Good morning, Uni Watchers, and a Happy Hump Day to one and all.
On Monday afternoon, I posted an article detailing some NFL policy changes with regard to the use of alternate uniforms. The big news in that article highlighted the change in policy which now permits teams to wear “alternates” up to four times per season, beginning this fall. Previously, teams were restricted to three such alternates per season.
This is of course, a double-edged sword. The good means we’ll probably get to see throwbacks worn more often, and with the number of really excellent “classic” uniforms out there, I’d love to see most throwbacks get an extra week of uni-love. Then there are teams like, say, the Texans or Lions or Jets — all of whom got new uniforms last season. Do we really want to see those teams break out their alternates even more often?
Does anyone want to see this even once a season?
So that was the initial takeaway. But there were even more alternate uniform nuggets to have come from other changes to policy. While I updated my piece from Monday, there was another change to alternate policy: teams will now be permitted to wear alternate helmets with their primary (home and road) jerseys. This change makes sense, as already we’ve had a few teams playing a bit fast and loose with the former policy which mandated alternate helmets must be worn with alternate jerseys.
But the Bengals (pairing their primary road jersey with alternate helmet), Panthers (pairing their primary black jersey with alternate helmet), and Packers (white road jersey with alternate helmet) have already been permitted to mix and match by “designating” a certain combo as their “Color Rush” alternate, even though said CR uni already used a primary jersey.
Then, when the NFL played in Brazil last September, the Eagles — in an effort to avoid wearing any green — really stretched the alternate rule by wearing their alternate black helmet with their white jersey and black pants.
The league was already trending in this direction, so it may as well just make it official.
And apparently the league now has a name for a team’s uniform set: “Closet.”
Every NFL team has an allocated “closet” of available uniform combinations, with three categories:
- Primary Uniforms: The regular home and away jerseys.
- Alternate Uniforms: These are designs such as Color Rush and other innovative combinations.
- Throwback/Classic Uniforms: Jerseys that reproduce a team’s vintage appearance.
Teams can, of course, wear their Primary Uniforms for all 17 games of the season, but are no longer facing a 14-game minimum. By permitting teams to wear Alternate or Throwback/Classic uniforms a total of four games, that minimum shrinks to 13.
And there’s more: An additional policy change now permits teams to wear their alternate pants in the playoffs. Previously, teams could only wear the pants from the “primary” section of the closet in the playoffs (although I’m not sure this was stridently enforced). One change that hasn’t yet happened: teams must wear their primary helmets and jerseys for the playoffs and Super Bowl. So if we were to somehow end up with the Falcons or Buccaneers or Broncos in the Super Bowl, don’t expect to see any of those teams in their glorious throwbacks.
But let’s tackle the policy change that permits alternate helmets to be worn with primary jerseys. Here’s what I noted in Monday’s article:
In fact, Denver Broncos President Damani Leech announced just that today at the NFL Annual Meeting on the policy change.
“We just refreshed the policy, so now we’ll be able to wear the uniforms four times during the regular season,” Leech said Monday. “That will be great. More opportunity to wear the throwbacks, but also more versatility with the helmets. So, as an example, we can wear our white helmets with orange on orange pants and jerseys. Things like that will just add more flexibility to the closet and hopefully be exciting for the players, but also for the fans.”
Leech said the proposal was introduced on Monday and that uniforms held a level of importance “to basically everyone in the room.” Leech also said the weekly nature of NFL games helps add to the allure of the uniforms.
He also stated that NFL teams may now pair their alternate helmets with their primary jerseys — expanding the number of games when the Broncos could use their white helmets. Last year, the Broncos were limited to pairing their white helmets with navy jerseys. Now, they can use them with their orange and white jerseys.
While the template above was used by the Broncos in their presentation, it looks like they borrowed it from the GUD.
Using their example as a guide, I decided to take a look at what teams who have two or more helmets (with certain exceptions) might be able to create for alternate combinations. Keep in mind, being able to pair an alternate helmet with either primary jersey and in some cases up to four different pairs of pants and/or socks, many teams could probably go an entire season without repeating a combination. For the purposes of this exercise, I selected what I thought might be good (or at least not terrible) combos which could be worn.
Here we go.
