The Washington Redskins’ beloved fight song, “Hail to the Redskins,” will be replaced on Sunday by a Spanish-language version of the song. “Viva Los Redskins,” written and produced by three fans, will be introduced during the Redskins’ game against the Arizona Cardinals as part of Redskins Hispanic Heritage Week.
The new fight song is a loosely translated, upbeat Hispanic version of the original tune written by Corinne Griffith, the wife of former Redskins owner George Preston Marshall.
“The song is very lively and catchy, and it honors the Redskins in Spanish. That’s something that we really liked,” said Redskins Senior Vice President Tony Wyllie.
The song, with the rest of the team’s celebrations on Sunday, will go a long way toward building the Redskins’ Hispanic fan base in the region, Wyllie said.
The Redskins will be a part of the NFL’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month during the “Monday Night Football” broadcast of their game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 26.
More than 32 million Hispanics watched the NFL in 2010, making it the most-watched season ever among Hispanics, according to NFL spokeswoman Darlene Capiro.
Team officials added the song to its Hispanic celebrations in the last week, when a copy made its way to the Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and General Manager Bruce Allen.
“We’re just Redskins fans. And sometime it popped into my head that ‘Hail to the Redskins’ would be a good, upbeat Spanish number,” said former Greenbelt resident Michael Garin, who helped write and produce the song with Jose Antonio Melian and Matt Rocker. “There’s no sort of heavy political message. We just thought it would be fun.”
Team officials haven’t decided if the song will be used beyond Sunday’s game.
The song will cap off a week of promotions the team has held for Redskins Hispanic Heritage Week, coinciding with the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Thursday.
The Redskins introduced a new Spanish-language version of their website this week. At halftime Sunday, the team will present Guillermo Enrique Lopez with the NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award for his work on the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Bobby Mitchell Hall of Fame Golf Classic.
The Junior Redskins Cheerleaders will perform a Hispanic-themed halftime routine during Sunday’s game.
“The Redskins are about welcoming everybody,” said former Redskins linebacker Ken Harvey. “With fans from Maryland and Virginia, D.C.’s kind of a melting pot. We want to attract everyone in the team to the Redskins.”
Other leagues and teams have begun to market to a Hispanic audience in recent years. NBA teams such as the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs sell and wear “Los” jerseys, with Spanish translations of the team name, as part of the NBA’s “Noche Latina” Hispanic heritage celebration.
