MCM0313

Dirty Birds vs. Angry Dolphins, 1998:

Falcons vs. Jets, 1998, in a battle of two of the NFL's best teams that year. 44-year-old QB Steve DeBerg is being sacked by the New York defense in a game the Jets won 28-3; his presence in the photo arguably makes it even rarer and more stark a contrast between old and new (although, the Jets' unis were based on throwbacks and the Falcons were in just the second year of those road uniforms, so ymmv).

Dirty Bird Falcons vs. first-year Titans, 1999:

Okay, so no Dirty Birds vs. Millens.

The "Dirty Bird" Falcons have been mentioned here before (specifically against the Brady-era Pats IIRC), but there should be a lot for them. That specific look lasted from 1997-2002 (1990-96 had less red), in a time when uniform changes were happening left and right, and then the Falcons finally changed theirs too. I'll look into it later today, but there should be pics of them against the "look at how 2000 we look" Rams, the white-helmet Jets, the "angry" Dolphins, the McNair-era Titans, and possibly the "holy crap do we look terrible" Bills, and there may also be pics of them against the "ny" Giants, the spear Redskins, the bird-face Ravens, and/or the Pacific blue Seahawks. (What about the Millen-era Lions? Did they add black in or before 2002, or was it later? I don't recall right offhand.)

The Coyotes were still wearing "Mysterious Voyage of Homer" alts that late?!

...not to mention in those awful Black Jays uniforms.

He was an Eagle when I first started watching football, so that's how I first knew of him.

Back on topic, here's an unpopular opinion: bowl cuts were cool! Of course that racist dickhead whose name shall not be mentioned had to ruin them for us...but here are some pics from back in the day, featuring yours truly:

It's pretty cool in a 1996 way. I really miss '90s sports fashion, aside from the BFBS boom at the end of the decade. Heck, I miss '90s fashion in general. I had the sweetest bowl cut from 1994-97. It legit looked good on me because I have thick hair and it was still kind of light brown/sandy-colored before darkening to the current shade of brown around my 13th birthday.

This is a 2-fer, because Levon Kirkland, best known as a linebacker, looks for all the world like a defensive tackle here. (Yes, I know he was always big for his position, but still...)

Well, yeah. The Vikings can't look horrible as long as they wear purple and yellow and have the horn that wraps around their helmet. That was still a huge downgrade from the Cris Carter-era set, though.

I'm not sure he has a *right* uniform. I would also go Falcons first, but he was also a high draft pick of the Colts, scored that memorable touchdown for the Packers early in Super Bowl XXXI, and had a stink-'em-up season with the Browns as well (and yes, I vaguely remember him on a really good Chiefs team that couldn't win a playoff game). I may yet be missing someone else he played for...am I?

Indeed. They are, after all, the "No-Fun League".

That could work too but I feel like navy would give a better contrast. Silver-green pants with both jerseys?

I'll expand that a bit. Cowboys should go to navy and silver-green, drop the royal, and make regular silver/silver-blue accent-only.

That look isn't horrible, but it's vastly inferior to its predecessor.

Montana and Favre aren't as wrong as the others. Till this January Montana was still the last QB to win a playoff game for the Chiefs.

I think the Wild look good too (at least they have a unique color scheme and own it!), but aren't you forgetting about the Magic?

It's kind of cool how simple that helmet is, but also kind of lame once you realize the myriad design possibilities that the name "Bengals" gives you. One of the initial helmets Paul Brown was given to look at was similar to what the team adopted in '81; kinda sad he went so plain.

Didn't he actually have some good seasons in Houston, though?

Don't see how that Browns ripoff can be anyone's right uniform...

I've only seen one concept that improves upon the Cowboys' current whites. It involved a gradient of navy, royal, and that unique silver-green that the 'Boys use.

FTFY

How's this for unpopular? When I first saw U-Dub wear black football uniforms in 2010 or so, I actually kind of liked them, and they have become one of the few BFBS sets I enjoy. (I probably still like them better in purple, though.)