Baltimore Ravens
Though the Ravens’ purple alternate helmet was designed to be worn specifically with their all-purple (Color Rush) uniform, pairing it with the white or purple jerseys might look pretty good.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers already wear enough combos to almost go an entire season without a repeat. Giving them an extra alternate helmet wearing and allowing them to pair the black helmet with either the white or black jersey might let them go 17 weeks without a repeat. I think either of the above combos would work.
Chicago Bears
No. I’m now convinced the Bears should just ditch the orange helmet altogether.
Cincinnati Bengals
Another nope. The “White Bengal” works only when the team stays mono-white.
Cleveland Browns
I’ve never really liked the all-white uniform created with the 1946 harkbacks, and I’m not sure I like the all-white created with their primary white uniform either. But unless and until the team makes the helmet and pants stripes align, they’re better off without the white helmet. Or at most, just wear it with the harkback and don’t mix it.
Dallas Cowboys
The white helmet definitely doesn’t work with the home white, not with the royal blue numbers. And the Cowboys basically wear the white/blue/white combo now, except with the Thanksgiving throwback. They may as well just wear it with the blue road jersey.
Detroit Lions
The only uniform I want to see with the blue helmet is the teased blue/black/blue/black combo. But I gotta admit, I like the concept of the blue/white/blue/white, but the black lion decal kinda ruins any combo with the primary jerseys.
Green Bay Packers
This is even worse than the Bears. The Packers should steer clear of the white helmet, especially with the screwed-up striping pattern. The Packers (IMO) have the best uniforms in football, and part of that charm is the green and gold combos. Their helmets and pants should always be gold. Always.
Houston Texans
I have to admit, I’d actually like to see either or both of these combos. Anything is better than their mono-red or H-Town blue alternates. Hmmmmm?
Denver Broncos
I honestly don’t like the Broncos in white helmets, so none of the above appeals to me. I could see them doing a full white-out, though (sigh).
Jacksonville Jaguars
You can totally see them doing the whole white-out thing, right? Call it “White Jaguar” or “Snow Leopard” or something like that? Even though actual white jaguars aren’t totally white and have lots of spots.
New Orleans Saints
Just do this already. And change the shade of gold on the current helmet to match that on the jersey and pants seen above. Who’s with me?
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles’ midnight green helmets are almost black anyway. Why not try these combos?
It’s going to be a very interesting fall. Let’s leave it at that.
What do you think of the new policy and what are some combos you guys would like to see?
Remember when we all rejoiced when we heard the one-shell rule was being rescinded for 2022? And how we were ecstatic for the return of Bucco Bruce, Pat Patriot and the Eagles kelly greens? We have to be careful what we wish for.
Thank goodness for scorebugs or else I would never know who was playing.
GTGFTS
14 August 2014
Kratz singles off Samardzija and eventually scores on a Jarrod Dyson SF.
Royals put up 5 in the 7th to win 7-3 in front of 20,569.
We might see some eyesores, as you suggested, and some interesting combinations like the Saints, the Texans and certainly the Ravens: I like your suggested options. The kings of options are the Panthers and almost any option looks nice with them. My only fear is too many mono combinations popping up for most of the games, especially in all white or all black. The chess piece aesthetics are not fading out. And I am still expecting uniform ads. The NFL can say: no, not us. But I still expect them to vote yes very soon.
The Bronco’s white/orange/white/navy looks really good.
GTGFTU: Rams at Falcons 9/18/1977. Namath’s first game as a Ram. He played 4 before being benched after a bad Monday Night game against the Bears. He never was on the field again and retired after the season.
I miss those Falcons unis SO much.
Thanks for nothing, Jerry Glanville.
I’d take the Glanville unis over what they have now.
Not a double edged sword in my opinion. As much as I like some of the throwbacks, I’m fine only seeing them once a year. Teams have no visual identity at this point.
I don’t THINK the NFL is going to go the way of the NBA, but this is one step closer to it. As long as the aesthetic of the teams are still evident that we can tell by a glance at the TV and tell who is playing by the uniforms, then it’s alright. Once the NBA started branching out into colorways and uniforms that made no sense, that was a bridge too far
Cincinnati, Detroit, and Philly are STRONG “PLEASE DON’T”. All the other teams, I’m open to the mixing.
Fully against this, headed towards the college direction where you cannot tell who is playing based on the uniforms.
I’d go back to policy 20+ years ago. Only wearing alternate uniforms twice per season, and alternate helmets are only for throwback uniforms.
