Good morning, Uni Watchers! It’s Friday — we made it.
Now that the first full week of the NFL preseason has begun, we’ll be getting our first on-field looks at a number of teams who introduced new uniforms for the 2024 season. Last week, because they played the pre-season opening game, we were “treated” to our first looks at the Houston Texans new road uniforms. Last night, with the Giants playing host to the Lions, we got to see Detroit’s new road unis in action.
Before we get into that, if you want to refresh your memories of the Lions full set when it was unveiled, Paul had us covered.
Of the new road uniforms, he noted
Not bad, but not as good as the blue-jersey combo, because (a) that chest wordmark is brutal and (b) the blue and white pants — unlike the silver/grey pants — don’t have any stripes. Are those crippling flaws? No. But they definitely put these combos a full notch below the blue combo.
Although the Lions didn’t provide any pics of the white jersey being paired with the silver/grey pants, that will probably happen at some point.
Last night, the team went silver/white/blue/white (the better of the two combos the team showed off back in April).
Let’s see how they looked on the field.
While Paul and I do not agree on a good number of things, I do share his feelings after seeing these in action. I was immediately struck by the large “DETROIT” wordmark (in their custom font face) located just slightly above the numbers, but pretty far beneath the collar. It looked “off” to me all night.
Perhaps it’s the cut of the jersey or perhaps it’s just an optical illusion, but to me it seems WAY too low — too close to the numbers. I don’t necessarily dislike the size of “DETROIT” (although I wish it were slightly smaller), but I am troubled by how close it is to the numbers.
If you enlarge the picture below, you can see why — the cut of the jersey and the “v” seams basically forces the wordmark down. But since that seam isn’t readily visible from afar, optically it looks like DETROIT is not vertically centered between the numbers and the NFL shield at the base of the collar.
My only other real complaint is the new blue pants — unlike their previous set, they are stripeless. There are a few teams in the NFL who have at least one set of stripeless pants, but it’s not a good look. Their white pants (which they didn’t wear, obviously) are also stripeless. How much better would they have looked with stripes?
But aside from those two complaints, overall I like the new road uniforms. The jersey is vastly improved, with the blue block numbers outlined in silver, and sleeve and helmet striping in the same — but unique to the Lions — pattern. As Paul mentioned in his assessment, the new shade of Honolulu Blue is brighter. I hate to say it “pops” … but it does! And while I think the uniform would look even better if paired with the new silver/gray pants, I do like how it looks with the blue set.
The NOB are large and easy to read, and the new font really works well. I watched almost the entire game, and every Lions player that I saw was dressed identically, with everyone in white socks (or tights or compression pants) and almost all wore white shoes.
Best of all, the Lions LOOKED like the Lions.
They matched up well against the Giants in their blue/blue/white/blue uniforms as well. Here are a couple videos showing how they looked on the field.
.@sione_vaki showing off the moves on the way to a pickup of 15#DETvsNYG | 📺 Lions TV Network pic.twitter.com/lDwI2lHhjd
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 9, 2024
.@BrandonJoseph_1 picks it off!#DETvsNYG | 📺 Lions TV Network pic.twitter.com/UnKSpU2Ozx
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 8, 2024
All in all, a very aesthetically pleasing game, and kudos to the Lions for improving their road set. Like I said, my only two complaints are the location of the wordmark relative to the numbers (but that’s as much a function of the jersey chassis as anything) and the lack of pants stripes. But overall, I very much like the new road look (and their home uniform will be even better). Of course, they haven’t worn their black alternate or the stripeless white pants yet…but if they were to wear this combo on the road often this season, I would not complain at all.
More photos here.
Your thoughts?
Agree with the Lions assessment. Much improved over last year, but the pants desperately need stripes and the Detroit wordmark has to go.
Agree, the mock up of pant stripes work much better. The uniform seems incomplete with no striping. The Detroit moniker on chest to big and a distraction that’s not needed.
Agree with both of you and with Phil.
I’m a died hard detroit fan and I absolutely hate the road uniform. They needed white pants with blue stripes and either blue and white socks or all blue socks. This would have allowed them to wear blue or white uniforms with the white pants.The all white leggings and socks suck too. Having detroit on the uni is absolutely ridiculous.
The wordmark and its low positioning are horrible. Either dump it, dump the NFL logo above it, or (preferably) dump both.
Right on. Fix these 2 little things and walk away.
The blue on the Lions helmets appeared to be a lighter shade than the blue on their jerseys and pants. It distracted me throughout the game.
