“Something old, something new, something ugly, something reviewed.”
This offseason has brought an unprecedented wave of jersey and logo changes. Seven (7!) teams have announced changes to logos or uni designs, in addition to recent revisions from the Jets, Jaguars, Titans, and Dolphins (I think? Who can tell anymore?). To review, I like to think the NFL has loosely had 3 main eras of jersey design with their own characteristic, self-explanatory style: traditional/throwback, modern, and futuristic.* Where this modern era (early-mid aughts) was characterized primarily by darker colors and more detailed schemes, the current decade is unfolding an era of matte colors and more flattened and minimalist stylings. Classifying unis, however, is complicated by the fact that teams can change designs at their own discretion, are not always bound to a template, and that more futuristic unis might be primarily influenced by tradition, some harkening more closely to tradition than others (e.g. Bills vs Jets, respectively). That said, it is clear that most teams have minimalism on the brain, and their execution of this principle is at the forefront of current critique. With all this in mind, let’s get to it. Though not explicitly ranked, I’ve listed them in a roughly descending order of how much I like them.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
The current Buccs unis (2014-2019) had actually grown on me quite a bit in their short life. Digital numbers aside, the shoulder pad styling worked, people (myself included) seem to like the enlarged helmet logo, and even the orange slivers on the chest didn’t seem as distracting as they did upon their unveiling. The red color rush does particularly strong justice to the pewter numbers.
That said, their previous uni was a modern-era masterclass in color scheming that brilliantly did away with tacky sleeve striping and it was sorely missed. Now that it has returned largely unchanged, I do think the numbers look a little dated and probably should have been updated.
Personally, I would’ve done away with the double outline, at least on the home, keeping just the white and black. I do wish there was something more immediately new and eye-catching for us to analyze (there are several subtle updates, see link below), but at the end of the day these still look great, and the color rush is immediately one of the best in the league.
Not many teams went with their secondary color for the color rush, but with such a unique and elegant option at their disposal, Tampa get points for taking the leap. Also, note that the white-between-red is preserved across the numbers and pants. You know how many teams don’t do this? An absurd amount. Small but significant detail. For further reading: here is an excellent breakdown of how the team melded old and new and even more pics, from which the above were taken.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
I think i’ve always been a bigger fan of the current Patriots uniform than most. The double outlined numbers look distinct without looking cluttered. The silver arc over the shoulder accents the helmet and pants well. The thin red piping down the sides of the jersey cuts through the blue elegantly and effectively. That said, it wasn’t a top 10 set for me and when they announced an impending revision I had more faith in them than I do in most teams.
The Patriots unveiled their color rush set in 2016 to much fanfare. Friends and facebook comments alike heaped praise for a template that cut back on the frills and added wide swaths of color to the shoulders that made the red pop as much as it ever has. Count me among those who enjoyed them, and I wasn’t all too surprised that the new primary home jersey is essentially the color rush with some minor tweaks.
I continue to dislike the abrupt stop of this style of shoulder striping, but i’m getting better at accepting it as a compromise between keeping the uni clean and avoiding the wrinkly, sloppy look of having the stripes tuck under the armpit or be distorted by the sleeve cut. They do make the back of the jersey look a bit cramped. The numbers especially look too big but all in all I like it. I’m also glad they went with a nice thick stripe on the pants that is flanked by red, consistent with the numbers and white shoulder stripes having a red outline. Consistency remains an under appreciated asset.
The away jersey merely swaps the navy and blue, but we get to keep the blue pants. Folks, the all-white look is generally underwhelming, overrated, and does the underlying pads no favors, as if their goal was to emphasize every little bump and groove. Fortunately, that’s not an issue here. My only real gripe with the away set is that it looks slightly less cohesive than the home uni. The numbers seem to stick out a bit more, as if they were swapped in for a font and style that would’ve fit the uni better. I think it’s because they retain the silver outline despite silver not appearing anywhere else on the shirt. Plus, the small double outline creates a lot of thin long lines that conflict with the short, thick lines of the shoulder. Loses a bit of zen there. Not a big deal, though. I remain a fan.
