Four teams redesigned their uniforms for the 2024 season: New York Jets, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and Denver Broncos. This short series will review all the uniforms worn by those four teams. We conclude the series today, with our own Kary Klismet tackling his home team. Enjoy! — PH
by Kary Klismet
I’m a lifelong Broncos fan, and I like to think of myself as a keen observer and historian of their uniforms. So I was honored when Phil asked me to do an assessment of Denver’s new uniform program.
After 27 years in their previous uni set, a uniform refresh was warranted for the Broncos. These new uniforms accomplished that fairly well, with a few exceptions I’ll get into below.
It was obvious from the unveiling in April that the Broncos intended to explore the vast stylistic possibilities their new uniforms afforded them:
And, indeed, through 18 games of regular season and postseason play, Denver wore thirteen (!) different uniform combinations. (They wore two different combinations over three preseason games – each with white jerseys – but those were all worn in the regular season, too.)
The new uniforms have a couple of elements that I’m not sold on yet. For example, I get that they’re trying to evoke a Rocky Mountain theme with the triangles. That angular concept, more abstractly, works well enough on the sleeves. It doesn’t work inside the numbers or on the helmets, however, where it creates unnecessary visual clutter.
Likewise, the asymmetrical and partially truncated pants striping is a minor annoyance. But after decades of putting up with the “parentheses” side panels on the last uniform set, I’m willing to accept the tradeoff.
Probably the most surprising aspect of the new uniforms was how much the socks made a difference in the overall look. As you’ll see below, the choice of socks could significantly affect the uniform grades, even when that was the only difference between certain uniform combinations.
But enough introductory chatter. Let’s dive in so I can show you what I mean!
Denver debuted their new orange jerseys in Week 3, after wearing white for the entire preseason and the initial two weeks of the regular season. (Interestingly enough, they wore this fairly conventional “home” look on the road at Tampa Bay.) This combination came so close to getting it right!
The orange jerseys look great beneath the navy blue helmets, with the white pants balancing out the color palette nicely. Just add some contrasting socks to the look instead of the white hose and you’d have quite a solid-looking uniform.
GRADE: B
It’s amazing what a difference a little color below the knees make to the Broncos’ home unis! The orange socks provided some much-needed contrast to the white pants that the white socks worn in Week 3 simply didn’t do.
And, for the record, I’m not rating these highly just because Denver wore them in the one game I got a chance to see in person this past season. But I’m sure glad they wore one of their best combos when I was there!
GRADE: A-
This combination narrowly edges out the one above because, as much as I love the orange socks, the navy blue socks create a nice bookend effect with the helmet and make the orange jerseys stand out that much more. It’s the closest thing the Broncos wore to a replication of their standard home look from 2012 to 2023, but without the navy side panels. I consider that to be addition by subtraction.
GRADE: A
Amazingly, the Broncos didn’t wear their new orange jerseys at home for the first time until Week 6. And when they did, they scrapped tradition by pairing the jerseys with navy pants, not white.
I think the orange jerseys and navy pants have potential to look decent together with some more contrast at the shin level. I’d be curious to see how the rest of this combo would look by swapping out the navy socks for white. Probably not orange, though. My eyes would need a rest from the constant barrage of color.
GRADE: C
You knew the Broncos would give us a mono-orange look at some point in the season. (In this case, I’m applying the “mono” label to the coupling of the jersey and pants, but with socks becoming such an important component of the NFL’s new mix-and-match looks, maybe I shouldn’t use “mono” in this instance anymore.)
I’m never going to prefer this look to white pants. But to this combination’s credit, the dark blue helmets and socks did just enough to separate them from some of their more orange-obsessed superfans (RIP, Kerry!)
GRADE: C+
Considering the frequency with which Denver wore this bleached-out combo, you’d think they were trying to add “White Crush” to their nickname repertoire. I’m sure it’s only because of the league’s alternate helmet rules that the Broncos haven’t tried topping this outfit with their white helmets and calling it “Rocky Mountain Ice” or some similar nonsense. Ugh!
