Yesterday I had an article on the NFL’s 2025 Draft Caps, and while I discussed the pins that come with each cap, there was some feedback in the comments that I may have been better off showing a different angle of the caps, so as to better show off the specific pin for each club.
There was also some discussion as to the “meaning” or symbolism behind each team’s specific pin choice.
I’m back today to break down the meanings of each pin. Some of these are good, most are OK, and some are just … well, I’ll leave it to you to decide. I tried to blow the pins up to a size where they are visible, but hopefully not too pixelated. Let’s go.
AFC East
Here are the caps (from the angle seen yesterday):
Those are the Jets, Dolphins, Bills and Patriots. And here are their pins, and the backstories:
JETS: The Jets’ pin is the Statue of Liberty’s torch.
DOLPHINS: The Dolphins’ pin is a wind-blown palm tree, referencing “the team’s speed and home state.”
BILLS: The Bills’ pin is a buffalo.
PATRIOTS: The Patriots’ pin is the 22-story lighthouse at Gillette Stadium.
AFC North
Here are the caps (from the angle seen yesterday):
Those are the Steelers, Browns, Bengals and Ravens. And here are their pins, and the backstories:
STEELERS: The Steelers’ pin is of the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
BROWNS: Since Cleveland is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, its pin is an electric guitar.
BENGALS: The Bengals’ pin is a throne, “representing the Bengals as the ruler of the jungle,” according to New Era.
RAVENS: The Ravens’ pin is a Maryland Blue Crab.
AFC South
Here are the caps (from the angle seen yesterday):
Those are the Jaguars, Titans, Texans and Colts. Here are their pins, and the backstories:
JAGUARS: The Jaguars’ pin depicts the John T. Alsop Jr. Bridge.
TITANS: The Titans’ pin is an acoustic guitar.
TEXANS: The Texans’ pin reads “H-Town Made,” the team’s slogan.
COLTS: The Colts’ pin is a hammer and anvil.
AFC WEST
Here are the caps (from the angle seen yesterday):
Those are the Raiders, Chargers, Chiefs and Broncos. Here are their pins, and the backstories:
RAIDERS: The Raiders’ pin is the silhouette of their home, Allegiant Stadium.
CHARGERS: The Chargers’ pin combines the California grizzly bear and star from the state flag with the franchise’s lightning bolt logo.
CHIEFS: The Chiefs’ pin bears the number “142.2” which is the decibel level Chiefs fans achieved at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 29, 2014, achieving a world record for the loudest crowd noise.
BRONCOS: The Broncos’ pin depicts the Rocky Mountains.
NFC East
Here are the caps (from the angle seen yesterday):
Those are the Eagles, Cowboys, Giants and Commanders. Here are their pins, and the backstories:
EAGLES: The Eagles’ pin is the Liberty Bell.
COWBOYS: The Cowboys’ pin is “America’s Team.”
GIANTS: The Giants’ pin is a subway car.
COMMANDERS: The Commanders’ pin is a hog.
NFC North
Here are the caps (from the angle seen yesterday):
Those are the Bears, Lions, Packers and Vikings. Here are their pins, and the backstories:
BEARS: The Bears’ pin is the Chicago flag.
LIONS: The Lions’ pin is an automobile wheel.
PACKERS: The Packers’ pin is a bicycle, “referencing the team’s training camp tradition of riding kids’ bikes to and from practice.”
VIKINGS: The Vikings’ pin is a viking helmet.
NFC South
Here are the caps (from the angle seen yesterday):
Those are the Falcons, Saints, Panthers and Buccaneers. Here are their pins, and the backstories:
FALCONS: The Falcons’ pin is a Georgia peach.
SAINTS: The Saints’ pin is an umbrella which is “a popular symbol of New Orleans culture,” according to New Era.
PANTHERS: The Panthers’ pin is a panther.
BUCCANEERS: The Buccaneers’ pin is a skull.
NFC West
Here are the caps (from the angle seen yesterday):
Those are the Rams, 49ers, Seahawks and Cardinals. Here are their pins, and the backstories:
RAMS: The Rams’ pin is a mariachi jacket representing the Mariachi Rams.
49ERS: The Niners’ pin is a fog horn.
SEAHAWKS: The Seahawks’ pin is a Sasquatch wearing a 12th man jersey.
CARDINALS: The Cardinals’ pin is in the shape of Arizona, and includes design elements of the state flag, plus a cardinal.
Now that we’ve gone down this rabbit hole, let’s hear your thoughts!
The Bills logo is a bison. It’s pretty underwhelming that they couldn’t think of a single thing besides another bison for the pin. Why not Niagara Falls? The Electric Tower? City Hall? The Lighthouse? The Darwin Martin House? A chicken wing?
