Last month there were lots of rumors about the Jets redesignating their “New York Sack Exchange” throwbacks as their primary uniforms for 2024. As you may recall, I did exclusive interviews with the two main guys behind those rumors.
It turns out that they were right. The final play of last night’s Super Bowl had barely ended when the Jets announced that the white throwback will indeed become the team’s primary look next season, with green and black versions added to the mix. The new set will be unveiled in April, presumably during the week leading up to the 2024 NFL draft.
The announcement officially marks the end of the team’s current uniform set. And not a moment too soon, as the arena-esque design was one of the worst in NFL history. It’s worth remembering that while this set was used for the requisite five-year minimum term, it takes two years to put an NFL uni change into production, which means the Jets had already decided after only three years that the current set was a failure. Kinda makes you wonder why they went ahead with it in the first place, no?
Since Aaron Rodgers like conspiracy theories, I’ll float this one: He faked his Achilles injury so he could get out of wearing that awful uniform. And really, who could blame him?
YES!
But “…black version(s) added to the mix” – must be a typo…you mean SB3 throwback, right? ; )
They can save the SB3 throwbacks for 2029. They just wore a variation of them for 20 years, so I think its ok to give them a break.
So do I…they’ve gotten way too much mileage out of the Namath’s – but there’s many that seem to like them a lot (I mean, what’s not to like design-wide really?)and/or believe deviating from them at all was ill-advised.
You can never get too much mileage out of the Namaths.
That being said, 2/3 of this new set is great.
Unpopular opinion: I don’t mind the black pants. Especially if they go green/white/black. But no black above the waist, please… especially above the neck.
Greaaaaaaaaaaat a black version of these beauties.
Totally the wrong move.
Given my age, when I see those uniforms, I think 3-11.
Great news, not thrilled about the black but having seen the Celtics do it black and green can look good together. Will be curious if they add black trim so it resembles the 90-97 look….
Either this is some great news
That there’s going to be a BFBS “version” of this is very, very bad news. I could conceivably live with it under two conditions: (1) no black pants or black helmet; and (2) that a classic white-helmet throwback be added to the mix — which the video on the Jets’ website suggests it might. Meaning, the Klecko kit as the primary, the Namath/Parcells kit as the alternate/throwback, and the BFBS version of the Klecko kit as the “Color Rush”.
My sentiments exactly. Additionally if you’re going to a black jersey pair it with the green pants.
This. Even though I dislike the current set overall, I’ve thought for a while that green/black/green would actually look OK with green socks (please).
I love the all white legacy uniforms I hate the Black uniforms n all green uniforms All white uniforms rock
I say stick with the traditional white for the primary, do the all black once in awhile but get rid of the trendy pointed stripes on the shoulders and pants ! Go back to the traditional stripes for all uniform variations.
So now the Patriots, Dolphins, Eagles, Falcons and Seahawks should all follow suit in promoting their throwback alternates to the main uni set.
You forgot the Buccaneers.
I put them in the same category as the Saints. They could go either way. The throwbacks are gorgeous, but the current primaries as nice as well.
The five that I mentioned, along with the Jets, have terrible primary uniforms now. They all need a change. For the Bucs and Saints I’d be fine either way. Now if you are talking back in the brief digital clock uni era for the Bucs, yeah, those were atrocious.
The ‘Hawks…of course!
That the Falcons red helmet doesn’t match the jersey or pants may disturb some viewers – but that doesn’t bother me a bit (though their ’76-’77 look remains superior).
As for the rest – keep those 3 as occasional throwbacks.
The 2 that need to be elevated that missed your list: The Vikings and Oiler, err…Titans.
I actually rather like the Vikings current set. The previous set, that 00’s cartoonish look was bad but the currents I think are really nice.
When Nike took over that template in 2012, that horned-up/faux neck roll set became and remains one of my uniform guilty pleasures…especially the purple version:
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as a Jets fan, i don’t know why they ever stopped wearing, what i’ll call, the Parcells-era jerseys. but i’ll take sack-exchange over what they currently wear any day. Also, i seriously hope they go 0-16 with Rodgers because that guy is a menace who has screwed this team so bad with his ego.
