[Editor’s Note: Today we introduce a new feature: “UniWrap24.” This series will look at various uniform anomolies, machinations, combinations, or other uni-related tidbits for the NFL during the 2024 NFL Season.]
The 2024 NFL season not might not have been a memorable one in terms of wins and losses for the Carolina Panthers, but they did have one uni-related accomplishment: the team wore thirteen different uniform combinations out of seventeen total games, setting a team record and tying the Jacksonville Jaguars for most different individual combinations in a season (the Jaguars set the record during the 2023 season).
I occasionally joke that the Panthers (and the Jaguars) are the “Oregon of the NFL,” with their penchant for mixing and matching various uniform components. And certainly, it would be possible for either (or both) the Panthers and Jaguars to go an entire 17-game season without repeating a combo, should either so choose. Traditionalists would probably cringe at the thought, but seeing the Panthers roll out a new combination almost every week has certainly kept Uni Watch busy, and honestly, a wee bit excited. Tying the record for most uniform combinations worn in a single season may be a dubious distinction, but it’s just one of many interesting uni-related happenings during the 2024 NFL Regular Season.
Let’s take a look back at all the games played by the Panthers, with the opponents and scores.
Week One:
Saints 47 – Panthers 10
Week Two:
Chargers 26 – Panthers 3
Week Three:
Panthers 36 – Raiders 22
Week Four:
Bengals 34 – Panthers 24
Week Five:
Bears 36 – Panthers 10
Notes: First repeat combination (Silver/White/Black/Black). Also worn in Week Three.
Week Six:
Falcons 38 – Panthers 20
Notes: First time ever black helmets paired with blue jerseys.
Week Seven:
Commanders 40 – Panthers 7
Notes: First time ever wearing this combination (Silver/White/Blue/Blue).
Week Eight:
Broncos 28 – Panthers 14
Notes: Second repeat combination (Silver/White/White/Blue). Also worn in Week Two
Week Nine:
Panthers 23 – Saints 22
Week Ten:
Panthers 20 – Giants 17
Notes: First time ever wearing this new combination.
Week Twelve:
Chiefs 30 – Panthers 27
Week Thirteen:
Buccaneers 26 – Panthers 23
Notes: First time ever wearing this new combination.
Week Fourteen:
Eagles 22 – Panthers 16
Week Fifteen:
Cowboys 30 – Panthers 14
Notes: Third repeat combination (Silver/White/White/Black). Also worn Week Four.
Week Sixteen:
Panthers 36 – Cardinals 30
Week Seventeen:
Buccaneers 48 – Panthers 14
Notes: Third time wearing this combination (Silver/White/White/Blue). Also worn in Week Two and Week Eight.
Week Eighteen:
Panthers 44 – Falcons 38
Notes: Only second time ever wearing white jerseys/silver pants. First time wearing white/silver since 1998. This was a brand new combo (silver/white/silver/white). First white/silver combo had blue socks.
And there you have it. Seventeen games, thirteen different uniform combinations. Five wins.
What do you think of the Panthers uniform “record”? Should they pare the number of combos back in 2025, or should they continue to break new uni ground (and possibly break the “most combos in one season” record)? Of all the combinations worn, which was your favorite/least favorite?
Love to have your thoughts!
I wish those “silver” pants were actually silver. Was I the only one who barely noticed they were wearing them in the broadcast yesterday? Looked like they were in all whites with slightly dirty pants, like the Rams bone color almost.
Agreed.
Nike can’t make silver pants anymore.
Sigh.
What’s especially weird about the Panthers, Bucs, and a few others is that Nike IS capable of making silver pants! The Raiders’ pants are still silver! They just completely messed up Carolina’s. I assume because it’s a “lesser” brand and they aren’t willing to go the extra mile for them.
The Raiders’ pants are outsourced to a third-party supplier and have the swoosh added after. Those are not manufactured by Nike.
I love that they switch it up week to week. It keeps it interesting. As a Dolphins fan, sometimes I wish we would do the same. Mono-white, even with teal socks, is a real yawner.
I think they need to pull it back a little next year. It was neat to explore all the different combos, and surprisingly, most of them worked relatively well (or at least were better than I expected). I think their primary combos should be:
Home: Gray/Black/Gray/Black
Away: Gray/White/White/Blue
Alt: Black/Blue/Blue/Black
Just wish they would get a new uni set. Among the most dated in the league.
Other recent looks I’d like to see again;
Silver / black / black / blue
Silver / blue / white / blue
Silver / blue / silver / black
I would not consider them the “Oregon of the NFL” until they throw in non-team colors or try to really lean in too hard into looking like a panther. They already can go mono-black to look like a black panther, but could you imagine if they tried to be a regular panther where they were mostly tan with a white bib? That would be atrocious. Oregon was able to pull it off in 2016. Florida tried the same thing in 2017 and was roasted for it.
Panthers uniform redesign concept:
Black helmet, or something similar, becomes the primary helmet.
Silver is removed, replaced with white everywhere on the jerseys and pants
Stripes become an even width all the way through
Three jerseys: black, white, blue
Three pants: black, white, blue
Three socks: black, white, blue
Possibly the silver helmet and pants stay as a throwback option, but can only be paired with black jersey
OK Since I live in CLT I’m appointing myself to do a 5+1
5. vs ATL WK 6 – Blue jersey + pants good offset to ATL black helmets + pants
4. at PHI WK 14 – White socks don’t ruin Blue pants for me, PHI “regular” look
3. vs TB WK 13 – I like the silver/black/blue/black, TB pewter just OK to me
2. at WAS WK 8 – Blue socks with blue pants kept from #1, WAS Gold pants are great!
