HOOVER

Won’t be long, now.

There are plenty of teams in the league that look worse than this: Would like to see it with Red socks but with a White helmet, the White socks work. No, it's not the classic look that most here prefer, but don't tell me the Panthers, Rams, Ravens, Texans or Titans looked better today.

They are as Red as I've ever seen them, so it has to be the lighting...which I'll take any day over what they use down in New Orleans.

The Jets have never looked better. Ever. Would love it if they moved to this full-time. Also like the idea of a Jet Grey alt, just so they can ditch Black altogether.

Bills & Giants damn near wore the same jersey back in the day, didn't they.

Looks like Steelers vs Chiefs at first glance. I just can't get behind the Battle Red helmets. At least not with the Red jerseys.

Bucs in all-White today, with a portion of the players wearing White socks. This game is a good study in solid socks and the right & wrong way to execute them, since they're a thing and they're here to stay, like it or not. For the players wearing White socks, they look great if wearing White shoes (Mike Evans). For the players wearing Black socks, they look great if wearing Black shoes. For the players wearing Black socks, they look stupid wearing White shoes. Summary: if wearing solid socks, they should always match the shoes. Additional example: most of the Saints players wearing Black socks/Black shoes look great (especially with the Gold pants)

And the Saints' jersey numbers look more Old Gold than the rest of the "Gold" throughout their uniform or helmet. They badly need to change to that all-over and full-time. Also, the lighting inside their dome is dog:censored:.

This I agree with. White pants with their existing striping pattern from the Grey pants would be a marked improvement.

Unpopular opinion: it’s not that bad. I ONLY give it that pass because the Lions are experiencing a long-awaited revival and this gives them some differentiation from decades of a look they’ve failed in. To me, it just has a rally cap feel to it. I’d prefer Grey pants & Blue socks, or at least Blue socks, but honest to God, it’s better than the Blue pants or the Blue helmet. And…I think the Packers not wearing Green socks, at least as this player in the photo is dressed, is more egregious than what the Lions are doing.

A lot has changed since NFL Europe. Specifically TV rights deals. Assuming the NFL stays on Thursdays, which they will for the foreseeable future due to the Amazon money, they still stand to cash in with more content, whether that’s from a network or a streaming service, like the NFL+ app. Maybe that’s Saturday nights in untapped markets where they can sell a lot of tickets, like in St. Louis. An NFL-backed developmental league would undoubtedly see higher attendance and viewership simply because of the legitimacy of a league with NFL backing. Anyway, I doubt the USFL/XFL will be making any plans to move to the Fall, it’s just my opinion that football belongs in that season, and history has proven that making it in the Spring has - so far - been an insurmountable task.

Yes, but 37 players per NFL team, or 1,184 players, don’t make a main roster at the end of every August…and they don’t go back to college to hone their craft on the field. 16 players per team make it back to a practice squad spot - or about 512 of those guys - but most of them don’t see the field regularly during the season, either. From that talent pool alone, you have 672 players whose careers end unless they go to the CFL or a spring league or whatever is left of arena football. Per year. That’s another 21+ players per team that could be developing with on-field play. Imagine if one of them breaks out in a developmental season and gets called up in the playoffs and plays an instrumental part in a playoff run or a Super Bowl win? What about developmental QBs, international prospects, minority coaching candidates, since that’s all the rage? And more on-field training for officials? It would add a whole new layer to pro football and ultimately, give more real opportunities to people trying to make it in the NFL.

I'm sorry your feelings are still hurt over my critique of your position the other day. It'll be okay.

Numbers don’t lie. Neither does history.