I don’t know. Pretty lazy.
Yeah, I was thinking a wing also for Buffalo.
A folding table?
The Arizona one is actually pretty cool. Some of these are a real stretch, or just lazy. A panther for the panthers? NOTHING else from the Carolinas is better? Although better than a “throne” from Cincy.
If not the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (or a cabin on stilts) maybe a regional fish, or the Biltmore Mansion.
Wait a moment— the Panthers aren’t limited to one Carolina. How about a palmetto tree?
Raiders and Texans are the worst, by far. As unoriginal as the Bills and Panthers are, at the very least they are obvious. All the references to H town just sound like they are trying too hard, and the stadium pin for the Raiders is brutal, it is not even an iconic venue.
What bugs me a lot about these hat designs is in the incredibly inconsistent location nomenclature at the bottom. City with state initial, nickname, official team name, county name… pick one.
As a Detroiter, I’m tired of every special uniform or reference to Detroit being auto related. It’s played it out and lazy at this point. There are plenty of other things that could be used, most notably being the city’s music history and impact on the music industry.
I couldn’t agree more! Every special uniform for the Tigers, Wings, Pistons and Lions is auto related. It’s nauseating!
How about Joe Louis’ fist?
Freaking great idea!
Good idea
Let’s be glad the Eagles when with the Liberty Bell and not the celluloid heavyweight champ from Philly that they value more than the *real one* – Jor Frazier
How about the “Hitsville, U.S.A.” sign from 2648 W. Grand? Like the tie to Motown and the joke about hits and football? It wouldn’t be that hard.
(I wanted so badly for the Tigers to use the M logo from the Motown Records label as the cap logo for the D and the gradient for Motor City but no, we went the auto route, which makes the City Connect uniforms look like the Tigers were run over. There’s a reason that the Tigers were wearing them less and less as the season wore on.)
Perhaps Motown holds trademarks for the phrase and logo, which would prevent anyone from appropriating them for a sports uniform.
Lotta Detroiters on this thread. This one currently residing in CT, home of burnt cardboard crust, flavorless sauce, salty cheese “a-beetz”.
That being said, how about a pin of a rectangular pizza, or the train station.
Pin looks like a friggin flat tire, couldn’t at least do a big block engine?
There is a wide divide between “Real good” and “What???” and just about nothing in between.
I suppose the Statue of Liberty’s torch makes some sense for the Jets, as the Statue is on the Jersey side of the Hudson facing NYC, but a Subway car for the Giants, who haven’t played a home game in the vicinity of Subway tracks since 1973? Not so much. I think the GWB might have been a better choice, although bridges are a recurring motif.
The Chargers’ pin looks more like the Opel Motors lightning-bolt logo (link) than the Chargers’.
Most of these are fine. “DUUUVAL, FL” for the Jags and the “ONLY ONE NATION” thing for the nomadic Raidehs are a little goofy.
Can you blame the Raiders for not wanting to “pin” down a single location? God only knows where they’ll be playing in ten years!
“Just Win Baby” stacked on top of each other would have been perfect.
Exactly.
“I suppose the Statue of Liberty’s torch makes some sense for the Jets, as the Statue is on the Jersey side of the Hudson facing NYC”
I got in an argument about the location of the SoL in elementary school. I brought in an Exxon map for verification.
I remember circa 1986, the official NJ tourism map had “New Jersey’s first lady” or something similar link
I’m so completely over Cleveland having to tie every single thing to a guitar or guitar pick. The claim to have invented rock and roll is dubious at best, and it’s just a tired trope. Are we not known for anything else in Northeast Ohio?
Industrial disasters are the other thing I associate with Cleveland. If those are your options, I can see why branding folks go with the Rock and Roll HOF a ton.
You mean the river fire? Something that hasn’t happened in 50 years and led to the formation of the EPA? Something that wasn’t only limited to Cleveland? Yeah, I guess.
Cleveland is not rich in signifiers. A big plum? A portrait of LeBron James? Face it, Jon: The Rock Hall is Cleveland’s Eiffel Tower.
A pierog (singular for pierogi) would have been a nice touch.
I know it’s Akron, but the tire makes more sense for Cleveland than Detroit. At least to me.
Surprised you didn’t get a dawg.
Cedar Point Roller Coaster?
Why not “both buildings” ?
In my mind, the Cincinnati pin looks like a winding river flowing into a dam. Doesn’t make any sense, but that was the only thing I could make it out prior to folks saying it’s a thone.
Bigfoot pin wins. Game over.
Surprised Cincinnati isn’t a disgusting bowl of spaghetti chili.
