WideRight

Last one for 1997, the Denver Gold. Many Thanks to Fraser Davidson, who gave me permission to use his Denver Miners concept. Fraser is one of my favorite designers and this logo for me was the perfect update of the Gold. Comments on the update after the images. While a lot remains from their past look, the big shift is the logo, but there are other, perhaps more subtle shifts. Having 2 different gold tones lets me create a forced "shine" as one blends into the others, as we see on the helmet stripe and pant stripes. I also opted to move away from traditional sleeve stripes towards more of a "Houston Texans" shoulder swoosh, either in black and gold (white jersey) or two golds (black jersey). The last addition is a new font for the wordmark. Thoughts? Not a huge departure, but a shift to be sure.

One question, why Corsairs for Oslo, Norway? A corsair is a pirate operating along the African coast of the Mediterranean, not really relevant to Oslo, Norway. Maybe an Italian team, or a Greek team, or Istanbul, but not really a fit for Norway. Maybe something about vikings, stags, wolves, blizzard, etc.

Thanks both of you. Yes, I agree and may tweek the angle of the tomohawk. If you were around for an earlier project of mine, you likely recognize the logo from I think a Cleveland project, where it was aligned with a C instead of an O. The font will change, perhaps sooner than I anticipated. The big issue with Orlando is if and when they will opt to either rename the team or design a non-Native American identity for the Renegades. The name itself is not an issue, but I don't see the tomahawk surviving well into the 2010's or until today. We are only at 1997 right now, so there is time, but I expect to have a battle over the name/iconography and I think (if Orlando retains the team all the way) that it might get at the least a non-Native visual image. Perhaps a renegade rhine, shark, or a Dallas Renegade XFL look (but with the Outlaws, Gamblers, Wranglers and Bandits, I hesitate to add one more "old west" theme, especially in Florida). Time will tell. Next up is a new look for Denver, but one based on one of my favorite pro designers who has posted on this site.

Alright USFL Fans, here is the first new logo of the 1997 group, the Orlando Renegades. I decided that the "hand drawn" version of the tomahawk should not survive any longer, replaced by a more linear, block-based tomahawk. I decided to also use this opportunity to remove the singular use of red in the logo and solidify the team colors as Royal, Black, and Silver. I retained the Renegades script, but demoted it off of the helmet, replaced by a block "O" (from the UConn font, for those of you who love fonts.) The uniforms are based very heavily on the XFL from 2001, namely the Chicago Enforcers, as well as a much greater emphasis on Black. Not entirely BFBS, since the logo always had black in it, but certainly a much higher level of black as the dominant color. Here you go, the 1997 Orlando Renegades.

Not ready yet to reveal the next two designs for 1997, but here is a hint of how things may be changing for two more USFL Clubs.

That is a possibility, along with perhaps a BFBS version as well.

Here is the first of three new looks for the 1997 USFL season. The Texas Outlaws take yet another element from the real world CFL San Antonio Texans by adopting the snakeskin pattern in their striping. They retain a green helmet with royal blue jersey, though i do think a blue alternate helmet will definitely be an item before too long. The other main addition is the new wordmark, which includes the iconic shape of the Alamo as a feature. This thin outline is also added to the jerseys in lieu of a team name across the chest. This helps tie the team to San Antonio while still allowing for the broader "Texas Outlaws" name to be retained. The uniform uses a block number which contains a couple of midpoint accents (triangular points) but only on the numbers 1, 6, 9, and 0.

Just an FYI that I have 3 designs primed and ready go go as part of Nike's 1997 season updates. I am away from my home computer (where I keep Corel) so nothing for a few more days, but once I am home and get the 1996 USFL season simulation started I will then begin to introduce the 3 teams that will have new looks in 1997. It's Denver, Orlando, and Texas. Two of them will be getting a new primary logo as well as new uniforms. Which will get tweaked and which will undergo a major change? News on this soon.

