Good Monday morning, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone had a good weekend.
The Washington Commanders got a new name — having previously played for two seasons as the “Washington Football Team” — as well as new uniforms three seasons ago. So, technically, they would have to have redesigned for 2020 in order to be eligible for any uniform changes. Six teams got new unis in 2020, and in that article I noted the relevant section of the NFL rules regarding new uniform timelines:
• By March 1 of the year prior to the year in which a uniform change will take place, written notice and details of any changes in the uniform must be provided to the League office (e.g., if you want to make a change for 2025, you must notify the league not later than March 1, 2024).
• By July 1 of that year, uniform color selection and logo design must be completed, having been approved by the club’s owner and chief executive.
• By August 1 of that year, initial uniform samples must be created and approved by the club’s owner, equipment manager, and chief executive.
• By November 1 of that year, final uniform samples are to be provided to the League office for TV testing. Approvals from club owner, equipment manager and chief executive must be certified to the league by this date. If final samples do not arrive in the League offices by November 1 of the year preceding the season in which the change is occurring, the uniform will not be approved.
• By December 1, the league office gives final approval for use the following season.
These rules would normally apply to the Commanders as well, yet they are in a bit of a different position than the other NFL clubs because the Commanders became the Commanders under former owner Dan Snyder, but the team has a new ownership in place now. As such, it is believed the NFL will grant a waiver of the “five-year rule” and allow the Commanders to redesign before the normal mandatory five year waiting period has elapsed. If the new ownership was able to meet the above timeline for a new uniform design, and the NFL does grant them a waiver, then we might see the Commanders in new uniforms this fall.
Dan Snyder sold the team to principal owner Josh Harris in 2023. So if Harris and his staff began to consider a uniform redesign then, and were able to notify the League office by March 1, 2024, they are on track for new kits for 2025. There had been some chatter that the team’s name before WFT might be brought back, or perhaps another new name might be selected, but Harris was pretty adamant the “Commanders” name is here to stay.
“I think it’s now being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff, so, we’re going with that,” Harris said. “Now, in this building, the name Commanders means something. It’s about players who love football, are great at football, hit hard, mentally tough, great teammates. It’s really meaningful that that name is growing in meaning.”
While the team’s name won’t be changing, Harris has said aspects of the team’s history, including old uniforms, could return, though it’s unclear if there would be a new logo.
Harris is also a lifetime Washington football fan. “As far as rebranding and bringing (back) our past, which obviously I grew up with and all the Super Bowl championships and our future together, you’re going to see us head back towards honoring our past and bringing it together with our future,” Harris said.
One of the NFL’s best uniform additions in 2024 was the Commanders adding a set of gold pants, which they wore a total of five times this past season. There wasn’t much Harris could do with the uniforms elsewise, but adding the gold pants was a great move. Now it seems like the new uniforms could be here sooner than expected. At the end of January, Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan in Washington reported that the team is planning a significant change this offseason to get back to the old roots and history.
If you didn’t read the description in the linked Tweet above, it reads “Grant Paulsen says they had been hearing for months about uniform change and we could see new uniforms by next season. Also says they want to look like the Joe Gibbs 1.0 R*dskins uniforms.” Paulsen also said new uniforms “should be unveiled for the 2025 season.”
While it’s certainly possible Paulsen is wrong about the timeline, for now let’s accept it as good to go. What uniforms or changes to the uniforms might we be expecting? From what I’m hearing (and what has been reported), it sounds like the team may take a bit of a hybrid approach to new unis. They would keep the current helmet (although the shade could change to the burgundy worn by the WFT) with the “W” logo in gold. The shade of the gold on the current helmet is also not the same as the WFT gold, so it’s likely that shade will return to the lighter gold of the previous uniform set. Since Harris himself has indicated he “grew up with” all the Super Bowls won by Washington, the new uniforms would resemble those.