They stopped wearing the Parcells kit because Nike couldn’t (a.) produce the proper shade of green or (b.) render the 1963 shoulder/sleeve design on a modern jersey template (although I thought they did a better job of that than Reebok did).
I also suspect they stopped wearing the Parcells kit because Nike’s shoulder/sleeve treatment on the retail jerseys was even worse (link), and they probably weren’t selling well as a result.
I wasn’t aware that was the case. I think I’d live with the errors to go back to that full time as I thought it was a classic.
The general dislike for Nike I get, but I’m not so sure they get all the blame here.
I concede that the NYJ’s distinctive shoulder design might have been/remains tough to replicate on the various Nike chassis, including the retail fan stuff, but I don’t recall/never noticed the dark green changing much (if at all) or being a problem to (re)produce, as was the case for the Eagles Midnight Green in the FlyWire era. Maybe Jets ownership simply thought 20 years was enough for the ’63-’76 fauxbacks and it was time for a new direction or listened to the wrong focus group and chose poor designs. At any rate, it wound up being a not-so-great decision no matter how they arrived at it….one that’s being (mostly) undone with today’s announcement.
There was a period late-ish in prior design (white helmets, throwback-like look) where Nike’s green looked almost army green on the jerseys and pants. May have been a TV thing, but it just wasn’t right, particularly when they had that jersey with the stomach square thingy (whatever the hell that was supposed to be). It always looked like a different shade.
You really didn’t notice the coloration issues with the Jets after Nike took over in 2012? It was very noticeable in daylight conditions; the rich hunter green became a drab olive green (link), and different elements and panels appeared in different shades (link). It looked better under lights, but overall it was a mess.
Oh wow.
Thanks for the reminder! The different fabrics didn’t quite color match…I’m sure this was the case with other teams who opted for the new innovations (i.e. the SweatBox) in the initial roll-out.
I have a HUGE beef with the fact that any uni supplier, manufacturer or designer would make any team stick to a “chassis” at the expense of their uni design. Most teams can probably make it work with most templates but at the professional level, for what these contracts are worth, the team should not be the entity that has to compromise.
Glory hallelujah.
The uniform nightmare is over for my beloved Jets. Now let’s win which is seemingly harder for them. With that said, I much preferred the Parcells-era uniforms with a lighter shade of green however, we can’t go wrong with what they are going with either except, for the black version. I’ll live with it, hoping to only see it once a season. I’ll never forget five years ago when the uniforms leaked just before the unveiling. I said to myself, “There is no way that that is what they’re going with. It looks like a five-year-old created them!” Boy was I wrong.
I’m no Jets fan, but these sack exchange uniforms to me are much better than the Parcells-era uni’s. Namely the green helmet with the Jet logo, as to me it is far and away the best helmet the Jets have ever had. The name “Jets” with a football next to it has always looked dumb to me, both on the new uniform and the old white helmet. The sack exchange helmet looks sleek and tasteful.
100% agree on the helmet/logo. For me, the current (outgoing) unis are actually great if they’d stick to ONLY white and green elements, and make this new/old logo the helmet logo. The angles and the jet and the block font seem like a match made in heaven for the number font and shoulder slashes on the outgoing set.
Not-so-bold prediction: in 5 years they return to the Namath-era unis.
Or will they have to take a brief detour into the Boomer Esiason-era black outline look?
You’re probably right, Jets should also be (hopefully) better by then.
If they want to keep a black alternate, I wish they would have resurrected the 90s uniform set instead of the 80s. Essentially the same shirts and helmets but with black trimming added.
If I understand the rule correctly, the color of the alt (in this case black) has to appear somewhere on one of the primary unis (which is why the Commanders white jersey has black trim so they can have a black alt, while the burgundy jersey does not). I have a feeling these will be based on the 90s black trimmed Coslet era jerseys.
I’ve never heard of this “rule”. Do you have a cite?
I remember it being discussed when Washington unveiled the new look. Could have been on a Chris Creamer thread. It was also discussed that the Colts have a black swoosh on their whites so they could shoehorn in black on an alt. I hope I’m wrong about this.
There is no such rule. Take the Chargers or instance. The powder/white tops have no royal or navy in them (As royal and navy are alternates).
