This afternoon the New York Jets announced they will wear a special throwback uniform this season, a tribute to their 1968 Championship and Super Bowl III winning team.
In a surprise announcement, the franchise will pay homage to the 1968 Super Bowl championship season. These will be similar to the road uniforms worn by the franchise from 1998 to 2018, which itself was a modernized version of the 1968 uniforms (although those uniforms had a decidedly darker green hue — more akin to forest or olive green than the original kelly green worn by the Super Bowl champs).
Here’s a view of the full uniform:
Because of the new, more modern jersey cuts, the team is claiming this will be both a tribute to the SB III champs as well as a harkback to the 1998-2018 uniforms. Note the “storytelling” graphic below…
The “shoulder, pant and sock stripes” are “from the 2000s,” which is a concession to the tailoring today. But the kelly (“Legacy”) green being sported is definitely a throwback to the 1960s. The white helmets return, and they will be paired with gray cages.
According to this press release from the Jets, “‘The Classic’ fills the fourth available spot in the team’s ‘closet’ and is part of a larger NFL platform. With white jerseys and white pants, the Jets classic uniform pays homage to the attire the team sported during their Super Bowl III landmark triumph over the Baltimore Colts. ‘The Classic’ also has a clean front with no patch as a tribute to the ’68 jersey along with the same number and letter fonts.”
The team will bust out the throwbacks in a primetime game on Monday, Oct. 14th, when the Jets host the Bills at MetLife Stadium. Unfortunately, the Jets believe the Bills will wear their blue jerseys AND pants for the matchup.
Not only does this uniform fill the “fourth available spot in the team’s ‘closet,'” it will also include a third helmet. Their other two helmet shells are green and black, which they introduced with new uniforms earlier this year. Only teams who have redesigned for 2024 — which includes the Jets — are permitted to wear a third shell this season. The remaining teams can introduce a third helmet for 2025.
In case you’re wondering what the Jets Super Bowl III classic uniforms looked like, here are a couple pictures:
The Jets had unique sleeve striping back then, and when the team returned to white helmets and a similar look in 1998, they were unable to successfully replicate the pattern. That’s why the new Super Bowl III/1998-2018 throwback has gone with the striping pattern worn on the latter uniforms.
But no matter, these uniforms are fantastic — and hopefully the Jets will wear them in the years ahead.
Your thoughts?
These look fantastic. I really liked this uniform except for the green as time went on. The last few years it always looked dull and dingy on TV.
Best Jets uni ever! Distinctive without being overdone. Classic look. Why the hell did they ever dump it? Everything since has been blah.
In all honesty, I loved when they brought the old uniform back under Parcells, but by the time they switched them they had begun to feel very dated. I’m not sure why. Other teams have kept basically the same uniform since the late 60s (Colts, Chiefs, Steelers, Raiders, Cowboys) but those remain classic and fresh. I think these will work well as a throwback, but I think the slightly tweaked 80s Jets uniforms will hold up better as a permanent uniform in the long run
I like these a lot. Obviously I would have preferred a green jersey rather than white, but something something Super Bowl III and all that (which makes it really weird that they chose the Bills game instead of the Colts game….). I very much preferred the 1968 numeral and NOB fonts over the ones used from 1998-2018, so that’s a big plus, and this remains a gorgeous shade of green; I liked the original football-shaped 1965 logo a little bit better than the oval one from 1998 but that’s a very minor minus. My only major complaint is the socks; the 1968 socks (green tops with white stripes) would have been much better. (Note that a lot of the white seen in the photos at the top of the socks is athletic tape; look at Matt Snell’s (41) right leg in the top photo for what the socks are supposed to look like.)
Is it too much to hope that they’ll ditch the BFBS and add a green-jersey version of this to the rotation? Maybe?