I still believe Football is a Fall Sport. Spring football leagues are unlikely to ever catch on or last. When this was all starting up a few years ago, I suggested that it run alongside the NFL in the Fall. If the NFL would just partner with this league, the developmental league would be the perfect Thursday night football solution. 16 teams, each team a farm team for 2 NFL teams, who would have a limited number of "call-ups" each season. Or, just go with 32 full developmental teams, either in nearby markets to their NFL big brother, or in underserved markets (St. Louis, San Diego, Birmingham, San Antonio, Orlando, etc.) or even international markets (London, Mexico City, Toronto). - NFLPA could get a win by having the 32 NFL teams go back to playing on Sunday & Monday. Developmental league plays on Thursday nights with a doubleheader, games divided up by geographic markets. - NFL head coaches could choose the staff members of their farm team and have them run similar systems & language so players could assimilate faster if called up, all the while developing coaches by giving them head coaching & coordinator experience (like a Junior Varsity or Junior High program). - Developmental team players would have the same offseason schedules to try to catch on in free agency for OTAs, minicamps, training camp and the main roster. Their season would end on or before New Year's Eve, and the players would then be eligible for NFL playoff teams for the playoff run. Spitballing here. Not perfect, but makes more sense than what Spring Football is now. People just don't have the appetite for football in Spring the way they do in the Fall.

It would certainly work for the Patriots, but they're seemingly locked into their use of Silver with the helmet & pant (not enough of the pants) and I think there's both precedent for Houston retaining Navy as their primary and room for a Navy/White/Red team along with a Navy/Silver/Red team in the NFL. I think removing the should stripes from the above concept would greatly improve it, while pushing it further away from New England's look. I don't like the stripe on the helmet concept, and would rather see a straight Texas Flag-inspired stripe with a star on the back bottom. Adding a few stars to the pant stripe, or even dropping the Red there and making it a solid Navy stripe, would also help separate it. White pant, Navy stripe, Red Swoosh. Or, if keeping Red, mirror the TX Flag-inspired helmet stripe. I think that's been mocked up somewhere here before. A Red-heavy design just does not scream "Texans" to me, and using Navy as the accent is a negative from a design perspective; it's better with the Navy as a base, and Bright Red as an accent that pops. No different than the Steelers with Black & Gold, same theory.

For everyone except teams with vintage identities like the Colts and Chiefs:

RE: Texans uniforms Navy isn't the problem ("because it's dull"). Plenty of teams with Navy as the feature color have iconic identities. It's all about the execution. While the uniform offers nothing remotely iconic or cohesive, it's truly the helmet that's at fault. White helmet, using a brighter Red in the proper way as an accent color, and adding some sort of character to the uniform (adding a few well-placed stars) will transform the Texans' look from one of the most boring in professional sports to one of the best. This isn't mine, but it's good, and what the team should be going for, rather than wishing they were the Oilers or incorporating street culture: The Texans have to compete with another franchise up the road that likes to call themselves, "America's Team", yet they have the identity that warrants that nickname, and they should try to take it.

This is going to be beautiful to watch.

Agree that these are being worn all wrong, but the piped Reebok sets were an abomination.

I’m quite aware; I’ve been pounding the table for them to wear this all the time again since they’ve been reluctant to wear this combo the last few years. This is a modern classic uniform yet it gets worn 1-2 times per season because they are infatuated with ruining their look with Black pants, Black helmets, and Blue jerseys & pants.

Can we please take a minute to talk about how absolutely stunning the Carolina Panthers looked today in Silver/Black/Silver/Black? Especially the players that wore Black cleats. Perfection.

Great helmet on its own. Great uniform on its own. Not the greatest combo together for an established identity like the Browns. Their standard Orange helmet with that uniform would be $$$. This White alt helmet with their Brown home jersey and White pants would be $$$. Together, didn't quite work as expected. Still, could be worse.

Seems to me like it would be Red Bull or bust, when it comes to the Generals. Thank you guys for sharing all that research. I flubbed in a prior post when I asked about what the Generals drew; doesn’t matter if they played in Canton. I meant the Guardians in 2020 when they played at MetLife, as that would be the most accurate indicator of whether NY/NJ can support 15-25k tickets per game.

The travel logistics must drive the leaders of these leagues nuts. Seattle makes sense from an attendance standpoint, but has to be an expensive one to keep. How did the New Jersey Generals draw? Do they have a good venue to play in? I could see them wanting another Northeast team, especially one in the New York market. Perhaps Seattle gets dropped for New York, which is easier on travel to DC, Detroit, and Orlando.