1. vs NO WK9 – Traditional Silver/black/silver/black combined with Saints Gold pants were a winner for me!
&1 vs AZ WK 16 – not a fan of all silver/black/black/black vs all white, not a chess match
(close second vs KC WK 12 don’t like all black, KC’s pants helped the look)
I liked most of the combos they wore this year. My big takeaway is that I just dislike it when they don’t contrast their pants and socks, except for the mono looks, I quite liked the mono blue, black, and white looks, in moderation.
I might be the only person who loves the current uniform. It’s not terrible, and the white jerseys with black pants is a solid NFL look. I’d like to see them wear the black alternate helmets with the white/black combo. If you look at the teams to come into the league most recently (Panthers,Jags,Texans and Browns return) the Panthers are the only team not to switch up their look. Sure we slightly altered the logo, and the blue, but it’s mostly been the same look for 30 years. The Jags have changed their uniforms 82 times and haven’t even made it to a Super Bowl. Ok.
I have been a Panther fan since their inception. I am a traditionalist too. However, I really like the blue. I would prefer silver/white/white/blue for road games and silver/blue/silver/blue for home games. Wear silver/black/silver/black as a alternate.
I do not like white pants with anything other than a white jersey. I dislike the black helmet as it isn’t visible. The black pants should be trashed. In an opinion most will disagree with; if black pants must be worn, make them without stripes. The wide, blue stripe clashes with the black pants rather than compliment it. I wouldn’t mind the white jersey with black pants without stripes occasionally. The blue pants work well with all three jerseys. The blank pants clash with the blue jersey but may go better without stripes. Black or blue socks could go with any combo but should contrast with the pants color.
Make the silver britches, silver again!!
Thanks for an article on my favorite team!
No particular combo is really offensive, but I would trim down the options by…
(a) removing silver helmet, black jersey, blue pants as an option – just a little too loud for me
(b) removing silver helmet, white jersey, silver pants as an option – doesn’t add anything to the mix (c) ditching the blue jerseys, which are ok in a vacuum but look too much like the Jaguars’ jerseys
Cleveland Browns wore 13 combos in 2016 as well
link
Right, I’m counting 13. Isn’t that what they said the record was
I’d scale it back a little, starting with any combination that includes wearing the same color pants and hosiery. Just say NO to the leotard look.
Can’t say I mind any of these beyond all black and all blue, but they one combo they didn’t wear is the one I think looks best (unless I just missed it): Silver/blue/silver. Great look.
I second this. I appreciate the Panthers getting creative cause I was getting bored with their design. Silver/blue/silver is the combo I really want to see. (Or even black-blue-silver or white)
Silver/blue/silver/blue is by far their best looking uniform IMO
Kinda off subject here……. But, was the firing of Mayo in New England show a sign of a complete overhaul of the organization??????? New head coach…… Rebranding…… NEW UNIFORMS??????
It’s fashionable to rap Carolina’s uniforms, but I think they have excellent clothing. The manufacturer let them down, they should wear what they wore decades ago.
So… if you don’t count socks they got 10 (6 of which are silver/white/white). That leaves the silver helmet with 1 unworn black jersey combo (not counting socks and assuming all three alternate jerseys are black, so 4 blue jersey combos impossible). Only able to wear alternate helmet three times leaves a total of 9 combos impossible to wear.
Black helmet 3
Silver helmet 14
silver/white/white 6
silver/white/black 2
silver/white/blue 2
silver/white/silver 1
silver/black/white 0
silver/black/black 1
silver/black/blue 1
silver/black/silver 1
silver/blue/white 0
silver/blue/black 0
silver/blue/blue 0
silver/blue/silver 0
black/white/white 0
black/white/black 0
black/white/blue 0
black/white/silver 0
black/black/white 0
black/black/black 1
black/black/blue 0
black/black/silver 0
black/blue/white 0
black/blue/black 1
black/blue/blue 1
black/blue/silver 0
Admittedly some of these unworn combos would also look horrible.
What sticks out the most is that for some reason the stripe/claw marks on the helmet are black with blue out line while they are blue with black outline elsewhere. That sort of inconsistency bothers me. With all the variability and amateur hour mix and match this year it makes it clear they need to create a consistent identity. Whatever it is, and stick with it. When you see them go black/blue/blue they look like the Jags, and that isn’t a compliment.
My preference would actually just be going with a blue helmet, blue jersey (simplified to standard UCLA stripes with numbers on the sleeves), and white pants at home, blue/white/blue on the road.
If they wanted to introduce a mono black alternate after reestablishing their identity I’d be fine with that.
The Silver/white/white/blue is by far the best. If they went Silver/Blue/White/blue that would look good too. Ger rid of the black helmet and replace with a gloss blue. The number font is among the best.
I dont really get how you can consider the Jaguars as the “Oregon” of the NFL with their bland unis they have.
I didn’t mean that in terms of how the uniforms look — or even whether some are not in school colors (as others have pointed out).
I was simply considering teams who seemingly wear new combinations every week (and could do so for an entire season) as the criterion.
If I were a Panthers fan, I would rather see them focus on being a better team than mixing and matching indefinitely.