Yeah, it is very noticeably different. I get that colors don’t translate 100% across different materials, but this is way off. I’m going to my default position of blaming NIke, given their history of struggling to match colors.
You’re correct, the helmet decals and facemask are Carolina Blue, not Honolulu blue.
Honolulu Blue is apparently hard to color match exactly with the rubber coatings on the facemasks, so they are using the same color as UNC. They made the decals match that color to make the helmet look more cohesive.
And to nip it in the bud, Nike has nothing to do with helmets/facemasks/decals, so they aren’t to blame.
Yep, I also noticed this.
Yeah, couldn’t get over that either. Hate when colors are that off. Takes away from an overall good uniform. Really unfortunate
The different blues are a trainwreck. The low team name and lack of stripes are a flaw, but nowhere near as bad as different blues.
It would be sloppy in the days of a coach getting uniforms from local sports shops. Today, it’s inexcusable. When we talk about seeing it on the field, it’s a disaster check for this.
This is where the Texans got it wrong and the Lions got it right. Imagine if Detroit had said, “We know we can’t do boring old sleeve stripes. What if we make the stripes look like a claws or teeth or something Lion-y? Wouldn’t that be cool?”
I’ll disagree with that as the Lions are a legacy team. Claw marks and stuff like that might be appropriate for a newer team like Carolina.
Agreed
I think what EP meant is that the Lions got it right by NOT trying to do something gimmicky with the sleeves. The Texans, on the other hand, put horns on their white jersey sleeves. In other words, you are actually in agreement with his post.
Correct Matt. Neither new Uni is a disaster, but the Texans got a bit too clever for their own good.
The new Lions helmet striping bothers me. An outline on top of an outline seems unnecessary.
Three things stood out to me:
1. The stripeless blue pants. Don’t like those at all.
2. The chest wordmark pushes the numbers way too far down, as most NFL chest wordmarks do.
3. The helmet decals are a much lighter blue than the numerals and stripes on the jersey.
I liked this set better than what they had, but these 3 things keep them from being great…especially the different shades of blue, it’s all I’ll see now.
Yes!
Yes, the Lions look like the Lions. We’ll see if that remains true of their performance on the field.
DETROIT word mark = bush league
Pants stripes where are you?
Two different shades of blue. This sort of thing is a legacy quirk that you would allow a team like Dallas, who have been doing it for decades. The actual “Honolulu Blue” is the color shown on the helmet graphics. The jersey and pants, while a very nice, rich shade of blue, is obviously darker, especially when the players sweat.
Very, very close, Detroit Lions. A couple of fixes and you’ll have it right.
Actually I think it’s the helmet graphics that are too light, but that’s more of an aesthetic observation/preference than an assessment of which is the correct shade of Honolulu blue.
Small wordmarks of the nickname like a lot teams did in the 1990s are acceptable. These giant city name wordmarks make them look like college teams.
And 100% need the pants stripes. But also really the Lions should just stick with the silver pants with both white and blue jerseys. No need for blue or white pants. When going with white jerseys and you have pants that are darker than the helmet color, 99.9% of the time it doesn’t look good. Throws the balance of the uniform off. The helmet and jersey are the more, I guess focal components of the uniform. When you have a white jersey and white or light colored helmet, dark pants draw your eyes to the pants as the focal point of the uniform, why would you want that?
Agreed. Never been a fan of dark pants over white jerseys. That’s a college look and still doesn’t look great there. On a pro level, it worked for the Washington back in the day but they are the exception.
The different shades of Honolulu Blue really stand out, and not in a good way.
I agree with pretty much the entire assessment. Wordmark is too big and looks too close to the numbers.
Still, a massive upgrade from the rags they were wearing.
I can’t believe they are letting someone else wear George Pllmpton’s number
The blue on the helmet stripe, logo and facemask is very much different than the shade on the jersey and pants. It is throwing me off and is all I see when I look at the uniform. Not sure what hte reasoning is there but it is a major flaw.
I’ll concur with everyone else. Generally an improvement, could still be better with a few more tweaks.
Like stated above by everybody, the mentioned tweeks are needed here: stripe on the pants, same hue of blue please and get rid of the wordmarkt or make it smaller so the numbers can move up again.
In all honesty I don’t hate these as much as I thought I would. I do think they tried too hard with stripe patterns, etc.
1. The blue face mask is certainly an upgrade from the blander look on the prior set.
2. Stripeless pants belong in college and HS.
3. Remember when we could watch pro football and there wasn’t a gaudy word mark or name emblazoned above the front jersey numbers but we still somehow figured out which teams were playing?