Obviously jersey cuts are a lot different than the “Gibbs 1.0” uniforms, so they’d need to fit onto Nike’s newest chassis. My guess is they would look a lot like those worn by the WFT. I also believe the team will continue with a set of gold pants as an option. If the team were to be allowed to redesign for next season, I would hope they don’t continue to have a BFBS uniform (although those are apparently pretty popular among fans and players). And even if the team doesn’t redesign, they’re still eligible to add another helmet shell this fall. Perhaps they’ll have a gold helmet as an alternate.
But as far as the primary uniforms go, here’s my best guess as to their future uniforms (whether this fall or down the road):
With the NFL draft coming up this April, we should know within the next month or so if the Commanders will have any major uni changes for the fall.
What say you guys? Do you think the team will have new uniforms this fall? Assuming all reports to this effect are correct, what kind of uniforms do you think they’ll have? What about alternate(s)? Do you think they’ll keep the BFBS or will they come to their senses and retire those permanently?
The floor is yours…
Scoreboard game:
Red Sox v Yankees. October 16, 2004.
Yankees win 19-8 to go up 3-0 in the ALCS.
It was the last game they’d win.
I would be overjoyed if Washington returned to the Gibbs era uniforms. I always found it poetic that for a good portion of my childhood and high school years, Washington along with their rival Cowboys predominantly wore white at home. I always preferred the burgundy/white/burgundy look at old RFK against the Cowboys navy and silver of the 80s. Such a classic look.
How great would it be if they reintroduced the gold helmet? I remember they did hearken back to those sometime in the late 2000s/early 2010s. Jason Campbell era? I know I am in the extreme minority saying this but I am not overly fond of the gold pants for Washington in particular. That is unless they wear the gold helmets to go with them. Something about the burgundy/burgundy/gold or the burgundy/white/gold just doesn’t have the pop that the Gibbs era look does. Add that gold helmet and the whole game changes.
I mocked up something similar a while back which was linked from the ticker. I think yellow/gold facemaks are going to be included. That doesn’t even require a waiting period if I am not mistaken.
I forgotten about Granth. Thankfully. I guess I’ll be hearing ads for his shows during Nats broadcasts again soon…
This is very simple for the Commanders. Go back to the Redskins/WFT uniforms. The only difference is the W on the helmet and Commanders (or Washington) wordmark over the number on the front of the jersey. That’s it. Don’t get cute, overthink it, or “try to be different.” Go back to what was always their uniforms, but with the W on the helmet. This is a layup and a very easy fix for ownership. Look at the Bucs and Browns and how well going back to their traditional uniforms worked for them.
I never saw the need for a uniform change, especially since there was no call for it during the WFT era. I’d be glad to see them go back to the look of their glory days.
Exactly! They can attach lots of “going back to our roots” and “connecting to our history” marketing BS that will make fans happy (although fans of the old name will never truly be happy), and do just what you said. Slam dunk and you make most people happy.
They definitely should make changes to their very muddled current uniform set, but I’m not sure I would want them to go back to looking exactly like the Washington of old, with only a new helmet logo and word mark on the chest. I think they could update the current uniforms slightly to match the Washington of the past:
-Bring back the white/gold/white stripe on the helmet (and give the W logo a gold/white/gold outline)
-Add stripes to the pants like on the previous uni set (burgundy and gold on white pants, white and gold on burgundy pants, burgundy and white on gold pants)
-Add TV numbers to the shoulders
-Add yellow outlines to the stripes and numbers on the white uniform and remove all black from it
-Add stripes to both burgundy and white socks
-Make the chest word mark smaller and a bit less abrasive, or just delete it altogether
-Change face mask color to gold
If they just made those modifications I would be pleased. Although I’ll admit the best possible change could have been a new name. Commanders is just one of the worst in all of football.
The Commanders speculation all runs in a good direction. Visually, keeping the new helmet logo but otherwise maximally aping the appearance of the pre-WFT identity is the way to go. And after last season, the name has become a useful shibboleth: Anyone still calling for the return of the team’s original name can fairly be assumed to not actually be a fan of the team at all.
