Last week, I reported the Denver Broncos would be debuting their Orange Crush throwbacks in Week 5 against the Raiders. That is true. But what I didn’t know at the time is the team will also be wearing them a second time, against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 18.
Here’s the announcement from the team:
Per the team,
The Broncos will debut the throwback jerseys in Week 5 against the Raiders, during which Denver will celebrate Alumni Weekend and welcome back members of the 1977 Super Bowl team. Steve Foley and Riley Odoms will be inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame that same weekend, while Randy Gradishar will be honored for his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.
The Broncos will then wear the throwback uniforms for a second time in Week 18 when they host the Chiefs.
The throwback jersey, which pays tribute to the Orange Crush era and 1977 season, features oversized white numbers with Legacy Blue trim. The pants feature an orange-and-Legacy-Blue stripe, and the Denver “D” logo will be featured on the team’s Legacy Blue helmet.
This is obviously great news, as not only is this the best uniform the Broncos will wear all year, it’s one of the best uniforms ever to grace a gridiron.
The team obviously picked their two AFC West rivals — the Raiders and Chiefs — knowing the games will look very much like those played in the 1970s.
But the best news coming from all this is that means the team will wear its alternate blue uniforms only once during the upcoming season.
It also means we’ll only have to see the alternate white helmets for one game this year. Hallelujah!
When the initial report announced only the Week 5 date, it was thought that would be the “Orange Crush” uniform’s only appearance. Fortunately, the Broncos decided to double that — which means, per NFL rules, they can only wear their other alternate jersey (the new blue one) just once. So it’s a win/win!
You can mark it on your calendars now: the best uni matchups of Weeks 5 and 18 will both involve Denver.
The retro helmet graphics and team wordmarks in that image make it even more clear. These need to be the full-time unis.
I’m with you 100%. I love those classic “Orange Crush” unis. I was never a fan when they switched to the navy blue helmet over the lighter blue. It was such a unique shade.
Going back to an earlier discussion of how uniforms incorporate stripes…the Broncos throwback (which even I, a Raiders fan, can appreciate) is a perfect example of TOO MANY STRIPE PATTERNS. If a uniform has more than two stripe patterns my OCD gets itchy.
Why pair the white helmet with the all-navy unitard?
Why not pair white helmet with white pants or all white look?
Whomever is the making these decisions do Not Get It.
Because of stupid NFL rules that say alternate helmets can only be worn with alternate jerseys.
I’d like to see the Chiefs go red/white/white for this game.
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Absolutely 100% THIS!
Keep the red pants in the storeroom for this one…and for all road games for that matter.
Think the rules for how many games you can wear certain uniforms/helmets is silly.
Gotta maintain that brand identity.
The KC logo is facing the wrong direction on the announcement.
There’s that painters eye popping up in the Uni-verse again… I didn’t catch that for sure wonder if that was a purposeful slight?
love it …great spot
I think they should pair the throwback helmet with the navy jersey and orange pants. LOL.
Makes you wonder what sort of feedback they have gotten since the uniforms were released. Is this the first step in a course correction on their part, where they’ll end up back to these uniforms in 5 years, sort of like the Jets ditching their uniforms for the 80s throwback full time.
It’s a shame the HD TV came along just after the trend in sports of going with darker colors, because beauties like these, the creamsicle Bucs, and Seattle royal blues look magnificent in high definition. You are able to really appreciate them more now than in their heyday. All the more reason to go back to these in the same way the Jets just reverted.
(Strawman Argument to follow):
Some folks content that the reason the Eagles Braman-era helmet looks the way is does is because of HDTV (and that ‘Kelly’ green bucket looks good and is correct-a-mundo)…I say it’s just the wrong shade of green and should not match the jersey now since it never did – it was darker to begin with.
Hopefully the Broncos take a page from the Browns and Jets and make the switch to their throwbacks fulltime when they receive overwhelmingly positive reaction to them.
It’s actually kind of baffling they didn’t do it already. They had a chance to make a clean break from the Elway-era look, and instead went with a kind of half-measure. They need to be bold and go for broke.
Make The Broncos Look Like The Broncos Again! (MTBLLTBA!)
Make them primary next season please.
I understand they are celebrating the 1977 season, It’s still good and all but would have preferred the Orange Crush uniforms coming back with the orange socks.
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I’m a lifelong Broncos fan who agrees with you 100% on this, Wade. The blue socks are fine, but the orange socks are by far better. Still, I won’t let the perfect be the enemy of the “still the best uniforms in their wardrobe.” :^)