It’s only disgusting when someone adds onions to it.
The AFC North
Regular season win %/Postseason win%/Championships
Baltimore=.574/.563/2
Cleveland=.506/.436/8
Pittsburgh=.537/.554/6
Kings of the Jungle=.457/.385/0
The Bengals aren’t the “Kings of the Jungle” because they that would be referring to the Lions. So they are the “Rulers of the Jungle”. Pretty goofy to me.
I feel like the Texans’ insistence on using “H-Town” is akin to “fetch” in Mean Girls. So forced and non-sensical. H-Town may be the least clever and least intuitive nickname for a city I’ve ever heard. Do people in Houston actually use that??
My idea would have been a space shuttle or the Apollo lunar excursion module.
Complete agreement. It doesn’t even shorten the name, Houston and H Town are the same number of syllables and one less typed character. I’m 42 so I think I am no longer in the demographic that gets marketed to the most, but I don’t recall the same level of pandering from professional sports back when I was in that group, and what pandering was done by other businesses (everything being “extreme” or putting an x on stuff) was so blatantly pandering that it was mocked by the target demographic.
H town feels like a social media thing that the Texans are desperately trying to pull into their identity and make all fans embrace it.
They should have gone with something Houston is famous for… an oil derrick…
Even as a Titans fan, this would’ve been hilarious.
The Bengals one is the biggest stretch. A deserving eye roll from this commenter
The Roebling Bridge would have been a better choice.
Da Bears, should’ve been a silhouette of the Da’ Coach – Ditka pin.
The Rocky Mountains!?! Very clever Denever Broncos
I’m just happy it’s actual mountains and not “5280”
Biased of course, but I like the MD Crab for Baltimore
I was just going to say that, on the one hand, you could make an argument that a blue crab for Baltimore is as obvious and worn-out as a guitar pick for Cleveland or an auto tire for Detroit. On the other hand, blue crabs are AWESOME.
Also, are the Cowboys still calling themselves “America’s Team”? It’s kind of waaaaaaay past time for them to let that go, isn’t it?
“are the Cowboys still calling themselves “America’s Team”? It’s kind of waaaaaaay past time for them to let that go, isn’t it?”
That time passed in about 1996.
Good on the NFL for this pin feature. Before long we’ll be seeing collections of them, and inevitable suggestions for Pins 2.0.
At some point before the draft, teams with crummy pin choices will issue replacement pins. It will be like the MLB City Connect fiasco.
The Chargers’ pin *almost* makes me believe they have a fanbase in California!
The Chargers have been playing in Southern California for over 60 years. What are you even talking about?
“The Saints’ pin is an umbrella which is “a popular symbol of New Orleans culture,” according to New Era.”
It also serve as an homage to their late owner, Tom Benson, who twirled an umbrella around on the field in the Superdome after Saints victories for the first part of his ownership tenure.
Unfortunately for Saints fans of that era, they rarely got to see that umbrella.
The Saints’ umbrella pin also serves as an homage to their late owner, Tom Benson, who twirled an umbrella on the field after Saints’ victories during the first part of his ownership tenure.
Some of these are OK, some are meh and they’re all totally useless. I never would have guessed a throne for Cincy. I’m glad there was a visual explainer for that one. The Cowboys pin looks suspiciously like the old “The More You Know” PSA. link
The Giants one should have been Jimmy Hoffa. The Panthers one reminds me of the old panther lamps people used to have on top of their TV consoles for some reason.
Bigfoot, The Cardinal perched on the state flag, the Crab, the Umbrella, the Hog, the Bicycle, the Chicago flag. Forget about the rest of them. Either too much of a tired sterotype or uninspired forgettables. That is 7 out of 32, not a decent score.
The Steelers one would be fun transferred to a Pirates cap, but I’m not buying a $50 cap to do so.
Thank you, Phil, for sizing up the pins! Like you, and everyone else here, has said, there are some good ones (Cardinals and Seahawks, and my Buccaneers among my faves, also the specific guitars for Cleveland and Nashville), some bad ones (my first impression of the Bengals’ was a grand piano), and some meh ones – or, WHYYYYY?????
Since no one has commented on the Colts – and let’s be honest, why would they – I’ll do it. The strike-the-anvil pregame “tradition” is new-ish (2018), and kinda goofy. But at least it’s unique and somewhat unexpected… i.e. not an Indycar or a horse. I could have gone for the 60’s “horse with a helmet” logo, but that’s from the Baltimore era. Overall I’m good with the hammer and anvil, it’s probably the best they could have done.
Best: Seattle sasquatch
Lamest: tie between Buffalo and Panthers