That’s nonsense. There are many Washington fans who want the old name back. That’s what they grew up with and how they identify the team with. Regardless, I would have liked to see them change the name from Commanders. I don’t want Dan Snyder having the pleasure of having his chosen name on the franchise. I want the stink of Snyder gone in every way, including the name. I think they could have gone with something much more inspiring than Commanders such as Hogs, Warthogs, Redtails, Red Wolves, or something like that. I think the Commanders name with the burgundy/gold color scheme is an odd mix as well. The color scheme goes much better with a Hogs type of nickname.
That’s neither here or there. If the Commanders name is staying, then ownership should honor the fan base and team history by going back to the old uniforms with the W on the helmet.
I’m also a lifelong Skins fan dating back to the Sonny Jurgensen / George Allen era, and I’d love to, as you say, have the stink of Snyder gone in every way. But as much as I hate the name “Commanders”, I’m so glad Snyder didn’t go with “Hogs” or some play on that theme. Even worse would have been Red Tails. That’s a GREAT name for a team from Alabama, but in this case it would feel almost like stolen valor or, at the very least, pandering.
I saw a great mock up for the Red Wolves concept, but apparently there was some legal problem with that name. Personally, I thought most of the attempts to keep “Red” as part of the name were trying to force a square peg into a round hole. The only exception was Red Pandas, which vaguely ties into the beloved giant pandas at the National Zoo. And yeah, pandas don’t seem that ferocious – but neither do penguins or cubs.
Facts. People still longing for the previous name just sound ridiculous.
You would be surprised. I live in northern Virginia, about 25 miles west of DC and there are some very vocal fans who refuse to call them by the current name and proudly display their ‘Skins clothing and paraphernalia.
They are very convinced that the current presidential administration will step on their behalf to change the team back to its previous name.
You can tell someone’s political party preference based on what name they refer to the team as the current name or the previous one.
I personally don’t care about their uniforms.
unless I’m reading wrong, that uniform-change timeline is missing a year. Wouldn’t it need to be March 1 2023 (not 2024) to make a change for 2025? The months given aren’t possible within one year… unless I’m just groggy.
I don’t think anyone is wrong, since Phil specified that changes for 2025 would have to be initiated before March 1, 2024. Maybe the implication is that we wouldn’t know if the league received written notice per the first step?
GTGFTU – October 21, 2018 LA Rams 39, San Francisco 10. Levi’s Stadium Santa Clara CA. Rams improve to 7-0 on the way to Super Bowl LII
FYI – Would Love it if the Rams introduced a Yellow/Gold jersey to their current line-up, as Phil alluded to in last week’s post
Curious as to how you determined it to be the 2018 game and not the 2017 game on September 21 (which the Rams also won, by a closer score of 41-39). Higbee, Saffold, Reynolds, and Gurley played in both games. There are also no 49ers visible in the photo at all, which would actually make it easy to pick, since the 2017 game featured the black unis while the 2018 game had the white 1994 throwbacks.
The 2017 game was a Thursday Night Football game that kicked off at 8:25 pm, over an hour after sunset.
Yeah, the natural lighting would be a big difference. Didn’t even think about that… though I had a lot on my mind this morning.
Ideally they drop the underline/overline from the wordmark, and just go with the nickname wordmark only instead of alternate city/nickmane on home and away, this isn’t baseball.
Also my guess is that given current uniform templates (NOT chassis) they might move the numbers to the shoulders to accommodate more room for sleeve stripes, or with Nike’s current track record, wrongly dump the tv numbers entirely. But otherwise I think everyone would be quite happy with this as a compromise of keeping the tradition but moving forward with the new name.
I often wonder if Snyder chose such an awful name out of spite just to make it harder to move on from the old name. To me Redtails was always the best option as it could tie into the military theme they are targeting, would be incredibly similar to the old name, and instead of creating division over race, would instead be honoring the combat achievements of a minority group.
