A couple months ago, I penned an article asking if the Patriots would wear their silver-gray pants more often in 2024. The team debuted the silver-gray pants two seasons ago (after wearing only navy blue pants for two years in the current iteration of their Flying Elvis 3.0 set), wearing them once that season. In 2023, the team wore the silver-gray pants twice.
Contained within that article was the following:
Buried in this article on ESPN by Mike Reiss (you’ll need to scroll down a ways to Point #5 “Fashion Report”), is this nugget:
5. Fashion report: The Patriots have had internal discussions about possibly wearing silver pants (instead of the standard blue) for a game(s), which would give its game-day uniform a different look. But there is no confirmation at this time when/if it will happen. Also, as expected, the team plans to wear throwback jerseys during the 2024 season, with an announcement on a specific game(s) to come in the future.
While others interpreted the statement to mean the Pats would wear the silver-grays more often in 2024, while to me it read that they might be worn once or twice.
But this morning the Patriots posted this to Twitter/X:
Doing some shopping at the @PatriotsProShop 😏 pic.twitter.com/zrCNOsW8pa
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 12, 2024
Now, does that mean they will wear the silver-gray pants this Sunday when they take on the Seahawks?
I’d say it’s likely.
In fact, the Gridiron Uniform Database, which is pretty attuned to such things, recently moved from “TBA” to showing the team in the silver-grays.
Is that absolute confirmation? No, but if I were a betting person, I’d be laying money on it.
I think most of us agree that the Patriots look MUCH better when the team wears silver-gray pants with the blue jerseys. Let’s hope they do and that they will pair those pants with the navy tops for every game this season.
[H/T to our own Anthony Emerson for pointing me towards the tweet]
I still don’t know why Nike can’t do metallic colors for football pants. The uniform suppliers of 30-40 years ago could do it. How did technology regress?
It didn’t. This is an active choice by Nike.
Metallic pants look terrible. The only reason people throw a fit about them is because the helmets are metallic and they feel both should match.
I would rather make the helmet flat vs. make the pants metallic. Both of those options are worse than the status quo.
What the heck is a metallic color, can’t we use the color wheel anymore?
The priority is to have material that breathes, wicks moisture, etc. So I think that’s the issue, unfortunately. It is hard to believe they haven’t figured it out, though I’m not sure they’re even trying.
Until the go back to full-time Pat…I guess this is the best we can hope for.
Amazing. Immediately takes their home uniform from bottom 5 to top 10 in NFL imo.
That said, something feels “off” about the stripe not matching the shoulder stripes. Maybe the fact that the stripes are so thick and prominent is what makes that so visually unsettling. How would we propose tweaking that to fix? No stripes? Thinner single Navy Stripe? Thinner navy and red double stripe? I’m kind of at a loss for what would work best.
I think thin blue outer stripes with red/white/red inner stripes would be a good look with the grey pants. Still matches the jersey being navy, red/white/red surrounded by navy.
I’m surprised Nike missed the “storytelling” opportunity on this set. It doesn’t look right because the stripes should be red, white, red, just like the American flag. The white jersey shoulder stripes should also be red, white, red. I know the historical shoulder stripes from the Pat Patriot design were inverted on the red and white jersey, but that was a different design, with a red-based jersey. Now that the design is navy-based, red and white stripes make more sense. The reason it looks off is because when we see two red stripes, we expect a white one separating them. Here’s hoping the minor tweak is something that can be pulled off!
Thank goodness. This is not a bad looking set with the silver-gray pants. And glad they are going to be wearing those pants against Seattle and their navy britches.
Oh nooooooooooooooo. According to the GUD, Da Bears are going with the “pumpkin” look in Houston. Those orange helmets have GOT to go.
Actually the contrast between the Bears and Texans is poor, so if ever there were a time to break out the alternates, it’s now.
As good as the Bears navy/navy/white uniforms look, it will make for a better looking game with the Bears in their orange tops with the Texans going navy/white/white. But they would look MUCH better with the standard navy helmet. Not a fan of those orange Bears helmets paired with the orange jerseys..
Ok but calling Monday morning’s &1 now: LA Rams dishwater vs. Arizona bloodclot
I certainly hope so. As a long time Patriot fan I can’t tell you how much I HATE the mono blue look. HATE IT!!! Wouldn’t even mind if they tried silver/grey pants with the white jersey.
That’s a look I’m waiting to see. Haven’t seen the white/silver-gray since the uniform change in 2000.
Is it really year FIVE of the current Pats set? Man, how time flies.
The silver/grays should be worn 8-10 times per year.
It is incredible how much better this set looks with silver pants.
I agree! I just looked it up on GUD and was floored at the difference.
Are Uni-watch fans the only ones who think they should wear the silver-gray pants all the time? And, whose decision is it? Also, if they are absolutely wanting to move on from the Brady era, why didn’t they do a complete change. Maybe a red jersey or something??????
“… if I were a betting person…”
That brings up a question. With all the extra helmets and pants and jerseys and endless combinations, and the way the league has leaned into gambling on the smallest things, will we reach a point where people can place bets on which combination a team (that doesn’t announce its dress schedule) will be wearing on a given week?
Also on the GUD, they are showing that evidently players are going to get to chose to wear solid white socks with the Dolphins throwbacks. When is this “I’M AN INDIVIDUAL” and can do whatever I want, going to end? They are paying you millions of dollars. Would it hurt you to wear a pair of socks and look like a team for one day???????