Coming to @HardRockStadium 🔜 pic.twitter.com/pUei9NWkNo
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) July 26, 2023
While a slew of NFL teams are adding new throwbacks this season, there are some teams that have been turning back the clock all along, because their retro helmets didn’t conflict with the one-shell rule. One of those teams, the Dolphins, has just announced its throwback dates for 2023.
Miami will turn back the clock for these two home games:
- Oct. 29, against the Patriots. The Dolphins will wear white throwbacks for this one, so how great would it be if New England wore their red Pat Patriot throwbacks? Unfortunately, the Pats’ two scheduled throwback games do not include this date — although they do include a home game against Miami on Sept. 17, so Miami could wear their throwback whites for that game. Come on, people, it makes too much sense for it not to happen!
- Dec. 24, against the Cowboys. Miami will wear aqua, so this could basically be a visual rematch of Super Bowl VI (although that’s a game Miami fans would probably rather forget).
This will be the ninth consecutive season that the Dolphins have worn throwbacks for at least one game, and the third time in that span that they’ve worn white and aqua throwbacks in the same season (having previously done so in 2019, ’20, and ’21). Last year they wore only aqua throwbacks, and for only one game, so they’re definitely upping the retro ante for 2023.
This is the part where we all say, “They should make these the primaries!” Yes, they really should.
Have any other teams worn 2 different throwbacks in the same season?
Off the top of my head: Niners. And several of the original AFL teams did it in 2009 (although that was a special program, not an individual team thing).
Giants last year (although technically the white jersey *fauxback* is an alt, not a “classic” uni).
1994 several teams wore two different throwbacks for the 75th anniversary.
I am not a religious person, but dear sweet baby Jesus please let the Patriots wear their throwbacks in Miami for that game.
According to their Instagram, unfortunately the Patriots are wearing their red throwbacks for different dates. link
Oh, right — I already reported on that, in fact. Will revise text.
Well, maybe a sincere “Jesus” would have done the trick….
But a “I’m not a religious person” prayer is NEVER gonna get these Pat unis in the same game as these Dolphin throwbacks…
The N-F-Earl just can’t get this Right
We will endure….until next year
Swap the helmet logo for a cleaned up version of the ’74-’89 or the ’89-’96 logo, thin out the outline on the TV numbers, add a little white between the aqua and orange pants stripe to match the helmet stripe and you have a perfect uni-set that doesn’t ever need to be changed. Unfortunately the current owner implemented the 2013 redesign so it’s probably sticking around until he’s gone.
Something else that will hurt the return of these is that (like the Vikings) the current set is basically the old set but with modifications (as opposed to a major overhaul like the broncos, Seahawks or buccs have done). So whoever makes uni decisions for the dolphins probably thinks “these are the classic dolphins unis… only better!”
For me, I compare them this way: the new logo and wordmark are fine, but the old logo(s) and wordmarks are significantly better. The old number font is uninspired and unoriginal, but the new number font is awful.
Very much prefer the Dolphins in white, honestly. As for the Aqua, I think I prefer the new shade to the throwback one.
Was really hoping the Dolphins would wear the white throwbacks for the Cowboys game and the aqua throwbacks for the MNF game vs. the Titans but I’ll take the throwbacks whenever they’ll wear them.
I thought you could only have one throwback?
You thought wrong!
Niners have done it as well.
It’s not a true Dolphins 70s throwback unless some players’ sleeves have stripes while others don’t.
Blame it on being born in the mid 70s I guess; but I have not seen one throwback uniform released this year that isn’t exponentially better than the full time duds by each respective team. Kinda makes you wonder why these clubs just don’t revert back full time. Seems as though even as the game evolves, the look curated from the 60s-80s really hit the mark.
Reminds me similarly of music. Music is always evolving and once in a while a new piece of gear will come along and add to the mix. But essentially they got it right in the 1950s. The Les Paul. The Explorer. The Stratocaster. The Tele. Marshall tube amps. No matter how music changes those are still the choice instruments.
Freakin awesome post…
Like Marshall vs. Vox in the 80’s…
And RockBoxes on Def Leppard’s “Hysteria”…New sounds that were great (at first) but didn’t stick…
The “new” unis from Bucs, Broncos, Satin Vikings, Tuna Dolphins, Wams, Falcons, the BlackJets, and Commies (haha)…some great at first (some not)…but didn’t stick…
Classics always endure…
can they do a fan vote to make the throwbacks permanent? not really a dolphin fan but their throwbacks are so good.
