In an NFL offseason with surprisingly little uniform news — aside from the Titans ditching their Oilers throwbacks and making their light blue jersey their primary, and of course the teasing of the forthcoming “Rivalries” uniforms — Peyton Manning may have given a hint as to the Cincinnati Bengals future uniform plans.
The Bengals (and all teams in the AFC North) will be getting their Rivalries uniforms in 2028, but do they possibly have a throwback uniform in the works?
The speculation began a couple days ago, when Manning was pictured wearing a very old school original Bengals helmet and long sleeve jersey, which is basically what the Bengals wore from their founding until 1980.
Are the Bengals soft launching an alternate throwback??? pic.twitter.com/3NTOyTY2h5
— Bengals Graphics (@BengalsGraphic5) June 3, 2025
It’s clear from the photo above and below, the helmet Manning is wearing is an original. The jersey doesn’t seem to be original, but it’s mesh and features sleeves. Long sleeves.
Obviously what Manning is wearing wouldn’t be anything like a possible throwback — the helmet is a single bar and the jersey isn’t in a modern cut — but was he just having a bit of fun raiding the Bengals equipment room, or is this a clue as to a possible throwback uniform on tap?
While I’d love to see the Bengals play at least one game in that old look (the team last wore it during the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Season), I am skeptical this is anything more than Manning having fun. Does that mean the Bengals won’t introduce an “original” throwback at some point (either this season or perhaps in 2028, when they’d be celebrating their sixtieth anniversary)? No, but I would say it’s probably unlikely.
The Bengals currently have two helmet shells and three jerseys, so they certainly could add a throwback, and presumably still be in line for their new “Rivalries” uni in a couple years.
What are your thoughts on this? And, being that this was probably one of the most “basic” uniforms when introduced (owner Paul Brown made the Bengals look suspiciously similar to his old Cleveland Browns team), would you even want to see this as a throwback? I’d love to see it once, but I don’t know if I’d want to see it for another five seasons (based on the NFL’s five year rule).
Honestly, the Bengals best uniforms were the absolutely groundbreaking ones that followed the original set. You remember those — the ones made famous by Ickey Woods and company…
I think I’d prefer to see those brought back as a throwback before the originals.
What say you?
Time for throwback Thursdays. Would be far and above better than the rivalry crap which will be coming soon.
Amen. Ditch all the alternates, go with throwbacks or fauxbacks (for teams like Carolina, Houston, and Baltimore).
As staunch a fan of the tiger-striped helmets as I am, I’d still welcome one or two games with the O.G. uniforms. Basic as can be, but nonetheless distinctive.
Agreed.
I think the Ickey Woods-era uniforms are too close to the current ones to be a good choice. The original ones are a better choice IMO because they are a better juxtaposition and thereby a better fit overall with their current set.
Agree 100%.
Except the Ickey Era set was better where the 2 sets differ. Better definition on the UCLA shoulder stripes and simple Block Varsity numbers with consistent TV numbers beat out what they wear today.
I don’t mind ANY throwbacks, but I sure hope no one thinks those original Bengals unis were “good” in any sense of the word. Mismatching stripes, copycat colors (pun intended), the most uninspired helmet in history… ugh. I remember, at age 7, being horribly disappointed that the new Ohio team, named after a tiger (!), would take the field looking like they were ready for a bad high school practice.
100%. We need to avoid TFTS. Throwbacks for throwbacks sake.
If your throwback is one of the worst uniforms in the history of life on Earth, no need to resurrect it for any reason.
They weren’t copycat colors. Orange was, but not black.
Browns were brown, Bengals were black.
And while I love the new orange helmet, I had zero problems with the original uni. Would love to see it a couple of times a year.
Plus, bengals in the wild are orange and black. So one *could* argue neither were copycat colors. But we all know that’s not the case.
And while I’d love to see the OG uni at least one more time on the field, I think a one and done would be more than sufficient. Of course, with the NFL’s uniform *rules* (which they’ll probably change up again at some point), if the Bengals were to introduce a throwback, they’d need to keep it in their “locker” for five seasons. I don’t think I want to see that every year for five years.
Evidently, Manning was filming an episode of Peyton’s Places, which has 3 episodes in Cincinnatti this season. link
That uni always looked like the generic football outfit you got at Sears.
I suspect “Rivalries” is going to be more throwback game than city connect, but we’ll see.
Orange and black as the Bengals color scheme was obviously influenced by the Browns look (who borrowed brown and orange from Bowling Green State University) but more so by the Tigers of Massillon High School where Brown once coached. I’m ok if the Bengals wearing it as a throwback as long as they don’t do so against the Browns. It gets too hard to tell them apart mostly due to the Bengals helmet so closely resembling the Browns.
The original Bengals uni has a very appealing simplicity to it. I like it a lot.
Given the tastes of the average uni-watcher, I’m pretty convinced there’s only one uniform worn between 1980-1997 (when the Broncos forever altered the stale NFL uniform template) where consensus opinion wouldn’t be, “They should wear these full time!”. I believe this Bengals getup is that uniform.
The only thing worse than that original Bengals uni is Cincinnati “chili”.
Two points (that blatantly contradict each other): 1) Those OG Bengals uniforms were maybe the worst, least thought-out uniforms of the post WWII era in any sport. They looked cheap, they basically were poorly-conceived rip-offs of the Browns’ unis (probably created out of spite more than anything else), and the “Bengals” on the helmet looked like it was slapped on there about 15 minutes before kickoff by whoever was available in the equipment room, using whatever lettering was lying around and within reach. And 2) Damn right I want to see them as throwbacks.
There’s a bit of history behind these uniforms that even some Bengals fans don’t know. In 1970 they only wore the white jerseys at home. As the seasons changed from hot to cold, they switched pants and there was a marked difference on the pants stripe and the jersey sleeve stripes as well. Black jersey sleeve stripes did not touch each other, while the white ones did. And on occasion The Bengals would show up on the road in all-yellow sets. You’ll have to figure out which of these details I just made up. If not all of them.
BTW I love these old Bengals jerseys and would love to see them from time to time.