At this point I think the current Pats uni is still their historic best, but these quickly come in at a close second and may soon supplant their predecessor. The colors are striking (navy remains the best shade of football blue) and the stripes are authoritative, making a statement that the team is cognizant of its past but not a slave to it like so many other historic franchises (e.g. Packers, Bears, Browns, Chiefs, etc.). Last but not least, the face mask remains a heavily underutilized part of most teams’ unis, but the red touch here is a subtly brilliant feature I hope more teams start to emulate. As we head into the 2020/21 season, the Patriots still look good, but in a new way. They have neither Brady nor Gronk. The Bills look poised to take the division crown. There has never been a better time to not be a fan of the Patriots.
ATLANTA FALCONS
Let’s take a moment to talk about the Falcons’ current set. The home is on the short list for my favorite home uni in league history, if not the GOAT itself. The away is similarly high on its respective list. A beautiful balance of my two favorite colors, a stunningly beautiful, sleek helmet, and a creative and unique design unlike any other in the league (some would argue thats a hindrance – I see the point, but it works for me). Ugh, if only we got to see the red shirt with black pants.
Many, if not most, NFL fans from my online research are either indifferent or downright dislike them. Again, I see their point, and I obviously strongly disagree. Even I can admit, however, that as much as I like it, it doesn’t have a timeless feel, and it was bound to be replaced. I just hoped we’d get some more time with it. Fans begged for a return to their traditional unis, and I was utterly disgusted when I first saw that announcement tweet because that is exactly what I expected. Fortunately I was wrong, and the end result, though flawed, was indeed better than I expected (i’m going to be gratuitous with the photos here, as I think they pulled off the best uni reveal photoshoot):
First thing that stands out here is diversity. None of these are the same. So we’re starting off on a good note. My goodness, do you see that white shirt with red pants?? I’m salivating. It’s a little collegiate, but I ain’t complaining. Second point, none of them are bad. As I write this, they’re actually actively growing on me. As scheme is the most important element of design for me, when you use black, white, and red, you’re starting at a high floor. I love that the red striping continues from the shirt to the pants on the home and away and that it tapers to a point, matching the numbers and text fonts. One thing I didn’t immediately notice that many online did is the helmet. The sleek, glossy helmet of yesteryear has been replaced with a smooth matte finish.
I dig it. I loved the glossy finish, and I’d still prefer it, but it looks modern, the logo translated to this softer vibe well, and it matches the rest of the uniform. With matte helmets I often fear it’ll look drab on the field, like a years-old scratched-up bowling ball only dimly illuminated by the dying incandescent light of the bowling alley (see: Chicago Bears), but perhaps I was wrong and a properly done matte finish avoids that problem and is not simply the same as a non-glossy finish. Good news for me, then.
Yeaaaah, that looks great. It also serves as a lovely segue to my next point: the numbers. My biggest criticism of the previous falcons uni was the number font. I liked it, but I understand its divisiveness and the belief it doesn’t age well. I don’t think this one will age well either and it will certainly be a vestige of its time, but for now it works and I think its an under-appreciated decision. It’s sharp and consistent with the team’s aggressive look. As a rule, I don’t like drop shadows as they throw off the center of balance, but on closer inspection this isn’t a drop shadow. It looks more like a motion effect. Granted, that too could throw off the balance, but I don’t get that feeling, and am not sure yet whether that’s because the red edging is actually extending off the number to create motion or if it simply serves as a dash of color added right on top of the number.
Another controversial point is the addition of ATL to the chest. I understand the apprehension, and I think it does have a high school or collegiate quality to it, but I think it can be done well (see: Cleveland (I know, I can’t believe it either)). I think the font is a little too big here, and I’m curious how the home uni would look with white text, but overall I think it’s a fine move. The second jersey from the right is the color rush. Few things scare NFL fans like gradients (for the record, this helmet didn’t deserve the eviscerating it received), and when I saw the leaked images of this uni in the team facilities I thought it was bad. It has grown on me a bit, especially since at quick glance it really just looks like a red shirt on black pants. We’ll need to see these on the field to better judge. Lastly, the throwback. As much I love these colors, I think the Falcons have always had drab and boring throwbacks. These colors were born to pop and look aggressive, and the throwbacks just don’t do that. That said, there a lot of offensive throwback jerseys in the NFL (read: most of them), so if this is the worst of the Falcons’ sets, we’re doing ok.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
The colts offered the most modest change of these entrants, but in some ways it was also the most curious.
