Bills confirm new uniform for 2011

[ebod39]

After watching this video, I am even less of a fan of the helmet stripe widening. You see a really good shot of it at the end of the clip.

Bills Uni Video

It's just unnecessary and borders on gimmicky. Just because the red streak in the logo widens doesn't mean you have look for a place to emulate it.

So by that thinking, shouldn't the pant stripes widen too? It's as if they're looking for things to re-design, a reason to do it and or yet another

"signature" element. How about just design a classic uniform, a new benchmark for the league and have that be your signature element. That would be a novel idea.

Bengals, hands down worst unis in the NFL.

[smith03]

And, gray works with a red, white, and blue color scheme.

I disagree. Unless there's gray or silver in the color scheme, a gray facemask sticks out like a sore thumb and makes the uniform look dreary. White is much more of a neutral color and would look absolutely fine with the white helmet, and blue facemasks worked well for the Bills in the past:

How can I put this? Umm...you're wrong.

Seriously though, those are all fair points but I'm not the stickler for "uniformity" in a uniform that a lot of people around here are. For me, at the end of the day the helmet just needs to look good and I think the new Bills helmet looks really good with the gray mask. I'm not in the "gray facemasks always look good" camp but in this case I think it works just fine. I always thought the blue facemask on the old Bills helmet was too dark. I've never cared for a white facemask on a white helmet. They look cheap to me.

A gray mask on a white helmet looks really cheap to me. You see pee wee football teams wear white helmets with gray masks

[Gothamite]

Then they'd be good-looking pee wee teams.

I'd say a gray mask is always preferable to a white one, regardless of the helmet's color scheme.

[smith03]

Then they'd be good-looking pee wee teams.

I'd say a gray mask is always preferable to a white one, regardless of the helmet's color scheme.

have to disagree a white mask on a white helmet would look better even for the the pee-wees

[Gothamite]

Fair enough - you and I obviously have a different æsthetic sense.

[smith03]

that is what is great about discussions on uniforms no-one is right and no one is wrong

[Gothamite]

Well....

[smith03]

Well....

just trying to be diplomatic

[John in KY]

Well this has really expanded beyond just discussing the Bills.

My $0.02 on the Bills new look - I was always a fan of the original version used from 1975-1983; I suppose I was used to the Bills in a white helmet so I never really took to the red helmet for them. The navy trim is so muted it's not necessary and the uniform would have probably been better without it. I suppose I'm in the minority, but I liked the blue mask better than the grey - I guess I'm just not seeing the problem with it when worn with the blue jersey/white pants combo at home. That being said, the grey mask is okay. Bottom line - an updated retro is better than the mish-mash of just plain ugly they had before; the 2002-2010 Bills uniforms weren't even really modern (like the Broncos, Bengals, Vikings, etc.) they were just bad.

I think that the Bengals and Vikings show up on the "worst uniforms" list because they have some really bad elements that could be fixed to make them better - for the Bengals just drop the white side panels from the black and orange jerseys, and I think the white and orange jerseys would be better with orange sleeves/black tiger stripes instead of the black sleeves/orange tiger stripes. Make the pants stripes all orange with black tiger stripes and it's not too bad.

Similarly the Vikings would just need to drop the side panels but leave the shoulder portion on the jersey - it kind of looks like the helmet horn and therefore flows. Similarly make the stripe on the white pants all purple (eliminate the upper white part) and again the pants stripe echos the horn on the helmet. As long as they don't go all-purple I don't mind the purple pants, just fix the white jersey and the purple pants the same way and it would work better.

Of course the Bengals and Vikings really stand out because the other teams in their divisions have conservative (and in some cases untouchable) uniforms.

[Jungle Jim]

So, about those BILLS uniforms...........

Bills uniforms? What Bills uniforms?

[JohnnySeoul]

I think that the Bengals and Vikings show up on the "worst uniforms" list because they have some really bad elements that could be fixed to make them better.

The Bengals have one of the best helmets (possibly 2nd to the Rams) and then turn around and play in a uniform that resembles pajamas. Amazing that one team has the best and worst at the same time....quite impressive!!!

[tBBP]

I know it gets frownedon quite a bit...but if there's ONE team out there that absolutely SHOULD go with a retrograde identity, its the Bengals.