Fan/’fan’ votes are often problematic…let it be an executive decision (and for the record, I rather like the modernized ‘Phins look – keep the throwback as an alt for occasional wear).
ew their modern look is gross.. even the set with drop shadow numbers was better
Is it just me or is it getting virtually impossible to keep up with the number of different uni combinations now – home/away/alternate/colour rush/throwback.
2 different shells, but some shells being able to switch the decals.
And we’ve had this slew of throwbacks released in the last couple of weeks.
I feel (for my OCD) its got to the point where it needs some structure to it, in the same way colour rush was a Thursday night thing.
I’d love to see maybe 2 weekends designated as throwback weeks – say during November (to include the Thanksgiving games). Each team gets a home game they can wear their throwbacks for and then a game to wear their road throwbacks. We get to see Miami in their white and aqua. We get to see the white and orange creamsicles etc.
That way, other than the odd alternative, you’d watch the highlights from a week and know teams look like they are supposed to look like, but then we have a period similar to the 75th anniversary year & we get all the nostalgia done and and great matchups & then we go back to the proper unis for the home stretch in December…
The easy answer is throwback Thursdays, but that would be very limiting.
Slew is a word I see a lot these days as there are so many new NFL throwback or alternative uniforms. I am not a native English speaker and do not remember reading the word that many times as in the past few days, but I like it. The sound is also good: slew. The Dolphins throwbacks are also very good. No need to say what they should do with these on a permanent basis, many others have already said so.
Slightly off topic but the dolphins are a prime candidate for this idea so: I want to see teams doing more interesting things with their alternate shells. If they need to use the alternate for a great throwback, I get it, and that’s great for them to do that for the fans, but the rest seem to be BFBS, or even worse “the exact same helmet only black”. The saints are a team I’d say went BFBS, because they tried something a little different with theirs. But using the fleur de lis logo again made it pointless, and it was an odd choice with the strip of dozens of fleur de lis going over the crown. I think using their saints wordmark given a slight arch would look great on the alternate helmet in place of the standard helmet logo, and give it more reason to exist at all. The dolphins are a team that doesn’t need another shell for accurate throwbacks, and this could do an aqua helmet (which would be totally unique in the league) with their retro script word mark on the side and have something fun and different.
Agree! Aqua helmet with the D from the retro wordmark on orange and white. It would not look like the Broncos D at all so why not?
Maybe New England could ask for a special request to wear their throwbacks for one extra game? You know, like the Rams did to wear their throwbacks a few years ago in the Super Bowl.
Looking forward to the NFL preview this year, simply because there have been so many announcements on alternates it has been hard to keep track of. In my opinion it has gotten out of hand, I’d prefer to just see standard home and away sets, plus a throwback. Ideally the throwback would be limited to Thanksgiving weekend, all teams wear their throwbacks that week, then we go back to normal. All the other alternates just dilute the team brands.
Add this to the long list of “throwbacks” that are better than the current set. Maybe update the logo a bit to make it more modern but the jerseys are perfect.
Yes 100%. These uniforms, but revert the helmet logo back to the 1997 – 2012 version, minus the navy. That would be the ideal set. I could even handle a that with a special number font so long as it was relatively simple.
If the Patriots and Dolphins don’t go throwback/throwback for at least one of their games this year, heads should roll at the league office.
Not really a visual rematch of Super Bowl VI. The 1971 Dolphins had no sleeve stripes, and the pant striping was reversed…aqua-orange-aqua was only worn in their initial season of 1966 (which these throwbacks are based on). The striping would switch to orange-aqua-orange in 1967 and remain that way thru 1985.
I said “basically” a visual rematch. Which it would be, basically.
You know what I’d like to read a deep dive on?
The nuts & bolts of how and why particular dates & teams that throwbacks & alternates are worn.
Too many times, obvious match-ups are passed over – Patriots v Dolphins for instance – for dates/opponents that don’t make a lot of sense to people outside of the inner circle.
Anyways, something I’ve wondered about for a decade.
Lee