The new wordmark is beautifully modern for a team that has stifled modernity for so long (indeed, the traditional wordmark remains primary). It’s relatively flat and conservative, but bold and eye-catching. The secondary logo is fine, a little awkward but harmless. The bold C was a good choice. The revamped color scheme is similarly modernized, albeit more subtly so, but not without its own curiosities. Why any team, regardless of what they’re trying to achieved, would continue to use a gray facemask is beyond me (one time, on Facebook, I saw someone ask the Steelers to revert to one). It’s gross. Plus, i’ll applaud any team that adds black to its palette, but making a tiny swoosh black on a uni that is otherwise devoid of black doesn’t make much sense (see image below). It’s distracting and puts you in the company of two other** teams who irresponsibly used black in one place and never again. Much harsher crimes exist, though. Like adding traditional numbers to a modernization attempt! In addition to my thinking the numbers just don’t look good by themselves, adding them to a ~modernized~ jersey falls flat.
Regrettably, those god-awful chopped shoulder stripes remain untouched. I think the Pats pulled it off much better; for the Colts, they just look wimpy. Personally, I find “messing with the classics” and “push it forward” to be at odds with each other here, but as my most recent rankings described, this uni remains just fine. It appears the modernity lip service is primarily for marketing materials.
CLEVELAND BROWNS
The only reason the Browns are this high is because a) I like the color rush, b) we don’t have a Rams uniform yet, and c) I’m really mad at the Chargers. Let me be brief and discuss the current set, which I believe is the only attractive set in this “team’s” entire frighteningly bad history. I mean, Jesus Christ, they went with brown and orange! With no logo! The logo they do have is hideously ugly! That said, they did about as well as anyone could with these colors:
In short, I like the text across the chest, I like the sharper orange, and I like the BROWNS running up the leg. I even like the way that extending the helmet and sleeve stripes brings them together as a T. I don’t like the drop shadow numbers (especially since they clash with the text right above them), and I could do without the colored stitching (better seen here). I love the color rush. Eliminating white is the easiest way to upgrade a jersey and in this case it even made the stripes look modern. A nice two–tone look will always be a welcomed idea for me. *Sigh* Now for the true task at hand.
I understand the criticisms of the previous uni set, but it is absolutely bonkers to me that people all of a sudden were clamoring for and singing the praises of the Browns’ throwback look. They couldn’t even match the pant and sleeve stripes on the all-white away, not in color pattern nor in number of stripes! That said, I am a positive person and even I could find something to like here. Like the Dolphins, alternating the orange stripes with only white gives a cleaner look than most sleeves, and the small sliver of brown above it makes it look less like white striping and more like a white sleeve with orange strips, which admittedly looks quite nice.
Honestly, I can’t be bothered to go back and see what the unis before the most recent redesign look like, or what era these most closely emulate. None of them were good and if any was unique enough to be worth comparison, I’d have remembered it. I can’t even find other interesting pictures to include of the new ones because what you see above is simply what you get. Nothing to see here. All I know is that compared to the previous set, these are just another dull, stripey, paint-by-numbers, nostalgia-blinded snooze-fest that bastardized everything that made the previous set unique.
Even the color rush was diluted! They finally made stripes look ok and then got rid of them. To be fair, I still think it looks good. It maintains the more aesthetically pleasing autumn aesthetic of the previous color rush. There’s just less of it. Fine, whatever. It’s good. Ugh, this team is so lame.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Right off the bat, I give this updated wordmark design an A. The font is terrific, edgy and bold but not aggressive. Which is good because there’s nothing aggressive about the Chargers (heh). The italicization is elegant, the bolt-A adds some personal flair, and even the letters fit well together. Notice how the As, Gs, and Es line up. The Gs and Es also confer a very fluid, linear quality that helps your eyes just run right over it. Ah, it feels good. Now onto the unis.