Late 90s / early 2000s had it right, you had occasional throwbacks, and the alternates were simply color swapped jerseys using the secondary colors (Eagles, Ravens in black, Dolphins, Bengals, Broncos in orange, Texans in red, etc)
I would love to see the Lions add a silver decal version of their alternate blue helmet.
When teams wear alternate helmets with primary jerseys, do those count against the four allowable alternate games? Or is that in addition to the four? The first option seems much preferable.
Any time an alternate helmet is worn — regardless of whether it’s worn with a primary jersey — counts towards the four allowable alternates.
Thankfully.
Couldn’t agree with you more on the Saints. Make the gold like the original gold, and be consistent with it throughout the uniform. And add a solid white/gold/white stripe on the black helmets like the 1969 preseason originals instead of the current Seahawks ripoff.
The NBA-ization of the NFL is almost complete. -C.
I love football, but I wonder if the NFL will start to fail the, “I just flipped the channel, do I know the teams playing?” playing test that frequently turns me off from watching the NBA while I’m flipping the channels.
I don’t hate this, but it would be easier to accept if they would fix the dumb little nuances that don’t make some of these alternates great, ie the Packers helmet stripe issue
I can’t decide what is worse: NFL uniforms or NFL uniform rules?
Yes.
“Does anyone want to see this even once a year?”
My nephew turned 13 on Monday. His birthday list was:
1. Steph Curry Alternate or City Connect Jersey
2. Amon Ra Black Jersey
3. CJ Stroud Red Jersey
He and all his friends LOVE all the alternate that we hate…and guess who adds multiple jerseys to his wardrobe every year. On Uni-Watch, it’s mostly true when we say, “These aren’t designed for us any more.”
We know this. But I’d counter with two points. It is clear this is tail wagging the dog on jerseys and merch, so why force them on the field, fans will still by “style” jerseys that don’t get on field product placement.
Secondly, the idea that “someone likes this (specifically when talking younger generations), so it doesn’t matter if you don’t like it” is a faulty line of reasoning. People like and support all sorts of bad ideas because they don’t know any better. Progress isn’t a straight path forward, a lot of times it involves backtracking once you realized you made a mistake. The idea that impressionable kids who are highly susceptible to consumerism and marketing liking something makes it worthwhile is silly. We have to remind kids to eat fruits and veggies instead of candy, or that they should put down the screens and go out into the real world.
For Point 1, My Nephew is ADAMANT on not getting “Style Jerseys”. He only wants what is worn on the field. I agree these uniforms are the tail wagging the dog, just pointing out that if they don’t make it on the field, they don’t sell nearly as many.
Point 2: I wasn’t saying that your, mine, or anyone else’s opinion is invalid, but I assure you that in a Business Sense, our (the vast majority of Uni-Watchers demographically) opinion IS less valuable. It’s an undeniable fact of marketing, people over 44 are a Niche Market, and no longer part of Demographics that Mass Consumerism is designed for. Again, not saying I like it, but it’s part of living in a Capitalistic Economy.
Buy?
GTGFTU:
Joe Namath as a Ram… I remember that sad time from when I was a kid.
Loved Joe. Wanted to change my name (seriously).
Loved the Rams. Had lived in So Cal.
Loved the Jets. Had family on Long Island.
Joe and his knees were DONE.
Was wishing the Rams were still in white, not “gold.”
The whole thing was so sad to me.
While I was definitely in favor of these changes out of principle, the football monkey’s paw has shown it curls in interesting ways before. I actually prefer mono-white to light helmet with mono underneath, so if the Broncos start using the white helmet with their white uniforms and go with the dark helmet over the navy uniform, I’ll be happier. Ditto Jaguars. The Bears combos look good, but they don’t look like the Bears. The Texans imo should have a red primary helmet, and those combos prove it for me. Panthers and Ravens are excellent.
GTGFTS: 13 Aug 2014, Oakland A’s 0 – 3 KC Royals. Pitchers’ duel, Jason Vargas outduels Scott Kazmir with a complete-game shutout on three hits.
GTGFTU: 18 Sep 1977, Week 1, LA Rams 6 – 17 ATL Falcons, Joe Namath’s first game as a Ram
edit: nope, scoreboard is from the next day. 14 Aug 2014, A’s 3 – 7 Royals. Jeff Samardzija pitching, I didn’t catch that
You can always change the decals so the Lions blue/white/blue/white combo with a silver logo and silver helmet stripe would look fantastic!