I hope you are right!
They’re actually talking about the Chargers over on Creamer today (2024 NFL Changes thread). Someone over there posted that Color Rush unis are allowed to have historical colors even if they are no longer part of the primary color scheme. That’s how the Chargers got away with a Royal and Navy apparently.
They still can’t just ditch the black altogether it sounds like…so that’s disappointing. If they need a third set, revive that navy/gold New York Titans throwbacks they were wearing in the early 2000s. That would be a MUCH better option.
But yeah, going back to the 80s/90s template will be a significant upgrade. I still am not a fan of teams that wear white-over-white in any combination, so hopefully they keep some form of the 90s-era green pants to go with the white jerseys on the road. That’s a much better look than the all-white IMHO.
I prefer the Namath unis & helmet but I’m fine with this change. The godawful current unis are now just an inconvenient truth.
They can’t be called throwbacks anymore.
Go back to the throwback helmet too….pleeeeeeze
with the HD format these days, I really like the “emerald green” helmets.
I guess you can quibble a little about what qualifies as “worst in NFL history” but I really don’t think the outgoing Jets set belongs there. It’s easily the worst in JETS history, but I think it might not even be a top 20 worst uni sets in history. The Falcons alone have 2 sets worse than the outgoing Jets unis.
Yea, I agree; it’s a terrible design but nowhere near as bad as the Titans, Falcons or Seahawks currents, the Jaguars, Browns or Bucs previous, or even the outgoing Broncos currents.
The current/outgoing Jets design would have been significantly better with some minor tweaks, viz., no black, no chest wordmark, shorten the jersey stripes and lengthen the pants stripes. Never mind the BFBS alternate; the black trim on the green and white uniforms was inconsistent and unsightly, trimming the numerals but nothing else on the jerseys and pants, and having a black facemask on a helmet with no black anywhere else. And the horizontal tapered bicep/collarbone stipes just didn’t work in 3 dimensions, routinely getting twisted up around the shoulder pad on the sides. Just a cornucopia of bad design choices.
So the helmets were Gotham green. Seemed to match fine with the green on the white throwbacks. Since they are becoming primary uniform imagine the helmet and uniform colours will match better. Will wait to see if we are seeing Gotham green or kelly green?
Been waiting for this moment for almost 5 years! I’m hoping the black is at least a better template (and no giant “NEW YORK” or anything). Also very curious if they adopt the 80’s-90’s logo full-time.
So in other words, the uniform will more closely resemble the ‘90-‘97 uniforms?
I hope not, and I don’t think so; the throwbacks used in 2023 had no black trim and are not discounted on the website, so I think/hope/pray that the primary unis will be black-free (and will not have a green pants option).
I can live with a new BFBS “version” of the Klecko kit if (a.) it’s worn with green helmets and either green pants with black socks or white pants with green socks; and (b.) a Namath/Parcells throwback is added to the mix.
I just looked at Phil’s mock up on another comment on this and i can live with even though i’m not a Jets fan. It just sounded that maybe they would’ve resembled the ‘90’s uni’s.
I used to prefer the Namath era, but then I realized that was because of nostalgia. These are very nice, and it’s great to have a team with a true green helmet as their primary. I don’t dislike the Eagles dark green, but I like the traditional green better. Also, there are two other teams in their division with white helmets. And this logo is great. Too bad for the black. Hopefully they’ll limit it to once a season, and not mix these up.
Huge downgrade for the Jets in my opinion. The current unis are easily my favorite look for the Jets since the front inserts resemble wings on a jet. I hate the trend of making a simple, boring uniform (Jaguars and Falcons) or just lazily taking old, outdated uniform designs and making them the primary look instead of putting effort into a design that looks good because older fans don’t like newer looks like younger fans would (Jets). Throwback uniforms are meant to be a relic of the past that should only be brought out occasionally for nostalgia purposes. Hopefully the Seahawks, Texans and Broncos don’t follow suit and actually put some effort into their new uni designs. NFL unis from 2013-2018 were easily some of the best uni designs in the NFL, like the Jaguars, Browns, Buccaneers (number font excluded), Seahawks, Falcons, etc.
