The Atlanta Falcons will wear their most awesome 1966 throwback uniforms this Sunday when they take on division rival New Orleans. Thanks to the one-shell rule being scrapped a couple years back, the team has been able to pair their (new) red helmets with the throwback, after several seasons where the single helmet rule forced them into wearing their black helmets, creating what is in essence a fauxback.
I know many of you — and I include myself in this group — love this look (and almost every comment section where the throwbacks are mentioned included at least one “they should make these permanent!”). Others would prefer the team to wear throwbacks from a different era, when they wore red helmets over red jerseys. Some prefer red/red/white…
…and others like red/red/gray.
Meanwhile, because the Falcons will wear their throwbacks this weekend, it means they’ve been practicing this week in their throwback helmets. QB Kirk Cousins wore his over his red “no contact” jersey in the current modern uniform template/style, which made for an interesting look:
The Falcons have never worn a solid red jersey with their current uniform — although they did wear an ill-fated red>black gradient jersey a couple times, before mercifully scrapping it in 2023.
But what if the Falcons actually introduced a red alternate jersey, and paired it with their red shells? How might that look. It’s actually something I explored in my “2+3+2+3 Project”. In that, I created a new look for the Falcons in their current uni template, offering two helmets, three jerseys, two pairs of pants, and three pairs of socks (hence the “2+3+2+3” monicker).
The different elements are designed to be mixed and matched, so the Falcons could pair the red helmet and red jersey, along with either white or gray pants. (I also got rid of the humungous “ATL” wordmark they currently have.)
Not bad, right? Granted, I would prefer the team create a white version of the current throwback (or one of the red jersey uniforms) and ditch the current uniforms, but if they must keep them, wouldn’t a red jersey with white/gray pants options (and NO black pants) make it look a lot better?
Cousins’ look in practice this week gives me hope that with a new red jersey, and just a few tweaks, the Falcons could have a pretty good looking uniform set.
I’d pencil the Falcons/Saints game in for the good side of the 5 & 1, but I fear the Saints will go mono-white with their gold hats (The GUD lists the pants as “TBA” but I’ll bet they wear white stripeless pants and white hosiery, which is their worst possible look).
But what do you think of Cousins’ look? Do you think the Falcons would do well to introduce a new red alternate jersey and pair it with their red shells? And if the Falcons were to introduce a new throwback, would you prefer red/red/white or red/red/ gray?
Love to hear your thoughts!
No grey/silver pants for the Falcons or they will look too much like the Georgia Bulldogs (paired with a red jersey) or the Raiders (paired with a black jersey). I love their red retro helmets, either with white, red or black retro jerseys and white pants (or grey pants with white retro jerseys, also UGA but I allow that…).
Red/red/grey is what I remember as a kid. Get off my lawn.
Agreed.
As long as they go back to the original falcon insignia, it will look good.
These are some of my favorite uniforms in football today.
Atlanta has so many great options that they don’t use. If they ditched their current set, they could have not only this, but also the black helmet and grey pants for the pre-2k version, a red jersey for the 1980 version, and they’d still have room for something edgy and new.
I love their throwback look, but peak falcons for me would be the Jerry Glanville/Neon Deion era Black/Black/Silver(gray).
I am in favor of the the Falcons bringing back silver/grey pants, they just don’t look ‘right’ when they don’t wear them…The ‘Bartkowski’ era uniforms were awesome !
This is the Falcons best look in franchise history. Was a shame they didn’t go with a slightly modified modern version of it in their latest redesign. Use the current logo on a red helmet, black jersey with some red and white sleeve stripes, and white pants. It is a no brainer. Hopefully since they ditched their alternates so they can wear the throwback more often they get it now and we’ll see them go this route full time in next year when they are eligible for a redesign again.
Number 84, the great Alfred Jenkins, Birmingham Americans 1974.
I love that classic red uniform! They should definitely go back to red/red/white but with some modern tweaks. First, they should keep their modern logo. A lot of people love the old logo but in the end it is really only because that is what they grew up with. In reality, while it works as a throwback logo, it is very outdated and has no place in the modern era as a primary logo. The more detailed falcon is MUCH cooler and more menacing. The original looks low budget and like it was made at the last minute. Second, they should revert to the throwback number font and throwback striping but add a small white FALCONS wordmark above the numbers. Finally, they should add a black pants option but make sure it has the right striping. Red/red/black would work well as a secondary option to red/red/white but ONLY with stripes. If the falcons made these changes they could EASILY have a top 10 uniform.
I’d like to see something in between the pre- and post-2k logos. The old one is a little too hokey for me, and the current one seems like it’s trying too hard to be edgy. I’d like something a little sharper than the old version, but that doesn’t look like its trying to be a space ship.
But really, I’ll take either version if it means getting to see these uniforms more often.
‘76-‘77 was the high water mark for the Falcons uniforms…no doubt about it.
Adding sliver/gray was a big mistake…much like the Colts doing so in their final seasons in Baltimore.
Playing indoors, black as a primary color bs a tertiary as it originally was…rebrand or fold. Falcons are as generic as it gets.
As long as they use the old logo, they could go purple over brown and look good. That current logo is an abomination.
I lived in Atlanta during the Bartkowski era and was a huge fan of the team and the uniforms. But the 66 unis are the best in franchise history and should be what they wear on Sundays.
Phil, where do you get the template that you used for the 2+2+3 mockup you used here? I have a project I’m thinking about working on and that template would probably work really well for what I have in mind.
I use the same template as the GUD. I’m not sure where they got it (it existed before there was a GUD). I just use the front view and one side of the helmet, whereas their template shows side stripes, helmet stripes, and sides of pants, plus the jersey and pants’ backs.
But if you google “football uniform template” I’m sure you will find several that might work for you.
Thank you!
The original red+red+white look is my favorite uniform and logo combination in sports history. Nothing else comes close. And I’m not a Falcons fan.
get rid of the matt finished helmet and go back to the shiny finish helmet. the old school shiny red was the ultimate helmet but mainly get rid of the dull looking matt helmet. makes team look dull. the entire league should ban the matt finish helmets. congrats to Cleveland Browns for bringing back their shiny helmets!
Grey socks will ALWAYS look dumb