It does feel like a missed opportunity. Week 12, Sunday night, right before they get a bye for Thanksgiving week, against the franchise they beat in the game they’re paying homage to, but instead, they’re going in Week 7, on Monday night, against division rivals that, at least, do date back to the AFL era, though they don’t have a blue throwback jersey to pair with the Standing Buffalo (which they haven’t even used in the last two years with the white throwback jersey), so…
Yes! And with proper shade of green. Was always an irritant to me that the 1998 to 2018 uniforms were the darker hunter green. Always thought during that time it would be better if they were kelly green.
Meh
About.
Damn.
Time.
Super important to note
When the Jets first made the switch in 1998, the sleeve pattern was much closer to 1968 style and was made with alternating fabric bands.
After a few years, I guess alternating the fabric bands became to cumbersome to produce when they switched from Starter to Reebok, so they switched to a premade, UCLA style stripe that mimicked the 1968 style.
Looking through the uniform history linked below, you can see in picture 23 of Wayne Chrebet the original jersey template, and in picture 24 of Darelle Revis, the UCLA style
link
I wish these were forever unis, like the Raiders, Chiefs, Packers, etc.
I feel the only reason people are in favor of the new Sack Exchange set is that the previous new set was such an atrocity. We couldn’t wait for those to be gone the first time around.
I’m an unbiased, non-Jets fan, and I think the sack exchange uni’s are far and away their best. I think both logos with the football in them look dumb, especially on a helmet, and the sack exchange uni’s striping, collar, etc., is just perfect, as is the kelly green. The green helmet is also miles better and more unique than the white one, and the Jets logo with the actual Jet is so far and away their best helmet design. The striping on these throwbacks is just too much, with the unfinished UCLA striping. Just my two cents.
I am Jets-neutral but I agree. The Sack Exchange uniforms were what I associated with the Jets growing up. Once they went to the SB III throwbacks, I liked them too and I appreciate the nod to history. Their other sets have been notches below these and the Sack Exchange set.
These look really great!
Dislike that Jersey B didn’t/couldn’t(?) use the football-shaped logo from SB3…but the oval is ok.
Like the ‘Phins “perfect season” fauxs, this Jet set is fine to break out and a while – but their day-to-days are what I prefer.
wish they kept the darker green on it
Okay, now make that three teams who can and should wear all-white: Colts, Dolphins and Jets.
That’s it.
ANY team who wears a white helmet should only and always* wear white pants. Dark pants with white everything else looks terrible.
*the Chargers, with their gold pants, are the one exception to this rule.
I don’t mind colored pants with white helmets, AS LONG as the socks contrast. The “kelly green” is great. Wish more teams would go back to the lighter shades of their colors before the trend to darkening them was the “thing”. Teams that have look so much better. Especially with today’s TV’s.
Never liked the Oilers in Columbia (or was it H-Town?) Blue pants…and wished the Titans would have worn white pants more often when they had blanco buckets.
The Cardinals current road look is among my favorites in the NFL…and a high ranker among all uniforms in the league.
Hope they never pair the white tops with red bottoms.
Sorry for what I’m about to type, but, THIS IS WHAT THE JETS SHOULD WEAR ALWAYS, WITH A GREEN JERSEY OPTION. As Parcells said when he became coach years back and they redesigned, “this is the identity of the New York Jets”. Today, if you consider the SB III year and the next, and factor in their results after the Parcells redesign, the team was most successful overall in this look. Folks, this shouldn’t be this hard to grasp.
This is by far my favorite Jets look. I’m happy to have it back as a fauxback, but I wouldn’t want to see it as the main uniform until Nike (or somebody!) comes up with a template where you can actually see the contrasting sleeves and striping. Those UCLA stripes hanging out there like that just scream “unfinished” to me.
I agree that the lack of sleeves anymore makes these not quite a great. The numbers within the large stripe on the sleeves (basically, a really big northwestern stripe pattern) was really unique.
I agree with you I think it’s a really nice uniform but it is definitely hindered by the newer tailoring techniques.