Consistently regarded among the masses as one of the best unis in league history, the Chargers’ powder blues are amongst my greatest sources of anxiety. My unfortunately loyal followers will know how much I dislike royal/powder/baby/anything-not-navy-blue paired with yellow. For any new and wandering eyes, well, there you go. The powder blue looks particularly drab on a football jersey and is heavily reliant on its secondary color (that is why it looks great for the Dallas Mavericks and awful for LA). You can thus imagine my level of discomfort whenever I look at the current Chargers set:
I think the home and away are fine, if unremarkable; it’s the 2 on the right I cannot stand. Hideous color combinations, but I digress. The point of all this is to say that no matter what the uni looks like, it’s working against bad colors. It is thus all the more important to really nail the design. Note the white wedge encompassing the bolt on all the sleeves above, or the navy sliver on the away. Why is it there??? Any new uniform must do away with this feature to even begin to be considered an upgrade, and to their credit, this is exactly what they do:
Instead of this wedge, we now get the bolt alone. I don’t want to say that using its curvature for the shoulder is brilliant because I’d like to think anybody with eyes would think to do it; it just makes sense! Alas, this was apparently too much to ask for historically so to whomever made the change this time, well done. Using the bolt in lieu of pant stripes was a less intuitive but perhaps even more important change given my aversion to more traditional pant striping.
Buckle up, now. There is much more to discuss. As I mentioned previously, blue and yellow is a no go. There is an even greater sin here, however, that the previous unis avoided. We were not so lucky this time. Of course, I am talking about white bordering yellow. It creates an unforgivable haze effect around the yellow, destroying any resolution between the white and yellow and reducing a sleek bolt to an amorphous jagged thing that’s just there on the shoulder. It’s an effect that doesn’t go away by changing the base color (take a look at the text and numbers on the Saints home jersey – the detail is almost indecipherable from a distance), and is equally offensive if inverted (yellow, or any bright color, outlining a white shape – I’ve dubbed this the lightsaber effect). To round out the color discussion, the yellow pants just look bad, regardless of shirt color.
Some final subtleties to address. The numbers are a massive upgrade. The previous font was awkward and could never have been a classic. These look much more timeless, doing away with the previous double-outlined numbers, but maintaining a simplicity that doesn’t eschew its personality. I cannot overstate now grateful I am that they did not revert to generic block numbers (stop asking for them, Steelers fans, they’re too crowded). The numbers on the helmet are also a controversial point. They scream throwback, but they don’t bother me as much as i’d have expected them to. I think using the modern font helps a lot in that regard, and they fit cleanly under the bolt. I’ll let ’em slide.
Lastly, the crowning jewel of this set is, of course, the navy color rush:
OMG. It’s so good. Navy and yellow (or even better, gold) is a great combo, and I could not be more ecstatic about the bolt being solely an outline. It’s simply sublime, calling to mind bright neon skyline lights against a dark sky. Absolutely marvelous. I like it so much that, compared to the rest, the lightsaber effect on the numbers is a relatively minor misstep.
To the extent that I can separate design from color, I think this set is overall an upgrade. The numbers are better, the design is simpler, and yet an aura of modernity is still largely preserved through it all.
LOS ANGELES RAMS
There is SO MUCH to talk about here. Let’s talk about the logos first. You see that navy and gold beaut on the left? It is, well, b-e-a-utiful. I love it so much, and it made for some of the finest sets in NFL history, which I will never hesitate to point out.
While I missed the gold, I could tolerate navy and white. Still looks a-ok. Even the helmet looked plenty good with a white horn instead of gold. Heck, I even got used to the navy/white helmet with the navy/gold/white jersey. It was with unrelenting sorrow then that I lamented the transition to the blindingly blue and yellow catastrophe that is the throwback/2019-2020 home primary (why is there one (1) rogue white stripe…). It is with sheer devastation, however, that I lament the loss of the above ram’s head altogether for the one below, left:
WHY? I guess I can appreciate the more minimalist approach, but it looks like it was carved out of clay. It looks old and tired. It’s just bad. I saw one online comment say it looked “modernized.” Excuse me? Sure it looks relatively updated compared to the Rams’ oldest logos, but there is no way to paint that image as modern in the year of our lord 2020. Fortunately, that will not be the primary logo. The gas station logo on the right will take up that mantle. I kid, I actually do like it. It screams California. It’s sleek and creative. Just because people thinks it resembles an alternate universe’s Chargers logo (I don’t think it does, at least not anymore than the horn already did (it didn’t)), doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good. The color gradient is creative, the use of depth is appropriate, the font is perfectly acceptable. I can’t imagine losing the beautiful logos above for the new ram and being most upset about this logo looking too much like the Chargers (lol, the Chargers’ clip art logo wishes it looked that good).