I think a number of people feel that Snyder did this as revenge.
Love the striping on their uniforms before the WFT changes. Hopefully we get that with the obvious changes to certain aspects.
Would love to see a white and a yellow helmet as well. I know a lot of people dislike alternate helmets, but I’m not one of them. I love a good set of options.
Washington’s current duds is one of the great “what were they thinking” moments of the Nike era. Especially the road set, which, without and knowledge of what you were looking at, most people would not be able to identify the team. Toning down the street kicks factor and going with traditional looks or less wacky looks across the board applies to every team. Washington is the only team in the league that sports those colors. How hard is it to get it right?
Allegedly, the uniforms were designed by Tanya (wife of Dan) Snyder. Wish I could say I was making that up.
Big fan of the Commanders uni changes, IF they’re a type of throwback… the striping was perfect on all elements (IMO)
Are any other NFL teams getting new uni’s this year? I know a couple are within the time frame and a few of them could use an improvement. Again (IMO)
“Are any other NFL teams getting new uni’s this year?”
I don’t know if any team has officially declared they’re getting new uniforms, but I’d be surprised if there weren’t at least a few.
Titans, Falcons, Seahawks, and Jaguars all need new uniforms (in addition to the Commanders).
I’ve been screaming for both the Titans and Jags to get new unis since both of their five year minimums have passed. (Both introduced their current sets in 2018, so both have been eligible for new unis for the past two seasons).
I’m hearing (though nothing is confirmed) the Jags *could* be moving their Prowler throwback to primary status, with a white jersey’ed road primary (similar to what the Jets did this past season by moving their Sack Exchange throwback to the primary).
Falcons just passed the 5 year minimum (so they *could* have new designs for 2025), and the Seahawks haven’t redesigned since 2012.
Phil, does that mean the Jags returning to their original logo, or the current logo in the design of the original uniforms?
AMEN BROTHER!! Those were the ones I was thinking about.
I have nothing to base this on other than intuition, but thinking the Titans may pair new unis with their move into the new stadium in ’27, as they did with the current stadium.
The striping was inconsistent and I’m hoping the redesign will tighten that up while looking back at previous themes
Phil, if that’s true for the Jaguars, then that’s excellent news!
Not a Cubs fan, but those design changes look better than what MLB has put out!
Thanks so much!
“They’d need to fit onto Nike’s newest chassis”… Why can’t Nike change their stupid chassis to fit many of the games’ classic uniforms? They’ve absolutely ruined football jerseys and are trying their best to do the same with baseball’s (despite some pushback). Yet they continue to keep changing for the sake of change and keep defacing time-honored appearances with their swooshy-swoosh. Rant completed. Get off my lawn…
Are there sources indicating that the Commanders are in the process of a redesign or is this all just speculation for a blog post?
This is literally addressed in the article.
My bad. I read the first few paragraphs and gave up.
I’m under the impression “Commanders” was chosen because it was unique; no other Commander teams to pay off or obtain licensing rights.
I like the origami W and would simply put it on an old ‘Skins helmet, and just use John Riggins’ era uniforms to flesh it out.
Returning wholesale to the WFT unis would be a mistake. Let’s be real: that design was outdated. It doesn’t have the same charm as the Packers, Chiefs, Colts. etc who use the same athletic number font.
I didn’t actually hate the numbers on the new uniforms. Kill the stencils, make the numbers solid (no mor gradients) and outlined. get rid of that ridiculous COMMANDERS nametag on all unis. But most of all, make the uniforms UNIFORM. The current set is basically three distinct designs.
I wouldn’t mind them scrapping the BFBS uni (which, as noted, is very popular with local fans) and introducing a gold jersey.
My proposal for upgrading the Commanders unis is similar to what has already been said:
1. Ditch the BFBS. I don’t care if the players love it. I wouldn’t care if the team was undefeated wearing it. It looks like shit and Washington has never had black as part of their color scheme.