GTGFTS
Week 12 Monday Night Football
25 November 1985
Montana to Clark for a TD
link
It’s not bad, but Gah what is Nike’s obsession with these college style giant wordmarks? They never look good and they make the teams look like FCS college teams. Is it Copy protection since the Chinese knockoff have a hard time replicating them? It was the worst part of the Jets’ old set and the worst part of this set.
Shrink the font a bit and it’s fine (like the Titans or Bills). Better yet if you want something distinctive use a crest like Rams or Jags do. Those look great and came be a lot more creative.
Wordmark aside this is a solid look. Hopefully the they remember to add blue pants with stripes before the season starts. Definitely an improvement on the previous set.
Someone out there is waging a war on stripes in football, and they must be stopped.
Overall a step in the right direction. Hard to go wrong with a nice shade of blue, stripes, and a block numbers. But the wordmark on the chest is just too low. As Paul has pointed out previously, it does not look like it belongs on a NFL jersey. Just fix that it it would excellent.
Also of note from this game is the updated Giants midfield logo. Last year they just had the Giants logo, now they have the helmet.
September 23, 1973: Oilers at Bengals. Not 1 of the 2 games Houston won in 1972-73. Those Oilers teams are never mentioned as one of the worst NFL teams post-merger-but they were. 1-13 both seasons-but 2 years later Houston was 10-4 and missed the playoffs because of 2 close losses to Cincinnati. Of course Sid Gillman and Bum Phillips were slightly better coaches than Bill Petersen who was fired during the 1973 season.
You are correct Charles, thought this one would be tricky since the game in 1974 looked about the same.
This is a much better look than what they had but it just looks too collegiate with the large chest wordmark and stripe-less pants and socks.
I don’t love wordmarks on NFL jerseys but I think it works much better when it’s a small, stylized logo-ish wordmark (like Lions had around 2010 or the Eagles have had for a long time) than when it’s basic lettering on the chest (Lions now, thankfully short-lived Jets set with “New York”). Leave the big, bold letters on the chest to colleges like Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, etc.
This is probably a me issue but I also dislike when a team uses a silver or gold helmet but doesn’t wear that color pants. Granted, it’s not as good now as it used to be when the pants were shiny, but I much prefer the look of the niners with gold helmets and pants, Raiders with silver helmets and pants, and Cowboys silver helmets and pants (navy blue and silver set obviously being more consistent than the white and mint) over what the Lions did and have been doing and what the Saints usually do with their gold helmets and black pants.
Agree with this — I think generally darker-colored pants with a light-colored helmet is a bad combination. Some are worse than others. The exception for me is teams with white helmets that wear colored pants on the road (i.e. Chargers yellow over white).
Compare the Lions mess to that classic Oilers-Bengals photo. Wow. Sleeves, striped pants that cover the knees, and real striped socks. Miles ahead of that XFL-style crap we see today. Sleeveless jerseys, ridiculous city wordmarks, biker shorts, tights in place of socks, and a rainbow of random colored cleats.
Lose the big honking “Detroit” and add some stripes to the pants and it’s a perfect Lions uni.
The Giants new midfield logo looks great. I wonder if the Jets will also have a helmet this year. Perhaps that’s easier to swap.
Mismatched blues.
Immediate disqualification as a good uniform.
count down to new uniforms has started…
BINGO
Not looking forward to the white pants, since I’m sure they will be paired with white socks.
Interestingly, I think the old road uniform (which was the strongest of that set- especially when worn with blue pants) is superior to the new road uni, but overall, when considering the new home uniform and elimination of the heinous gray set; I think the overall change is still probably an upgrade. But I really dislike the lack of pant stripes and that word mark… I also miss the silver face mask.
Good looking uni matchup last night between the Lions and the Giants.
Welcome back Detroit Lions.
GTGFTU (9 August): Should be Oilers at Bengals from 1973/Wk2 Nothing significant other than Houston returned opening kick-off for touchdown by a not very fast Bob Gresham.
GTGFTU (9 August): That uni matchup was only possible 1972-1974. Pretty sure 1972 was played in overcast, wet weather and 1974 was later in the season when that type of sunshine blanketing the stadium would not have been possible.
Actually, can only be in 1973-74, in 1972 Houston wore different style socks with their white uniforms.
It may just be the way that the lighting interacts with the two materials, but it looks like the shade of blue on the helmet doesn’t quite match the shade on the jerseys or pants.
