In 1982, Mark Moseley became the first and to date, the only person to win the NFL MVP while being used exclusively as a kicker. His performance that season helped the then-Washington Redskins win the first Super Bowl in franchise history. The Commanders held a homecoming day during Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, honoring several great players. Moseley was one of them. But Washington made a pretty big mistake with him.
Moseley was at the game with his son and took a photo with a fan, Nigel Griggs. Moseley’s son, Mark Moseley Jr., saw the photo and noticed an error. The badge said “Mark Mosley.”
Moseley Jr. then tweeted the photo with the caption, “Can’t even spell my dads name right at homecoming weekend.” He then used a thumbs-down emoji and finished with “It’s really sad.”
Of course, football fans were frustrated, though not especially surprised, by Washington’s latest flub.
This franchise will continue to be rudderless and hopeless until the rot at the top is gone
Moseley is a former league MVP lol https://t.co/CNUl8VRWo6
— Douglas Reyes-Ceron (@dreyesceron) October 24, 2022
https://twitter.com/70Ceeks/status/1584343489374220289
My private investigators tell me Mark Mosley spells his own name wrong. — Dan Snyder, probably https://t.co/Zkt4mtLbkR
— Clayton Cargill (@claytoncargill) October 24, 2022
Poverty franchise https://t.co/teFo5dpHyP
— Tod Palmer (@todpalmer) October 24, 2022
Being the NFL MVP for the 1982 season only gets you so far, apparently. https://t.co/nx4WvTB9DX
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 24, 2022
For any Commanders’ players or fans, what’s particularly frustrating here is that Sunday should be remembered fondly. Washington defeated the Green Bay Packers, limiting Aaron Rodgers to one of the worst passing yardage totals of his career. But off the field, this team continues to be a mess.
Washington co-owner Tanya Snyder referenced the team’s old nickname while speaking to alumni, finishing with the old refrain, “Hail to the Redskins.” And while she was speaking to players who played under that name, it hasn’t been in use for Washington since the 2019 season. Now, we have this spelling mistake, which doesn’t speak well to the organization crossing its T’s and dotting its I’s.
We can certainly see how this happened. Moseley is a name that can be spelled either way. Still, this is a former league MVP and one of the greatest players in franchise history. He also played in the era where names were on the backs of the player’s jerseys. Expecting the Commanders to spell his name correctly shouldn’t be that much to ask for.
[Mark Moseley Jr. on Twitter]