Fixed the NJ Number situation. And here, with no ado at all, is the new logo and look for the Chicago Machine. They retain their U. of Chicago Maroon, the Iron Metal Grey, and the Chicago Flag sky blue as colors. They have a new "Chicago Theatre" inspired Gear-C logo, and have moved from sleeve stripes to a full yoke treatment. The pant stripes are also more complex than the single maroon stripe (and now maroon pants).

Thanks for that catch, I will update it to fix that issue.

One more for you before the Chicago reveal. Here are the new look New Jersey Generals. Some keys: 1. Return of the laurel leaf logo,but still with blue outlining (see USFL 2022 for inspiration). 2. Drop shadow numbers. with gold and blue outlines. 3. New secondary logo (too good to resist) now a patch on the chest. 4. Side panels morph into pant stripe with an "epaulette" concept (Tried it on shoulders, did not like it.) 5. New wordmark with state of NJ included for emphasis.

I like this update. Approved!!!

Not ready to reveal the new Chicago logo yet, but I do have 2 other clubs that are getting new uniforms for 1996, Jacksonville and New Jersey. So, here is the new look for the Jacksonville Bulls. Shoulder yokes, side stripes, and logos on sleeves being the big trend to watch for in the late 90's and early 2000's.

Thanks, guys, but while I appreciate the suggestions, I just love the idea of Chicago Machine as a team name in that city. It combines the blue-collar mentality of Chicago with the city's reputation for political hackery and corruption (The Chicago Machine is a well-known turn of phrase in the city to the idea of inside politics and shenanigans by those in power in the city.) I think I have developed what I want to use, and will be revealing it soon.

After seeing the new 2022 USFL logos, I wanted to see if I could merge the new red-orange-gold logo with a more traditional Stars logo. I think I like this quite a bit, and it might just make its way into the Alt History USFL I have been working on. What do you think? I think the use of orange actually does help with the transition from one star to the other.

A few thoughts on the early complaints about the New USFL looks. Some I agree with, some I don't. 1. Logos are too 80's: I don't understand the disconnect here. The only reason to "bring back" the USFL instead of just creating a new league is to cash in on nostalgia for the older league, to get all the Gen-Xers like me who loved the USFL to be on board by reminding us of the 1980's. it would make no sense to call the league the USFL and bring back original team names if you did not at least tip the cap to the look of the 1980's league. Otherwise just scrap the USFL all together and call it the Fox Football League. 2. Too much red: This is understandable, but largely a byproduct of the old USFL and the decision to avoid the western teams (for cost reasons one assumes). The most iconic teams in the league back in the 80's were teams that wore red. The Generals (Flutie, Walker), the Stars (2 time champs), the Bandits (Burt Reynolds), and to a lesser degree the Staliions and the Gamblers. I don't consider Michigan's plum to be red so much as purple. Had the league added some west coast teams, like Oakland, LA, or Denver, it would have dispersed the colors a bit better, but they wanted to stick to the East, so that only left them so many choices. You are not going to skip Philly (Red) to put in Washington (Green) or avoid Tampa (Red) to include Orlando (Blue) because you want the teams with the most immediate recognition factors. 3. Maulers logo: While I think the new version is a reasonable upgrade from the old "stick figure" Mauler, I am not sure why they seem to have eliminated grey/metal from the design. Having a white circle and using orange on the hammer's head seem odd choices to me. The figure is a bit awkward, but so was the original. Honestly, I am not sure why they picked Pittsburgh over either Washington or Chicago, but they did. I think this logo can be fine and the older one would have been far too retro even for the USFL. 4. Stallions logo: I think we will eventually see a full-figure stallion on the helmet, so I am withholding judgement until then, though I do wonder if a predominantly white horse with only a red outline will work on a gold helmet. 5. Stars Logo: I have to say the use of orange is growing on me. I still think the design of the logo itself is not great, and actually prefer the more linear/broken up version from the 1980's, but it is correct that the original logo was very hard to see on the gold helmets. 6. Panthers Logo: I agree with those who say it is too linear/blocky and does not capture the dynamism or "flow" of the original. I think a more animalistic and less structured version would be an improvement. 7. Uniforms: We have not seen them yet, obviously, but just the difference in jersey cuts between 1985 and 2021 is going to have to force some changes. The original USFL was very dependent on sleeve striping, complex series of stripes (Birmingham, Philly, Michigan) or wide stripes (New Orleans) that likely will not work well today, so they are going to have to be inventive to retain some feel from the originals while adjusting to the lack of sleeves in current uniform designs. I would hope that if the USFL is actually successful with their "All Birmingham" format, which seems like a tough sell to me (How desperate for pro football is Alabama that they would fill stadiums for 4 games a week?) I would hope to see the league add some western teams as a 3rd division to come back to 12 franchises. I would love to see the Express, Invaders, Wranglers and Gold added.