Any thoughts on teams changing their facemasks more often? I saw a recent Instagram post of the Vikings helmet with a white facemask and yellow facemask and they looked way better than the current black. They swap to grey for their throwbacks and I think it looks amazing. The Browns made a big deal of switching from brown to grey facemasks a year or two ago. I love that you pick apart socks, would love to hear your opinion on which uni combinations would look better with a different facemask color to really detail out the full uni!
“And apparently the league now has a name for a team’s uniform set: ‘Closet.’ “
That doesn’t bother me the way “room” does. Quarterback room, running back room, receiver room…who coined these phrases? It amazes me how quickly almost everyone has adopted them: coaches, players, announcers, talk show hosts, and the their callers.
I get where the terms “QB 1” and “QB 2” came from (video games) but I don’t know why they started using “room.” What’s wrong with just saying “the Steelers’ quarterbacks” or the “the Browns’ running backs”?
i’m right there with you on the room thing, i am irrational with how much it bothers me. i think it’s how internet commenters use it to sound smart like they know what they’re talking about when discussing roster construction
Modern sports phrases that drive me nuts:
1A: GOAT. Just call them the greatest. Being the greatest automatically means you are the greatest of all time, only when you add a qualifier, like greatest pocket passer, would it mean something other than greatest of all time.
1B: QB1, why did we switch from starting quarterback to QB1? I can tolerate the use of QB1 in circumstances where space in limited, like a tweet saying a newly signed guy will “compete for QB1”. But when written as part of a long form feature or when someone actually speaks the term, it sounds awful. English language spoken or written by journalist dumbed down to texting / social media shorthand / slang is not a good sign for society.
1C. LFG, do we no longer have any other terms expressing excitement? What happened to H&%# YEAH, YEAH BABY, etc?
My guess is these phrases originated with coaches, who refer to “rooms” because their players/staff hold position-specific meetings in designated rooms in their facility.
“Cardinals and Jets, whose alternate helmets are designed NOT to be mixed and matched.”
were any alternate designed specifically to be mixed and matched? i think the cardinals black would look ok with either of their primary jerseys since their unis kinda stink anyway
agreed bears orange is awful, maybe with the white uni you have if with blue socks instead of orange. if anything they should’ve gone white alternate helmet for white alternate helmet sake, it’s the bears since they had a bit of history with a white helmet
Actually wondered if the Jets could just swap decals for a white shell version of the concorde design.
link
While I know it’s overkill I kind of like the look
Also while we are at it can we fixed the Text/numbers on the black Jersey or black helmet to match?
as a Jets fan I can absolutely see them doing this, and I really hope they don’t. the green helmets would look way better with every combo (minus the throwbacks)
Those ravens combos are glorious, I’d love for them to do something like that, especially for the 30th season
“And there’s more: An additional policy change now permits teams to wear their alternate pants in the playoffs. Previously, teams could only wear the pants from the “primary” section of the closet in the playoffs.” My god, I’m embarrassed to root for sports.
How are people so confused by who’s playing just because their uniform is different. It takes me a grand total of 10 seconds to figure it out. It’ll be okay.
The Texans Red-Blue_Red is not a bad look…Nike may mandate more dark jersey vs. contrasting dark jersey games, after all, they forced the NBA to get rid of the white at home rule……
Nike contract thru 2038. By then every team will have a black and/or white alternate.
Cardinals will have a blue jersey, Cowboys a red.
Teams will not wear same uniform in consecutive weeks.
People wanted this world; here it is.
TBF from 1932-52 (and in preseason until 55) the Cardinals had a blue jersey. That said it was used a change/road jersey instead of primary.
Exactly. This will be the horse doo doo narrative accompanying the release.
Like the silliness of the Jaguars having a “snow leopard” uniform. Someone, somewhere would buy that nonsense both figuratively and literally.
TBF from 1932-52 (and in preseason until 55) the Cardinals had a blue jersey. That said it was used a change/road jersey instead of primary.
This has all the hallmarks of the old saying:
“You know that a camel is a horse designed by a committee.”
Looks like we’re gettin’ us a Camel…and not the cigarette!
Roman soldiers wore sandals. Not sure why the Italian army doesnt give soldiers the option to wear sandals today. I mean, they do have a history with them. They ruled the known world at one point in those.
I’d like to see Black/White/Blue/Black for the Panthers
Bengals white Helmet with orange jersey and white pants looks good, I do it in madden lol