18Which sixth-round pick from the 1986 draft was named MVP of Super Bowl XXVI?
Mark Rypien
Mark Rypien spent his first two pro seasons on injured reserve without playing, then threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns in the Super Bowl to cap a 14–2 season.
Q 19Which cornerback played all 20 NFL seasons in Washington after going last in the first round of the 1983 draft?
Darrell Green
Darrell Green, taken 28th overall in 1983, played a club-record 295 games over 20 seasons; in his first regular-season game he ran down star runner Tony Dorsett from behind to save a touchdown.
Q 20Which Washington quarterback returned in 2020 from a leg injury so severe that amputation was considered?
Alex Smith
Alex Smith was not expected to play again after his 2018 injury and the infection that followed, yet he came back to start in 2020, helped win the division and was named Comeback Player of the Year.
Steve Spurrier
Steve Spurrier left Florida for a five-year, $25 million deal, went 12–20 and resigned after two seasons; the franchise then turned back to its three-time champion coach.
Q 24Which safety, drafted in 2004, was shot by intruders at his Miami home and died in November 2007?
Sean Taylor
Sean Taylor, the fifth overall pick in 2004, was 24 when he died; in its next game Washington opened with only ten defenders on the field, leaving his position empty in tribute.
Q 25Washington traded three first-round picks and a second to draft which quarterback second overall in 2012?
Robert Griffin III
Robert Griffin III, Baylor's 2011 Heisman winner, went second overall to Washington in 2012, won Offensive Rookie of the Year and an NFC East title, then tore his knee in the January 2013 playoff loss.
Q 26Which head coach was the longest-serving of the Snyder era, lasting six seasons from 2014?
Jay Gruden
Jay Gruden lasted from 2014 until he was fired after an 0–5 start in October 2019, with one playoff trip to show for it; no other Snyder-era coach got past a fourth season.
Q 27Which head coach led Washington to the 2020 NFC East title at 7–9 while being treated for cancer?
Ron Rivera
Ron Rivera was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and coached through his treatment; having won a division at 7–8–1 with Carolina, he became the first coach to take two losing teams to the playoffs.
Q 28The NFL fined Washington $10 million in 2021 after an investigation into what?
Its workplace culture
Its workplace culture was found to be rife with harassment and bullying; alongside the fine, owner Daniel Snyder handed day-to-day control of the team to his wife Tanya.
Q 29Whose group bought the Commanders from Daniel Snyder in 2023 for a record $6.05 billion?
Josh Harris
Josh Harris, born in nearby Chevy Chase, Maryland, already ran the 76ers and the Devils, and brought in partners including Magic Johnson to meet what was then the highest price ever paid for a sports team.
Q 30Which quarterback, the 2023 Heisman winner, did Washington take second overall in 2024?
Jayden Daniels
Jayden Daniels, the 2023 Heisman winner at LSU, was the second pick of the 2024 draft and won Offensive Rookie of the Year in a season that ended in the NFC Championship Game.