The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The team competes in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. They joined the NFL in 1932 as the Boston Braves. In 1933, the name was changed to the Boston Redskins, with the team moving to Washington, D.C., in 1937. The Redskins name was retired in 2020, with the team temporarily playing as the Washington Football Team until rebranding as the Commanders in 2022. Washington's first draft selection was Riley Smith, a blocking back from Alabama, in 1936.