HOOVER

Mix & match with stripes is very tricky, especially when they’re also on the helmet. Won’t be shocked if solid stripe-less pants continue…but maybe if they do, they’ll surprise us with striped socks.

Those stripes are going to look really good on the White and Grey pants, maybe even Blue, too.

Looks like a metallic or chrome-inspired Silver is being used for the number trim and sleeve stripes. Subtle and also actually logical given the Ford Motors connection.

Yes, that would help. Hate that these leaked, but these are EXCELLENT. It’s essentially the Barry Sanders jersey with updated striping, right? Of course, the small wordmark, but they didn’t go full ATL or ARIZONA. God I love bold full block jersey numbers.

Yeah, it's a bad combo. The only way to wear Red pants is if you have a Red helmet (See Chiefs, Kansas City) and the Falcons' Red helmet certainly isn't a match to these pants with their stupid shard stripes.

Last post on these because I know this isn't the Concepts forum: Lighter Silver: Lighter Silver w/Small Wordmark: With Carolina & Tampa in the division already wearing Silver/"Pewter" helmets, maybe it doesn't make sense, but from a standalone standpoint, this is one of my favorite looks ever.

I did indeed.

And it sounds like it’s the league that would make them wait that long, which is a shame. There should be an expedited process for new ownership situations.

This looks much darker on my phone than it did on my monitor; the intended color is Wolf Grey or what Nike calls in the Team division “Dark Steel Grey”…it’s a mid-shade, a little darker than Carolina/Detroit/Las Vegas’s Silver but certainly not Anthracite or Tampa’s current Pewter. It’s meant to be the same Gray/Silver currently used by the Colorado Buffaloes.

Alright, since I've been talking about it forever, I ran a quick & dirty mock-up of my ideal Falcons uniform with Dark Silver helmet (sans Gold): Add a Gold outline to the helmet stripe, logo, and the Swoosh & accessory details (like on cleats) if you wanted to go that route. Either way, this would do it. (I wouldn't even be completely heartbroken if they added a small 1" tall "ATLANTA" above the number in a clean new non-italic font.)

Yes, I completely did. Rest of the jersey was what I was after.

And just to add on to this silly concept, all Atlanta would have to do for their NikeSpeak presentation is to show these photos:

Unlikely, that top is a Nike Authentics (fka Sideline) piece from a year or 3 ago.

I do too, and if they did it when reverting back to Deion-era uniforms, it not only would make sense, it would separate their look a little more from the Raiders. The Saints probably wouldn't love it. Black, Silver, and Gold are extremely effective together when done right. Needing to use Red adds a challenge to the design process, as 4th colors always do, but these colors all work well together so it's not as much of a problem as other combinations. I think you'd have to consider the Silver helmet I keep begging the Falcons to use, and then adding a Red/Black/Gold stripe down the middle, which you'd have to repeat on the pant stripe. Numbers would have to be tri-color, which is not complicated. Or they could make it very clean and just do simple Gold accents, such as an extra outline on the sleeve logo and a Gold Swoosh, which of course would get eyes rolling. Imagine it though as a tertiary accent color on Black/Red gloves, cleats, and the helmet. I think you start with the Black/Red/Silver/White base, and add Gold like jewelry - an extra outline, on the Swoosh, maybe on a chest patch (which I would not support). A little goes a long way. If Deion somehow did get his sons to Atlanta, since he's already stating he's only going to let them play for certain teams, it would really bring some much-needed juice to the Falcons brand. Plus, you've got another guy in Atlanta now who would support it: Imagine that Sports Illustrated cover: Coach Prime, Kirk Cousins, Shedeur & Shilo, the latter 3 in the new Falcons uniforms with gold accents, all wearing big gold chains. Very, very Atlanta. [I'm available for consulting.]

I think that uniform works better with the Red helmet due to the Red in the number and pant stripe. With a Black helmet, I prefer the Black numbers and Black-dominant pant stripe.

America is ready for a franchise named Swamp Things.

So, was the previous helmet paint color not perfectly matched to the uniform Orange? Or does this mean that the Browns are updating the Orange used on the uniform also? They're only in Year 4 of the current set, so I'd be surprised if the league let them do that, unless it was some technical issue they got a waiver on. Did Carolina updating their Process Blue a year ago result in them resetting the new uniform clock back to zero, or are slight color updates not as regulated?

When that happens, they'll both be able to wear a 100th Anniversary patch to commemorate this game. [ba dum tss!]

I could see that working. Good call.

And the league is the one that went back to Nike around '14 or '15 and said, "Hey, jersey sales have dipped...whattya got?" And then a consortium of people from the league & Nike came up with Color Rush.

Nothing wrong with this and it would be a solid evolution, though I prefer they keep the '18 number font over the '13 number font. I'd flip the Swoosh to Gold as well, but yes, this would be an upgrade.

Some of you missed the Nike articles from Phil Hecken last week. So, for everyone in the back: NIKE DOES NOT DICTATE UNIFORM CHANGES The teams must initiate the process. The NFL regulates the process. Nothing is done without the team and the league's approval. And the teams often dictate the changes they want Nike to make. It burns me up to be a Nike-apologist in this post, but read the articles if you haven't already. Does Nike bring ideas to the table when prompted? YES. Are they sometimes complete :censored:? YES. Are there owners of teams, like the Chiefs and Giants, who push back on any changes? YES. Which shows you that the teams and the league are responsible for this stuff. Be pissed off that billionaire and millionaire professionals have bad taste...like the Houston Texans letting fans dictate them having 4 different complete looks, and the league signing off on it...instead of the manufacturer who is being asked to design stuff that they often don't like or want to change.

After looking at the 2020 season where the Falcons wore their Throwbacks with their Satin Black helmets, I think a bolder block number font update with these would be warranted; a thicker block would give the jersey more weight, since it lacks contrast from striping and logos, and would also separate their look from division rivals New Orleans and Carolina. When I say a thicker, bolder block font, I mean something like what Arkansas or Michigan wears. If they really wanted to separate from NO/CAR, they could go thicker with a tri-color number, like Florida or Marshall, or simplify and go just 1-color, like Vanderbilt did last year. But still, these are so much better than what they're currently wearing. I'd keep the striping pattern from these White pants and just change the pant color to Gray. I'd keep the Red stripe on the Black socks, but remove the White.

Bringing these back just in time for them to draft Shedeur and Shilo: With the current logo and current helmet shell finish, maybe a slightly updated pant stripe. Would be a Top 10 uniform.

Oof, yeah I missed that detail, forgot about those side panels. They didn't stick around long, did they?