GRADE: C+
The Broncos’ Week 17 duds are just one more example of how much difference the socks make to this uniform set.
The blue socks elevate this road combo several notches over the version above. If I squint, I can almost see Rod Smith catching an 80-yard bomb from John Elway for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXIII and Peyton Manning drilling his last-ever pass for a two-point conversion to cap off the win in Super Bowl 50 (minus the side panels, of course).
GRADE: B+
Other than getting some serious Chicago Bears road uni vibes out of these, this was a pretty decent look for the Broncos. Still, a little more orange (perhaps at the sock level) might reduce the potential for mistaken identity.
GRADE: B
This – THIS! – is how the Broncos chose to debut their new uniform set to the Mile High faithful for the first home game of the regular season?! Seriously? You need a pair of binoculars to spot the orange on these uniforms!
The team said they were trying to beat the early September heat in Denver with the white jerseys. But if that was the case, why wear dark pants and socks that absorb the sun’s rays?
This combination worked slightly better on the road in Week 12. But it was uniform moves like this (and a few others) that had me wondering if the ownership was trying to change the Broncos from a “Predominantly Orange” team to “Predominantly Midnight Navy.”
GRADE: C
These uniforms generated quite a bit of buzz when the Broncos wore them for a home game in the preseason. It was the first time they’d worn orange pants with white jerseys since 1979.
Sadly, this combination made only one appearance in the regular season. That’s a shame, because these really should be the Broncos’ standard road uniforms.
GRADE: A
Maybe I should be careful what I wish for when it comes to the Broncos wearing more orange, because I just might get it! Adding some contrast below the knees can easily be the difference between making a uniform combination pop and looking like you just got back from yoga class. Maybe try again next season with navy socks…
GRADE: C
I’ve long been a skeptic about how the Broncos would look in white helmets. Last season’s faux retro lids basically confirmed those fears. The concept didn’t work last year with mono-orange, and the all-blue look they wore this past season wasn’t any better. (It doesn’t help that the current helmet logo gets lost against all that white.)
Frankly, the mono-navy look might be worse than shoulder-to-ankle orange for a team that’s built its visual identity – and goodwill with the fanbase – on the predominance of orange. I’m willing to entertain the idea that the team can find a combination where the white helmets work, but this isn’t it.
GRADE: D
Let’s end this rundown with what I consider to be the best unis the Broncos wore all season (by a wide margin). Put simply, the Broncos haven’t looked this good since the end of their Orange Crush heyday nearly 30 years ago.
I might have had a slight preference for the pant- and sock-striping from the late ’80s and ’90s rather than 1977 versions, but that’s a minor quibble. Worn against two divisional rivals with classic looks, this created two of the best-looking games of the 2024 NFL season.
Everyone, from the fans to the players, loved these uniforms. It’s hard to consider their reintroduction anything less than an unqualified success. You can count my voice among the many calling for the Broncos to bring these uniforms back as their permanent look.
GRADE: A+
Readers? What say you?
Every time I see some ridiculous number of uniforms, I am grateful to the Raiders for refusing to go along with this nonsense. Marc Davis has his faults, but he’s a hero to me.
The triangles need to go. The truncated strip on the pants makes no sense. Otherwise uniform is ok. There are already too many white helmets in the NFL. An orange alternate would be better.
I would disagree with you slightly on your comment that the truncated pant stripes “make no sense” I see it as an attempt to continue the theme of the striping on the sleeve caps, which is supposed to be an angular, asymmetrical nod to a common visual motif in Colorado – logos featuring the sheer cliff faces of mountains partially in shadow: link
Where I would agree with you is that the pant stripes don’t look particularly good. It’s a poor execution of the “mountain” theme at a place on the uniform where it really doesn’t work.
Did I miss you giving the Throwbacks a grade? Assuming it’s an A+.
Yes, I was just emailing Phil to correct that oversight on my part. The throwbacks do indeed earn an A+ from me.