EDIT (not the only edit, but I wanted to confer temporality for this point): Now that I’ve seen this logo pop up online in actual sports writing and materials, I like it less. The yellow is imperceptible against the white background of most articles, the letters looked cramped, the gradient doesn’t work well on embroidery, it’s a no go. It is not adequately reproducible anywhere outside of a tweet. Again, pleasant image, but doesn’t make for the best logo. Plus, the only reason the Giants can pull off a text logo is because nobody wants to see a giant. We don’t need more text logos.
OK, now onto the actual uniforms. They made us wait for these and we can now say with certainty that it wasn’t worth it. Honestly, I just assumed the throwbacks would remain primary, so when I saw new sets were unveiled I was excited. Never again.
Ok so at first glance I wasn’t upset. They looked similar enough to the throwbacks, but with each subsequent look more and more stands out. I like the blue and yellow here better than the Chargers’ combo but I still put them last (yes, even below the Browns for now, subject to change) because the design upon closer inspection really is dreadful. On first glance, I like the number font. A bit plain and verging a little too close to clip art for comfort, but hey, they’re not garish blocks. The gradient, though? Why are teams doing this? Sure, try it out during meetings and get it out of your system, but get it out of your system! Going yellow to white isn’t particularly jarring, but why do it at all?
Why does the blue pant’s stripe transition from yellow to white, but the jersey numbers rise from white to yellow? Why does the away jersey look dirty? The Rams claim the “bone” color is an homage to the color of ram horns and California beaches. Ok, I get it, but it looks dirty. Why put white next to both yellow AND dirty white? The home sleeve stripe/horn is fine, but why does it largely disappear on the away? Why do the numbers look ripped from a soccer jersey with that internal styling? Why is the patch so much brighter than everything else?
Look, I like patches. It’s hard to not pull ‘em off. How do you mess this up, though? The font is fine, but what’s with the yellow squiggle? Note how it completely disappears on the away unless you’re looking for it. Why is the patch placed so awkwardly to the upper corner of the torso? What was so wrong with all the other ways team put text on the uni that the Rams thought this was best? This isn’t as egregious as I’m making it out to be, but it’s defenseless.
Let’s move onto something better, the helmets. I dig ‘em:
The colors pop, I like the sheen, and I appreciate that it doesn’t spiral too much. Love the blue face mask. Side note: why does the number on the away look incredibly italicized now, and why does that yellow curve look like someone’s brush accidentally nicked the uni? I digress. Some say they can’t unsee the crescent moon of the second curve of the helmet. Fair point, but I like the continuity with the home sleeve and I think it’s a nice, modest update of the outgoing designs that, iconic as they are, had some weird proportion issues:
Now to cover some final points:
Here are the new logos in action. Note how you can see neither the yellow part of the horn nor its white outline against the yellow tag. What level of straining is appropriate to ask of your fans? If I haven’t yet hammered home the point that white and yellow don’t belong together then I’ve failed as a writer and person. Enough. As for the ram head, yeah that just looks silly. Honestly I’m a bit embarrassed for them. That whole image looks juvenile.
In the beginning I said this uniform didn’t look startling or much different at all. It has since been a constant descent into madness. Aside from the helmet and arguably the number font, nearly every part of this uniform represents an abject failure to understand what a uniform should convey and how to convey it. The fans asked for throwbacks. The Rams obliged. They then took them away and replaced them with the generic uniforms from every Best Buy TV ad before littering them with bizarre accents. I said previously that I will never not take the opportunity to point out how much I loved the Rams in navy and gold. I want you all to look at what we’ve been given and please, please, PLEASE try to tell me you don’t miss these:
If you’ve made it this far, damn, but thank you, dear reader, for reading. It is a labor of love and immense pain. I am not interested in any arguments as to why you like blue and yellow or throwbacks, as I know my opinion is a very unpopular one, but I welcome all other debate :D. Lord knows we need to pass the time somehow.
*I’d argue the futuristic era was birthed by the Seahawks in 2012. Ironically, the Seahawks uni is absurdly complex and messy, completely at odds with any minimalist principles. Still, one cannot argue it looks anything other than futuristic, especially in 2012)
**interesting tidbit: as bad as the Chiefs jerseys are, there is even more to dislike. They can’t even pick a logo!!!
sifcovers 