(I'll also add the Jaguars to this--so long as that retrograde goes back to '97-'00. That was the PERFECT look for them, a bonafide contemporary classic...and they just done went and tore that all the way the hell up.)

[Eye]

(I'll also add the Jaguars to this--so long as that retrograde goes back to '97-'00. That was the PERFECT look for them, a bonafide contemporary classic...and they just done went and tore that all the way the hell up.)

With black side panels or no? In 1997 the Jaguars had black side panels.

Their 1995-96 look was also great, and the block font worked for them, but I think the 1998-2000 look is the best look for them.

[whitedawg22]

(I'll also add the Jaguars to this--so long as that retrograde goes back to '97-'00. That was the PERFECT look for them, a bonafide contemporary classic...and they just done went and tore that all the way the hell up.)

With black side panels or no? In 1997 the Jaguars had black side panels.

Their 1995-96 look was also great, and the block font worked for them, but I think the 1998-2000 look is the best look for them.

1997:

1998-2000:

I completely agree - that 1998 look is gorgeous.

[SizzlinSabres]

A poster mentioned this a few pages back, but my main problem with the Navy is that it appears to show up in varying amounts on different jerseys. I'm not sure if the "1"s on all the #11 jerseys don't show a lot of navy trim, or its just a matter of difference between the replicas and authentics, but I think these jerseys just look silly..almost like a high school uniform. Their reasoning was that "a lot of fans really liked the navy era and they wanted to keep it around for them".

Also please please wear blue pants. That would be so much better.

[UnclearInitial]

Now that the Bils monochrome nightmare is over, there are no more really horrid uniforms in the NFL. Some are still bad, so here s my list

Worst uniforms

1. Vikings: The side panel isn't needed, the shoulder horn would be more recognizable without it. Fix the pants and the font, and they're good.

2. Bengals: Unnecesary sidepanels, and they need to fix the tiger stripes on the sleeves and pants. Need a new font too. Make the tiger the logo again while you're at it.

3. Jaguars: I don't mind the home, but the away is horrid. Add some gold and make teal dominant on the road,or even better go back to the 2000 uni.

4. Steelers: Their sleeve stripes are awful, and the pant stripe is too thick. The helmet should be balanced.

5. Browns: I agree with Lights Out on that 80's uni being their best ever. Put some numbers on the helmet, ditch the AL patch, use orange pants, put stripes on the brown pants, bring back the orange alt Put "Browns" on the logo helmet

PS: would the Bills unis be so maligned if they didn't insist on the monochrome. The Bledsoe era wasn't awful

[infrared41]

Now that the Bils monochrome nightmare is over, there are no more really horrid uniforms in the NFL.

If you mean with the exception of Minnesota, Arizona, Cincinnati, Denver, Jacksonville, and Seattle's blue monochrome, there are no more really horrid uniforms in the NFL, then I agree.

[Lights Out]

1. Patriots - for reasons I've mentioned ad nauseum.

2. Bengals - see Patriots.

3. Steelers - the sleeve stripe is way too big, and the helmet and number font look ridiculous.

4. Cardinals - the "wing detail" is too awkward to work well, and the rest of the look is basically Falcons Lite. Also, gray facemasks look especially horrid with modern uniforms.

5. Niners - the cropped stripes look terrible and they need to work gold trim back into the jerseys.

[Saintsfan]

1. Patriots - for reasons I've mentioned ad nauseum.

2. Bengals - see Patriots.

3. Steelers - the sleeve stripe is way too big, and the helmet and number font look ridiculous.

4. Cardinals - the "wing detail" is too awkward to work well, and the rest of the look is basically Falcons Lite. Also, gray facemasks look especially horrid with modern uniforms.

5. Niners - the cropped stripes look terrible and they need to work gold trim back into the jerseys.

Huh??? I think the Steelers would be in most peoples best uniform list!

Also I understand the quibbles with the miners uniforms, but that also is a timeless look, save the strange sleeve striping.

[JohnnySeoul]

5. Browns: I agree with Lights Out on that 80's uni being their best ever.

The uniform that Lights Out liked only lasted ONE season (1984) for a reason.....beyond ugly. I loved their uni's when the TV numbers were on the sleeves and the white facemasks, but their alternate uni since 2006 is by far the best the Browns have ever looked.

^^^ PURE PERFECTION!!