As a Broncos fan the new uni set grew on me as the season went on. I like the sleeve mountain triangles and have seen it used on other merch where it looks good too. Like the author, I still can’t stand the tiny triangles inside the numbers and the red arrow on the helmet. Really hoping they get rid of that clutter.
Thanks, Matt! Glad we agree!
Such a great photo of you and Austin from the Week 8 game!
Thanks, Phil! <3
Much like the Texans, all I see with the Broncos uniforms are unnecessary gimmicks there seemingly because you cannot have conventional uniform designs now. Certainly the throwback design is by far the best because both the D logo and royal blue helmet are better than the cyber horse and navy helmet. BUT even with the navy cyberhorse helmet you could still have a very solid uniform if you just went with conventional sleeve and pant stripes, contrasting socks, and tv numbers. These new uniforms look like a knock off Boise State design, and as much as I root for underdog Boise State, there is nothing positive about a pro team looking worse than a MWC team.
i’m one of the few people who like cyberhorse and navy better than the lighter blue for the broncos. I think navy/orange and cyberhorse on the throwback would be an amazing uniform and better than the old one
I’ve always liked the cyber horse logo (although not as well as old-school D). I’d be curious to see how the uniforms you suggested would look. I think it might work even better as the Broncos’ new uniforms than the set I just reviewed!
Greg, one of my theories for why we don’t see conventional uniform design anymore (particularly from Nike) is that all the visual noise makes the designs harder to counterfeit. It’s basically protecting their retail merchandising opportunities. I’ve heard quite a bit of discussion about that being the case with the Seahawks uniform numbers (link) and I’m pretty sure that’s why the Broncos’ new uniforms have that very had-to-replicate triangle pattern inside of them (link). I’m definitely not a fan, but it’s not terribly noticeable from a distance or on TV, so I considerable it (barely) tolerable.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think the Orange jerseys need more navy. The one thing jagged sleeve stripe isn’t enough. It makes the navy helmet feel out of place to me.
Do you feel that way about the uniform set with the navy socks? I feel like that strikes just about the perfect balance of blue and orange.
The navy socks make a world of difference. But it would also make a world of difference if they’d have simply extended the navy sleeve stripe to turn bottom of the sleeve, rather than do the pointless zig zag. And then relatively brisk navy and orange stripes on the pants. The existing pants stripes are pointlessly thin.
I get that. I can’t say I’d complain about thicker (and more symmetrical) pants striping.
I Still think the “mountains” on the sleeves look too much like lightning bolts. the ticky tacky stuff like the snowfall in the numbers and the Doritos crumbs on the sides disappear on TV. So does the pointlessly stupid helmet “stripe.” Overall, a huge improvement over the parentheses look, with some excellent color combinations in there.
The mountains definitely look more like mountains to me than lightning bolts. But considering that that the Chargers already have (or should have) the market cornered on lightning bolt-style sleeve designs in the division, I do consider it a curious design choice by the Broncos.
I like the new look, even if it’s got some unnecessary visual noise (like the little triangles). The 1977 throwbacks pop so well, in part, because we don’t see them every week. I think they would lose some luster if made the every-day set.
Thanks, Michael! I appreciate your input!
I get what you’re saying about the buzz generated by the throwback unis. It’s sort of like the aesthetic equivalent of McDonald’s bringing back the McRib sandwich roughly once a year (link).
But my counter to that is why WOULDN’T the Broncos want to wear their best uniforms as often as possible? Can you imagine if the New York Yankees said, “Our classic pinstripes are such an iconic look that we’re only going to wear them for a couple of weeks a season, so that the design really pops; the rest of the year, we’ll wear these modern uniforms with sublimated Statue of Liberty crown spikes inside the numbers”?
Orange Crush throwbacks are A+ indeed. Wish they’d apply those colors to modern theme. Their white helmet ought to go with all white uni like bengals and their white helmet.
I would not mind at all to see the modern uniforms rendered in the old color scheme. I don’t mind navy, but I really love that royal blue.