Some Body once told me the world is gonna roll me…
You seem to like very ugly uniforms consequently and I salute that. I have a horrible taste myself but I am glad to see these Jets sliced uniforms fly off into eternity.
God I HATE the Dracula collar with the dangling NFL logo. It looks like a ratty, mismatched t-shirt under a stretched out neckhole. Totally overpowers all other design elements of every uniform. I’m already pretty sure the Jets play in the NFL, so…
Based on how Woody and the Jets described their 2024 unis, here’s my approximation of how they might look:
link
Nice. That black version is brutal though. I hope the helmet logo is white with green outline instead of what you have here.
I don’t know about the green pants; they might go full-traditional with the primaries and wear them as they were worn from 1978-89 (except with the green being the home primary, one can hope), i.e., white pants only. Which would be great.
As for the BFBS, it would look better (i.e., less egregiously horrendous) w/ green socks; if they do go with a BFBS helmet I’d expect the decals to be white outlined in green (or green outlined in white), not solid green. That said, I’m hoping they go with a white alt helmet instead, for a Namath/Parcells throwback; I couldn’t help but notice that those appear rather prominently in the 37-second promo video the Jets posted on their website, so there’s hope.
For an alt helmet you could easily do white with two stripes, and the oval shape in green with the white Jets concord logo. Would capture both the Namath/Parcells vibe and use the new/old Sack Exchange logo. Would look better than the silly “Jets” with a football logo.
This is more evidence that when we speak of “good” vs. “bad uniforms, we’re not really talking about the actual aesthetics. Because when those Jets unis came out back in the ’80s I don’t remember people thinking they were so great. I remember people thinking they were boring and pining for the previous set, which they finally returned to and now here we are, with these boring unis which we’ve fetishized to the point of convincing ourselves that they’re actually not dreadfully dull and uninteresting.
You hit the nail on the head. If a uniform’s going to be bad, I’d at least prefer that they be memorably bad. These are just frustratingly mediocre. Easily the most boring NFL uniform of my lifetime.
Everyone stop it with the negativity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a MUCH needed upgrade. And as Chip from Napoleon Dynamite would say……..
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Damn, should have been “Kip”
Good riddance to this set of uniforms they’ve had the last 5 years, some of my least favorite. Great looking helmet shell but that was about it.
Kind of funny that Rodgers (save for a preseason drive) will have never had to wear them in an official game. Similar vibes to the Bucs ditching the alarm clock disasters right before Brady came back. Still a shame we never got to see him in the creamsicles for a game though.
B+. Paul, that was the initial grade you gave to the the current Jets uniforms back in a 2019 SI article. I’m not playing gotcha. It’s fair for one’s opinion to change over time. I’m just curious what soured them for you. Was it too much usage of the black alternate pants? Did they look differently on the field?
The initial grade was B-, with a very accurate prediction:
“It could have been worse, but it also could have been better. For long-suffering Jets fans who are looking for something new to hang their hopes on, it’s not a bad reboot. But it doesn’t have the feel of a design that’s built to last. NFL rules stipulate that a team can’t change its uniforms more often than once every five years. Does anyone really think this design will last much longer than that? Grade: B-“
I would like to see Paul regrading his redesign grades as a fun retrospective before he leaves though. Would be interesting to see
These are such a massive upgrade (I’m completely ignoring the BFBS nonsense). The thing that makes these look so much better than they did in the 80s is that beautiful emerald green in HD. The only slight bummer is that they will 100% wear green socks with the green pants.
Upgrade from a failure that started 5 years ago. I sometimes wonder what the designers at Nike will think when their designs vanish as soon as posiible? It must hurt them in a way. No, they will probably shrug their shoulders and come up with the next uninspired and ugly design. Or have they been replaced by AI already? I hope not, people should be able to keep their jobs, even at the Nike design department.
These are an upgrade, yes…
But to say they are the best option available to the Jets instead of the Namath-era version, now that’s a conspiracy theory…
Ugh, hoping it’s something in between..
Another recent uniform reboot that was the sh#ts. Glad they’re going back to the Sack Exchange unis. Now we need the Rams to return to their classic look and the Falcons to go back to the 1980’s red helmets and jerseys.