And now the final 3 teams and their 1995 uniforms. Three uni updates are coming for the 1996 season: Chicago, Jacksonville, and New Jersey.

Just saw them. Several are definitely downgrades from the originals but I did not hate most of them. I will say they have a couple that are not far off from what I was thinking (PIT, TBY, MGN, BHM). More on Chicago soon, but for now here are the next 2 teams, Chicago (1995 version) and Birmingham. Only 3 left, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Arizona.

I am going to have to beg to differ on that. I think they did well on some, but some are definite downgrades from the originals. Best: Breakers, good modern update. Gamblers, basically left it alone from 1984, Stallions, could be good but I need to see what the helmets look like. Mediocre/Decent but not ideal: Maulers, a decent upgrade of a pretty odd logo to begin with. Generals, adding blue to the logo is a plus, but the placement of the stars entirely with the laurels seems odd to me. Downgrades: Bandits-- While I get what they are going for, the awkward position of the horses legs make this a downgrade for me. The design made for the A11FL was better. Stars-- Why add orange? It is like they are trying to recreate the original but could not figure out how to do that with just red and gold. Panthers-- That panther is not as good as the original, too linear. Not horrible by any stretch, but some odd choices made. The Philly secondary with the Liberty Bell is also a weird logo. I do like the Breakers logo as part of a NOLA look. Let's see if the helmets come close to being as cool as the originals, especially keeping an eye out for Michigan and New Orleans.

And a bit of news. The Chicago Machine lost a trademark infringement lawsuit from a small machining company in Michigan, so they have to drop the M (originally from the Montreal Machine). I have 2 options here, I can modify the Chicago Enforcers logo or I can create a new logo. I am leaning towards the latter. It will be a new logo, but one with significant inspiration from the Montreal Machine M, so not entirely new, which is something I am trying to avoid, using borrowed, or otherwises sourced logos whenever possible. That new logo will be revealed soon.

Getting close to the end, only a few teams left. Here is Houston and Denver, our two teams with black-dominant uniforms.

Next up the "New" LA Express, returning to the City of Angels after a 3 year hiatus, and the Jacksonville Bulls. LA retains a lot of its original 1983-1992 look, but swapped out burgundy for a lighter "speed" blue. Jacksonville is still sporting the same look they started out with in 1984, though rumors have them getting a new look for 1996. Next up we will have Houston and Denver, both of the league's Men in Black.

Let's keep this parade of uniforms going with the league's two M teams, Michigan and Memphis. For those who did not follow the Alt History of the league, Memphis switched from Silver & Cardinal to a bluish tinted silver similar in some ways to what Dallas does with their home pant color. Michigan switched to a new logo in 1994 (based on the U. of Houston) but retained the same basic helmet design with the cat curving up the entire bottom of the helmet. Next up are the new look Express and the Bulls.

I have worked up an alternate USFL logo because I think the full acronym does not work as a league logo on a jersey. Expect to see that incorporated into the uniforms either in 1996 or 1997.

New Jersey is one of the teams getting new uniforms for 1996, along with Jacksonville, so you may get your wish.