My biggest gripe that is seldom mentioned is the lack of a helmet stripe. It just looks off. I didn’t hate the truncated pointed old stripe, but I didn’t love it either. A simple orange would do wonders to the aesthetic of the overall look. And yes, I know there is something something on the back, but it looks nonexistent on the field, and it’s pointless.
Fair point. I think the only reason I didn’t point it out in more detail beyond the fairly brief mention in the intro is that it the helmet “stripe” is hard to see from a distance. And since part of how I was judging this uniform set was on how they look on television and from the stands, the downgrade for this fairly useless uniform element was minimal.
I too am a lifelong Bronco fan. You’ve written a solid review of the Broncos uni combos and I mostly agree with the grades. The 1977 throwback is the very best. Blue/Orange/White/Blue is the best of the modern combos. Blue/White/White/White is the worst, and they wore that the most often. I’ve done a similar analysis, and under the Broncos uniform rules as they have described them since the unveiling, there are 28 different combos they could wear. I think it should be a goal to wear a different combo for each regular season game. I don’t think any NFL team as yet accomplished a different uniform for every game. Based on the best looking 17 of the 28 combos in descending order, I would recommend the following for the 2025 season:
Helmet/Jersey/Pants/Socks B=Blue, O=Orange, W=White
Throwback Dallas (1977 Super Bowl tribute)
B/O/W/B Kansas City
B/W/O/B at Houston
B/O/W/O Las Vegas
B/W/O/W at Kansas City
B/O/B/O Jacksonville
B/W/B/O at New York Jets
B/O/W/W Tennessee
B/W/B/B at Indianapolis
B/O/B/W Green Bay
W/B/O/W Cincinnati
B/O/O/B New York Giants
B/O/O/W Los Angeles Chargers
B/W/O/O at Las Vegas
B/W/B/W at Philadelphia
B/W/W/O at Washington
B/W/W/B at Los Angeles
Thanks, Doug! Interesting idea! Personally, I’d be fine with it if the Broncos went B/O/W/B or B/O/W/O for every home game whenever they can’t wear their throwbacks (or are required to wear their alternates for a game) and B/W/O/W for all of that road games, but I suspect you’re right that they will keep mixing and matching more than settling on a few of their best combos. I do agree with you pretty well on which combos look best. (Contrast those socks, Broncos!)
Here are the 13 combos the Broncos wore for the 2024-25 season Helmet/Jersey/Pants/Socks B=Blue, O=Orange, W=White
Throwback Kansas City, Las Vegas
B/O/W/B Indianapolis
B/O/W/O Carolina
B/W/O/W at Baltimore
B/O/W/W at Tampa Bay
B/W/B/B Pittsburgh, at Las Vegas
B/O/O/B Atlanta
B/O/B/B Los Angeles
B/W/O/O at Buffalo
B/W/B/W at Kansas City, at Los Angeles
W/B/B/B Cleveland
B/W/W/B at Cincinnati
B/W/W/W at Seattle, at New York, at New Orleans
Should have dumped Navy and gone with Royal.
I want to love the throwbacks, I just hate the logo.
But I agree with your takes here, the legging look has got to go all across football.
Dear Mr. Leech–
I have been a serious Broncos fan since 1960, when I was in the 7th grade at Cherry Creek Junior High School. I have continued to follow and support them faithfully, even after moves to California and Florida. (I went to all their games in San Diego for many years and now catch them in Jacksonville, whenever they’re on the schedule.
I applaud and admire the winning attitude of the new ownership and team executives and look forward to seeing the team return to perpetual prominence in the NFL. And I’m glad you all decided it was time to retire the controversial old “swoosh” uniforms that came into use over 2 decades ago.
I’ve always believed that you have to at least dress like professional athletes for your team to carry any respect in the NFL and make your fans proud of their team. Given some of the excellent proposed uniforms and combinations submitted by local designers / artists, as well as the fans’ overwhelming support of restoring the historic “throwback” uniforms, I was surprised that Broncos staff / owners chose to start from square one and reinvent the wheel as they did.