Maybe I’m biased as a Cowboys fan but I prefer the blue pants to the silver pants with the road set because it’s a very distinctive look for Detroit. They look too similar to Dallas when they go white jersey, silver pants, blue socks. Albeit, everything actually matches, lol. I love that they and Houston both went with blue pants instead of mono white, and went with white socks for contrast instead of going with the leotard from the waste down look. Hopefully teams are finally realizing how much better contrast is than the mono-look. Detroit was way too enamored with mono-white last year so hopefully they have seen the light.
I’m curious then how the Cardinals will look on field with their much larger word mark on the front. Perhaps it’s a case of Detriot’s being big enough to stand out but not big enough to look right
The word mark across the chest has always seemed a little collegiate to me, this is the NFL we know who you are.
Detroit needs to change the blue on the helmet/facemask like yesterday
Not only would the pants benefit from stripes, but so would the socks. An improvement over the previous set, but the lack of stripes rings dull for me.
One of the problems with having a team name across the chest is that it either needs to be very small, to the point where its almost just like a wordmark patch (a lot of teams used to do this back in the late 90’s-early 2000’s, Buccaneers, Seahawks, Patriots, Dolphins, Giants, Ravens, e.g. ), or I think it needs to be big enough that it balances the name on the back (e.g. the Oklahoma Sooners probably do this the best, but Kentucky, Navy, Michigan State, Kansas, Memphis, also do it). I agree with others that it has kind of a collegiate feel. I think it is because of the split above, where a lot of pro teams went with the teeny tiny word mark and colleges historically have gone larger. I am not against a pro-team doing the college treatment, but it needs to be enough to balance the name on the back, and the current template just doesn’t leave enough space. Thats also why it looks pushed too far down–because it is. The collars are huge, and then theres even more tailoring below the collar, and then the numbers need to be right there. So Detroit has gone about as big as they can, and its awkwardly between the small accent badge-like wordmarks, and the big team-name text, and it just feels a bit awkward and unbalanced. You can see this best in the one photo of the QB passing with a blocker behind him.
Lions quarterback (#2) Hendon Hooker’s helmet was Gray (as you can see in the first photo), while the rest of the team was wearing silver. It was very noticeable on TV. He also suffered a concussion and had to be removed from the game.
As a die-hard, life-long Lions fan I gotta say . . . new helmet stripe pattern sucks; decals are too light; stripeless pants and socks are an abomination. This shouldn’t be so hard.
I couldn’t unsee that. I remember old pics and footage of Ohio State from the ’70s, and they had a mix of really grey helmets and really shiny silver ones, depending on the manufacturer, I assume. With hi res these days, this type of thing really stands out (like Dallas’ stupid sea foam pants).
Have to agree with most of what’s been said here. The cut of the new jerseys pushes the wordmark and number on front down too far; something has to give, and you need the number, so….
The color differences are hard to get exactly right, because you’re not only dealing with different materials (the vinyl stickers on the helmet vs. knit fabric on the uni), but potentially different lighting in each stadium.
What stood out to me is how large the numbers are; there were a couple of skinny receivers with numbers in the 80s. For those with big round numbers like 86, the numbers nearly wrapped under their arms.
I can deal with it. The change with the helmet stripe and jersey stripes give a LOT more contrast. Granted, some pants stripes would really set this one off. But, Nike would probably find a way to truncate or f*** that up somehow. Overall…… not that bad. Much better improvement over that last set.
The mismatched Blues is gonna drive me nuts. Didn’t think I was gonna say this but last set looked better
This is a perfect example of a uniform being much better than the previous set, but still not quite good. Like everyone else has mentioned, those mismatched blues, lack of pants striping, and the dumb chest wordmark are all unforced errors that keep this from being a really good uniform. I also think that striping pattern should be simplified. I get what they are going for, but after seeing it in action last night I think it’s just too busy.
All of this is frustrating, because they are SO close to having it just right.
Question: if the team wanted to “add” stripes to the blank pants, could they? That is, it’s not a uni-overhaul per se. Or, are we stuck with the stripe-less look for a while?
I don’t believe there is any restriction on the number of, nor the years needed to be worn, for pants. Just jerseys, because they sell those.
Overall, they look much better than their previous unis.
Maybe Nike heard the negative feedback on the NOB lettering they did for Baseball. You can actually READ them.
In the game footage it looks like the blue on their helmets is much lighter than their pants. Could be the lighting but the Giants blue looks the same. I agree about the pants, they need stripes. I also don’t really care for the blue facemask. Feels like it should be grey. Overall, they look much better than the previous set though.
The blue on the helmet being lighter than the blue on the uniform is really bothering me though.