Carolingian Steamroller

Yeah the throwback is a little more green than blue. I've come around on the current Dolphins set. It's quite nice with the white facemask. In particular, I like the white over white with teal socks. Maybe you could adopt the throwback colors, but that'd be about it.

I will reserve judgment until we do get new uniforms from the Texans but I will say this: Be careful what you wish for.

For the record, the Oilers were in Houston for 36 years and departed 26 years ago with the Texans arriving 20 years ago. I think part of the motivation (beyond pure nostalgia) is that the Oilers look, specifically the 1975-1996 look, achieved a degree of iconic status in its own time while the current Texans set has fallen more into the category of underappreciated modern classic. The Texans design, while very good has never reached the same appreciation (probably unfairly). I think the equivalent might be if the LA Chargers switched to a version of the navy blue color rush as their primary (unlikely but here me out). With an opening in the league color pallet, you might see San Diegans push for a new team featuring powder blue.* *I actually think if a team does move into San Diego, you'd be more likely to see navy or azul references to the Seau or Fouts era, since both of those uniforms really defined the team's time there.

Wasn't a reason some of us got interested in this racket was that we noticed the Cowboys have these mishmashed elements in their uniform? If the Cowboys just looked like K-State, there'd have been one less entry point to *gestures wildly* all of this. I don't think the Cowboys really need to be fixed (at least not the white uniforms). It's not consistent but it does tell a story.

There isn't a great solution because the flapping sleeve creates far too obvious a target for an opposing player to grab onto. This was especially true in the era of wider shoulder pads when there was a significant shelf to drape the sleeve over. Unless your arms were as inhumanly jacked as 90's comic characters, there was going to be loose fabric. In the 80's and 90's, that was usually solved by taking some string, folding the sleeve up and tying it off just above the bicep. This is what led to the elastic sleeve end, since player could roll their sleeves up and they would stay put without having to be tied. If there's an solution to adding space to jersey sleeves it in once again making them wrist or forearm length, like they were in the early days of football when shoulder pads were similar in size to the small ones we see today. Essentially turning football jerseys back into something like a hockey sweater. I don't think that's likely to happen, especially since players already have very different tastes on undershirt styles. But honestly, I don't mind. If anything we've reached an era where sleeve striping is practically in vogue with teams like the Browns and Lions heavily favoring wide stripes and the Patriots returning to UCLA stripes.

Personally, I loved a lot of the original facemasks.

Here's what the uniform looked like the year before, with stripes on the pants and teal numbers:

I think what really did it in was the shading on the sleeve stripes. You add that to outlining and drop shadow in three color numbers plus 5 stripes pant stripes (which don't match the helmet) and it just becomes too much clutter. If they went with plain mono color sleeve stripes or used the NW stripe from the pants alla the Lions of that era, they could've really had a look that stuck.

To be honest, I've always liked the idea of the Niners wearing the throwbacks full time and rotating the white and gold pants depending on the situation. (And wearing gold facemasks.)

Always this option...

They had settled into a really interesting blue/gold at home, blue/white on the road set up. I'm sure it was a pain to reapply the helmet decals week after week but it really was a unique and enjoyable example of bifurcated color palettes working for a team. There's an alternate history where they just roll with that strategy in 2020, clearing the road of gold and going with navy blue at home.

Personally that's a no for me, even with the thick socks. I much prefer the 60's version of the Pat Patriot look with red socks.

White pants and white socks paired with a dark jersey should be outlawed. It's my absolute least favorite look in all of football and yes the Pats throwbacks are included.

That is where we diverge. I think material makes a big difference since ultimately we are talking about the aesthetics on the field. The way the fabric plays off the light (and here is where it matters that the Saints play half their games in a dome comes into play) is how we experience the aesthetics of the game. People don't complain about flat finish pants on the Niners because the flat finish already had a strong association with flat finish gold from the Montana/Young era. The visual experience of watching the Niners is specifically well adapted to flat finish pants. I think the Saints current gold pants do a good job of match the base color of the helmet and jersey numbers but the lack of sheen really matters, especially compared to the previous set(s) of gold pants and especially the Brees era when they had the most success: The Saints throwback pants do have a rich gold finish and they match the numbers but they don't match the helmet. Could they switch to full time throwbacks including the rich gold helmet? Maybe. That's an interesting idea but I think given what the base uniform is today, I think the 80's format of black and white pants makes a lot of sense.

Counter Counter Counterpoint: Gold pants ideal but without the sheen, the color of the fabric is really off compared to the numbers and helmet so it does actually make sense to (sadly) shelve the gold pants until they can get the color/sheen right. Black over black is the main design with black over white against a team in dark pants. There's a reason the only team left in gold pants is the Niners and they lean into the flat tan/brown color because of the 80's pants.

I think its fine. I like that they've opted to have the knicker style but that combo is jinxed. Zero wins in the entire history. It's interesting to see both side by side. I probably lean towards the white socks but not sure.

Counterpoint: This is the solution to the lack of shimmery pants fabric. It has precedent in Saints history, you can always go black over black, and its a good look for a handful of games or at least until they figure out the fabric situation.

Correct. Even that design doesn't use that much athletic gold:

Put enough paprika on anything and it'll taste good. Side note: around the island of Hispaniola, escaped slaves, naval deserters, and general ne'er-do-wells would sell the slow roasted meat of feral pigs captured on the islands to passing ships. It's called barbacoa in Spanish or in French, boucan. Hence the name for its purveyors: BUCCANEERS.

Texans and Titans in Luv-Ya and red...

Just realized the Titans current look is in its 5th year. Rebrand becomes possible after this year. Seems like it just came out.

This is the third game for the black jerseys in 2022. I don't think purple color rush counts against that number. Bonus note: the black over black is one of the Ravens oldest combinations. It goes back to 2004 and they've worn it annually except for 2008 and 2009.

I may not agree but I think the Colts definitely did in 1995. I had remembered Indy wearing them the whole season but my memory was shoddy. According to the GUD, the Colts wore them for the first three weeks of the 1995 season (including one white-at-home game) and then promptly abandoned them, ne'er to be seen again. This was also the first year of the Colts three year experiment with black cleats. One thing that did last after being introduced in 1995 was the blue facemask. I had thought the blue masks debuted earlier but nope. They came right along with the blue britches. I don't know if I'd want them to roll with the blue facemask now but I'd definitely go with blue over white or black. I liked the grey facemask when it came back but mind you, facemask architecture has changed dramatically since 2003.