The CFL community reacts to unveiling of Edmonton Elks name & logo

Photo courtesy: Morley Scott

The Edmonton Football Team unveiled its new name on Tuesday and will now be known as the Edmonton Elks. The club announced its decision to discontinue using the name ‘Eskimo’ on July 17, 2020, a moniker that dated back to 1910.

An Angus Reid poll conducted in August 2020 indicated that 57 percent of Canadians felt that Edmonton made the right decision to change its name. This percentage dipped among the CFL fans who were polled (47 percent) and for residents of Alberta (42 percent).

The findings also correlated strongly to political affiliation. Of those polled, only 28 percent who voted Conservative in the most recent federal election felt as though changing the name was the right decision compared to 79 percent of Liberal voters and 83 percent of NDP voters.

There was plenty of engagement on social media regarding Tuesday’s announcement and we’ve collected a sampling of the reaction below.

Radio play-by-play man Morley Scott snapped some great photos of the team’s new helmets and merchandise.

The new #Elks helmet and someother merch pic.twitter.com/FvFRFBmv7o

— Morley Scott 🇨🇦 (@Morley_Scott) June 1, 2021

Look at the size of this logo!

The new era begins now. #Elks pic.twitter.com/2eUA2YCX44

— Dave Campbell (@Dave_CHED) June 1, 2021

Lots of people seemed very happy with the new name, logo, and brand.

I love the Edmonton Elks. Fantastic.

Will buy merch now, for sure!

— m. (@mdibartolo_) June 1, 2021

Let me put this in context. My old blog was named: "The Edmonton Eskimos Ruined My Childhood". If I have a team, it's the @BCLions. But I will line up like a Soviet in a breadline for this merch. #ElksCharge #Elks pic.twitter.com/dfGTGub5Vc

— Gridiron Nations Championship (@GridironNations) June 1, 2021

https://twitter.com/cmelchertdrums/status/1399770487014658048

https://twitter.com/michaelberg1979/status/1399772476591181825

Really great to see a football team change their name from a racist term to a cool new brand. You can save the history and ditch the hate. Good on ya, @elks https://t.co/M0kOx8bu7I

— Harry Swartout (@HarrySwartout) June 1, 2021

Oh, I'm sure there is plenty of complaining because if there's one thing we excel at as a society these days, it's that. But I like the name Edmonton Elks. Well done.

Bring on the Labour Day Classic!

— Darren Haynes (@DarrenWHaynes) June 1, 2021

As a longtime #CFL fan and a CFL season ticket holder, have to say this is a good move on the part of the #Edmonton team. #Elks #EdmontonElks https://t.co/WI9EKkJlod

— Morgan Gay (@Morgan_Gay) June 1, 2021

I, Connor O’Neil, would like to officially announce that I have signed a free agent fan contract. For the remainder of my life I will be a devoted and diehard supporter of the @EdmFootballTeam

Thank you #ElksCharge #AntlersOnHelmets

— Connor O'Neil (@ConnorRONeil) June 1, 2021

Ok. This video is sweet. And so are those helmets. I didn’t think I’d be won over to this name but I am. #Elks #EdmontonElks https://t.co/qEyJRs5Djk

— Joshua Knaak (@JoshuaKnaak) June 1, 2021

https://twitter.com/DinkMagic/status/1399770157568954372

https://twitter.com/grantdeme/status/1399769913909252099

https://twitter.com/Tey11_/status/1399775640782618626

Some fans weren’t so keen on elements of the new brand.

Edmonton ELKS?
Oh man…#CFL

— Baron Von Awesome (@CappyD) June 1, 2021

God I hate that.. I wont ever wear any of the ELKS gear… Nope.. Not happening.

— Jason Silver (@Da_Big_Dogg) June 1, 2021

Edmonton Donkeys sound better.

— kiyoshi (@georgenagai1) June 1, 2021

Edmonton Elks? Seriously? 🤔🤦‍♂️

— Peter Howroyd (@Spyd11) June 1, 2021

@CFL_News Elks????????
Damn I was digging Elkhounds…… pic.twitter.com/59aEbP7NAM

— Jorge (@bronxfanatic) June 1, 2021

The actual logo is bad. Bad meaning if you don't know the team is called the Elks, you would have no idea what that symbol is. HOWEVER, the helmets are awesome.

— John Smith (@JohnSmi86493931) June 1, 2021

Don’t panic, linguistic aficionados — ‘Elks’ is considered an acceptable pluralization of ‘Elk.’

On the name, @EdmFootballTeam team president Chris Presson says they checked with the folks at the Oxford English Dictionary & a lingusitics professor.

Elks is fine, folks!!!#YEG #CFL #ElksCharge

— David Boles (@DavidJBoles) June 1, 2021

Also, this is a really good point…

https://twitter.com/Marisa_Ingemi/status/1399773254357852163

This comment made us laugh out loud.

They’re now saying the #Elks will have antlers on their helmets. That’s a tremendous advantage, but it could lead to a lot of injuries.

— Darcy Henton (@darcyhenton) June 1, 2021

As did this one.

So Elks fans be known as Elkaholics? #Elks

— Jeff (@papajeff71) June 1, 2021

Yes, Elks merchandise is currently for sale. Edmonton’s old website, esks.com, is still up, but new gear can be purchased at goelks.com.

And for those asking, yeah we got new gear!

Head to https://t.co/fuunWL4aMp to be among the first to rep the new logo. #ElksCharge pic.twitter.com/wdLOgE7iaj

— Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) June 1, 2021

How do you feel about the ‘Edmonton Elks’? Let us know via Twitter.