To be fair to all parties, I must say that you have indeed made some positive changes, but unfortunately, there are some curious and glaring appearance and artistic shortcomings in several features of the new uniform design:
–the very short length of the second stripe on the side of the new pants is an inexplicable artistic flaw, if not a point of distraction. It serves no purpose, other than to make observers wonder what happened to the rest of the stripe and question why any designer would leave out most of a complementary line that would have looked fine if extended to the full length of the other stripe.
–that curious dull orange pattern from the top of the helmets to the back is another one of those features that elicits a “WTF?” response from fans and observers. Whatever type of symbolism was attempted, it just didn’t work! A white / orange stripe combination from back to front would have looked much better and made the Broncos’ helmets an eye-catching and powerful feature of the uniform.
–the concept of multiple uniform combinations by varying the colors of helmets, pants, and jerseys is a fine idea, if carefully and aesthetically applied. But there are several versions we’ve already seen that are somewhere between odd and hideous:
The white socks worn with white pants makes our Broncos look like they’re playing in their long underwear. (They also remind me of the geriatric stockings Ruth Buzzi used to wear on “Laugh-In”, when she portrayed the quirky old spinster.) An easy solution would be to provide some much needed contrast and feature the blue or orange socks with the white pants–they would look so much better!
And unfortunately, the blue pants worn with the orange jerseys give the uniforms a strange, disjointed, if not incompatible appearance. In fact, I’d have to categorize them as downright awful together! On a positive note, the blue or orange pants with the white jerseys are a fine combination.
The classic and popular “throwback” uniforms are near and dear to the hearts of fans and players alike. If you’re not going to adopt them as the Broncos’ standard uniforms, they should at least be worn as often as the league will allow!
–a few, less significant observations:
The unique and symbolic triangles on the jerseys and dots on the numbers neither add nor detract from the uniforms and probably don’t mean much to fans or players, either way.
The “5280” on the nose pad of the helmets is a bit of a stretch that I know some Denverites find laughable. Do other teams or their fans really know or care about the elevation of the city? (I’m sure opposing players already know they’re going to have less stamina at that altitude.) Do Broncos fans really need to be reminded that Denver is a mile high? A simple “BRONCOS” or “DENVER” would have been much more meaningful.
I read a lot of Broncos blogs and follow multiple websites, so I think I share the opinions and views of many Denver fans. While we welcome and appreciate your efforts to make positive changes to our beloved team and all aspects of the operation, the new uniforms have fallen short of our hopes and expectations. The good news is, they can certainly be improved by the simple changes I have suggested. And many of us would be thrilled to see more colorful, dynamic designs in the near and distant future. We Broncos fans just want our team to look great on the field in every way and make us all proud. Thank you for listening!
Yeah we need to bring back the old D for sure in the next five years when we’re able too the old D looks great the new uniform is not so great
Great analysis, Phil! Here are my thoughts, short and sweet: The socks should always be a contrasting color from the pants and shouldn’t look like they’re wearing long underwear. The helmets need a two-color stripe, minus that weird looking symbolic ? graphic (whatever it is) toward the top. (And I will always prefer a shiny paint finish to the flat / satin.) Does anybody really care about the 5280 on the front of the helmet?? The pants also need a two-color stripe all the way down the side–the partial stripe in one color looks ridiculous. The orange / blue pants / jersey combination is ugly in either direction, as are using the same color for both, with the exception of visitor whites! How about “BRONCOS” or “DENVER” instead? The little triangles everywhere were wasted effort. The throwback uniforms are still the best ever and we would really like to see them more often, if not permanently for the foreseeable future.
Thanks Doug, but this one is all Kary Klismet, not me. Your thanks belong to him
OK, Thanks for setting me straight on that one, Phil.
Kary Klismet–you did a thorough and amazing analysis that was spot-on!
Thank you, Doug! Your kind words are very much appreciated! Speaking as a fellow Denver fan, “Go Broncos!”