2. With black gone from the color palette, the sleeve stripes on the white jersey should be simple: one thick burgundy stripe and one thick gold stripe.
3. Stop wearing mono burgundy.
4. Add stripes to the pants and socks.
5. Remove the borderlines surrounding the name on the front of the burgundy jersey.
6. Add white jersey/yellow pants to their uniform combos.
7. The origami W logo kind of sucks and should be replaced.
8. If they really need an alt helmet – and I’m a firm believer that most teams shouldn’t have alts – use the 1970-71 helmet as a template. Gold helmet, burgundy W on a white background in a circle. And of course, lose the feathers.
9. Get rid of all stencils and gradients.
Never liked the Commanders name, still think it sounds silly, but if their fans and players like it then stick with it. I like the Origami W but would add 3 stars above a bar on top of it to make this military connotation a little more concrete (plus 3 stars represent the DMV area). Take the uniforms as pictured in this article and start winning even more games (not a fan of the team myself but these fans deserve a Super Bowl after years of turmoil).
I just can’t believe there’s an NFL owner named ‘Josh’.
To me, ‘Josh’ is a kid with a skateboard who hangs out at the arcade in the mall.
Me, a GenXer: I used to buy weed in high school from a guy named Josh. Makes sense that he owns a football team now.
The head Coach at the high school I work at is named right. He is a high intensity buffed guy. It doesn’t seem right.
This coming from Randy.
The Commanders current set would be dramatically improved if they just added stripes to the pants. There are other tweaks to be made for sure (I don’t mind a custom font, but theirs is a little wonky…and the “Washington” wordmark with the low, wide font is much better than the “Commanders” word mark), but that would really help. But doing back to the a template that looks more like the WFT would be fine too.
Put a burgundy “W” inside a white circle on the helmet, with a yellow outline. Done. The helmets right now are one of the weakest parts of the current set, just a complete lack of imagination. (Well, that and the Pretend Soldier vibe of the wordmark and the alt set.)
That’s a good idea. It would make the “W” pop more on the helmet. I’d also put the Gold-White-Gold stripes back. As for the rest of the uni; just go back to the classic “Riggins era” look and call it a day.
Maybe even add the 1970’s George Allen era set as a throwback.
From a distance and looked at one set at a time, the commanders have some decent uniforms. Upon closer inspection (or considering certain sets/combos) the wardrobe begins to fall apart quickly. The odd texture fade they use on the sleeves, etc is bad and unnecessary. The stencil number font is a mistake. The W logo is two ideas fighting for attention. Neither is particularly interesting. The helmet has a sort of Christmas ornament vibe to it because it’s sort of matte, sort of metallic, and it’s an odd red that isn’t enhanced by nice lighting, but instead gets washed out. And the bug chest word mark is so unnecessary and just crowds the jersey. Of course any team is fighting a losing battle against sleeve tailoring and Nikes inability to stick with a collar or yoke structure.
They need to start by scrapping all black elements. #2 bring back yellow face mask. That would be a good start
I would be willing to bet they keep a BFBS element
Would love the commander change, though get rid of the front nameplate too.
Lifelong DC Football fan here.
I don’t want any elements of the past uniforms here.
Mostly because there are too many idiots in the fan base holding on to the racist name, and the uniforms would do nothing but encourage them more.
We don’t have to go backwards to create a classic looking uniform.
A couple of changes I would make would be finding a way to put the current helmet logo on the sleeve with three stars over the W (a la DC Flag). Bring back TV Numbers. Bring back matching or coordinating stripes on the helmet, shoulders, and pants, and bring back a gold face mask. But I’d keep Gold numbers with a White outline over white numbers on a gold outline. I don’t even hate the military inspired lettering we have… it just needs to be consistent across each uniform.
The Commanders need a better primary/helmet logo. Badly.
Encourage what? Being an individual with preferences?
Oh no not that!
Washington – stripes on the pants and socks, please.