Other than the BFBS unis, the Jets are going to look fantastic on the field this year. Now if only the Bills had some blue throwback jerseys for this game……
Now that they’ll look fantastic (sans the abysmal black options), I’m hoping they PLAY fantastic too!
As a Jets fan, I couldn’t be happier. What a massive upgrade this year. If we ditched the BFBS, the options would be perfect IMO.
It’s just about perfect… EXCEPT… I still hate the “notch” created by the green-white-green UCLA stripe against the green “sleeve”. If they’d have just used white-green-white stripes, it would still look incomplete compared to the originals, but it would create a cleaner look for the green “sleeve”. It’s a little, nagging detail, but otherwise, it’s friggin’ great.
THIS^^^^^
Or better yet, just go green-white-white and they better match the Namath era jerseys. That dumb notch really bothered me about the later Nike 2010’s era jerseys. Such an easy fix and they don’t care.
Given the NFL new uniform rules, the Jets currently do not have a Color Rush uniform.
They have the ability to designate their all white road (Legacy) set as their Color Rush, and wear them twice with the white helmets and the current logo in green.
Great addition. Jets look very sharp with the new set except for the BFBS.
Agree with just about everyone who says this is the uniform the Jets should wear more often – am one of the few people I know that liked the Sack Exchange green uniform . . . not a huge fan of the white version but it’s better than the crap show they’ve worn the past few years . . .
BFBS aside (and it DEFINITELY should be put aside), the Jets have really gotten their shit together aesthetically. One of the best looking teams in the league.
The whole Kelly Green craze is getting annoying
I completely forgot that the ’68 Jets were the first team to wear long, untucked shirts underneath their jerseys. They were way ahead of their time.
The NFL has a lot of ticky-tack uniform rules, but can’t they do something about untucked undershirts?
Jets can’t figure out which of their two traditional looks they want to go with.
These uniforms ARE the Jets. Should’ve been made the main uniform instead of the Sack Exchange style, which were worn for a shorter period of time – but at least the godawful uniforms of the past 5 years are finally behind us.
Bring back the Titans of New York.
Finally. If only they used Kelly Green as the Football Gods intended.
The Jets chose Kelly Green when they rebranded as The Jets because then-new owner Sonny Werblin was born on March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day. It was a great looking uniform that should never had been changed.
They had it right TWICE and changed them for no good reason.
The need to wake up.
Love this. This set is still my favorite and with the proper green they are better than the sack exchanges. That said I’m very happy to have both. I just wish we could invert the selection with sack exchange as the alt and this set as main ones.
Not a bad uniform. The 1998-2018 oval, number font, and letter font all look better than the 68. The sack exchange uni is still better. The best Jets uniform all time is the 1990-1997 similar to sack exchange but with black trim and facemask. I bet someday that will make a return.
I’ve been a NY J-E-T-S fan since the Sack Exchange area, but I most identify the team with their most identifiable player, Broadway Joe, and the white helmets with NY Jets logo so that should be their main unis. Either way, they should never don the hideous set they wore from 2019-2023 again if they’re ever want to return to the playoffs.
I’ve been a NY J-E-T-S fan since the Sack Exchange area, but I most identify the team with their most identifiable player, Broadway Joe, and the white helmets with NY Jets logo so that should be their main unis. Either way, they should never don the hideous set they wore from 2019-2023 again if they’re ever want to return to the playoffs.
Looked much better in ‘69.
Jets fan here. This is the EXACT uniform closet I have always wanted for the team. Love the new primary home and road, love the new throwback, and concede to the black uni, because I get it.
Amazing job revamping this team’s look in one year.
I got to be honest… I feel bad for Jets fans. They own this jersey already. Brandon Marshall, Revis, Chad Pennington, Testaverde all wore this uniform. So, this isn’t anything new. It’s just recycled. Swing and a whiff from the Jets.
Now we need the Bills to step up and wear their throwback red buffalo silhouette helmets and classic uniforms. If only we could bring Howard, Frank and Dandy Don back from the dead for one night to make it complete…sigh.