The Buffalo Bills announced that a uniform change would be coming for the 2011 NFL season. Thanks to a Madden '12 promo video, the uniform changed was leaked. From what I've seen, it's a good change. The Washington Wizards also changed their unis, and unveiled them this week. Again, a change for the better. It got me to thinking about all of the horrible uniform changes throughout all of sports. Teams want to up their merchandise revenue, so they change colors, designs, even logos. While they may seem necessary, they don't always work out.
My first list will be NFL. No uniform is more representative of its sport than the NFL uniform. No faces, huge pads, big helmet logos....all you see is the uniform. It better look great. Here are my top 10 NFL uniform changes that should have never happened.
10. Detroit Lions: This may be the laziest change on the list. The change wasn't necessarily a bad one. In fact, it's a bit of an improvement. But based on what was actually done, it was completely useless. The Lions added black....that's about it. The logo went from looking out of focus to having a little bit of detail. The stripe on the sleeve became a little more solid, and the silver looks a bit brighter. What was the point? The logo is still boring. No one saw the new one and ran out to buy a new hat. Black alternative jerseys are nice, but they look like the Panthers at a glance. Try a little herder Detroit. This just seems lazy.
9. San Diego Chargers: The Chargers were due for a change. The fans all wanted it. The problem is, they made the wrong change. No jersey in the NFL gets more play than the powder blues. The Chargers started wearing the powder blues as a throwback in the early 2000's. They got immediate positive feedback. The color jumped off the field. In 2007, they unveiled their new uniform design. The white helmets looked great. The subtle change to the bolt was just enough to keep the tradition of the logo, but give it an updated feel. There was just one problem. The powder blue that everyone wanted, was nothing more than an accent. An alternate powder blue was unveiled, by why was it only an alternate? Ditch the navy, and go with the powder as the full time look.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jags took the coolest part of their jersey (the jaguar on the sleeve), and replaced it with some weird stripe that goes over the shoulders and meets at the small of the back. Their was really no reason to change the overall design of the jersey. A color change wouldn't be bad. That green/blue color is hard to look at and makes no sense for a jaguar. The black works, but change the rest if you really need to make a change. Get rid of that stripe and bring back the Jag.
7. Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks took what they had, and exaggerated it by a thousand. They had a small accent of green in the original uni, now the green looks like the lime popsicles I used to eat as a child. While it's still only an accent, they went ahead and made an alternate jersey in that green, and might just be the loudest jersey in sports history. They had blue, a very nice blue. Now they have a mutated blue that doesn't show up on any color wheel. Then they compound the ugliness of it by wearing the same colored pants and helmet. It looks like a wetsuit. And what happened to the silver? Like the Lions, they got really lazy with the logo. It was a wholesale change on color, but a "meaner looking eye" on the logo? Very lazy Seattle.
6. N.Y. Giants: I don't dislike the Giants uniforms overall. I just think they are really plain. The home blue jerseys used to have some red outline on the neck and sleeve. The blue had some life to it, as well. The road white jerseys had the same look to them with red and blue stripes on the neck and sleeve. The change was a throwback to the old Giant days. Like I said before, I don't dislike it, but it's extremely boring. The jersey is a plain, flat blue, with no design to it what so ever. The grey on the pants looks old and worn out, and is also very flat. The away jersey has red stripes on the sleeves. I don't understand why the home and away jerseys are two different designs. I like the change back to the old logo, and the blue on the helmet is great, but the flat color scheme and different home/away designs are lacking.
5. Houston Texans: This wasn't a uniform change, it was just a poor choice to begin with. The Texans have good looking uniforms. They have a clean look, and good logo. My question is, why choose a color scheme that resembles so many other teams? At the time of the Texans inception, 6 other teams were wearing navy blue jerseys; Bills, Patriots, Titans, Broncos, Rams, and Chargers. They have since added a red alternate jersey that actually looks pretty good. But why go with a jersey that is so similar to so many others? You are a brand new team without limitations.....be creative.
4. New England Patriots: Why did they lose the red? The red jersey with the white helmet was great! For some reason, the Patriots decided to lose the red jersey, white helmet, and "Patriot snapping the ball" logo, and switch to blue jerseys, silver helmets, and whatever that logo is now, back in the early '90's. Then they took the new blue, and turned it to navy blue in 2001. EVERYONE goes to navy blue. The Patriots lost everything that was good about their uniform. They brought it back a couple years ago as a throwback alternate, and made everyone remember just how good those uniforms were.
3. Philadelphia Eagles: I wasn't a huge fan of the Eagles old green and grey uniforms, but they were head & shoulders above the new ones. The new green is flat out ugly. It's also very dark, too dark for black to be the accent color. The logo is bad too. The Eagles did what too many other teams did with their logo, made it just the head in a charging style position. The old logo was an actual eagle clutching a football in its talons. It had life and detail. The new one is boring. I think they should bring back the grey if they plan on keeping the dark green. There's just not enough contrast with the black. And please, bring back the eagle.
2. Buffalo Bills: The bills have made a few changes. The uniform change from the O.J. Simpson days, to the Superbowl era, Jim Kelly days, was a good one for the most part. The logo got a little tougher, though I don't like the red helmet. The colors stayed the same on the uniform, but it was given an updated look. In 2002, the Bills forgot they were in the NFL, and went with an arena league looking uni. The first mistake was the navy blue. Stop with the navy blue. The second was wearing navy blue pants with the navy blue jerseys. Too much. The third, and worst, was the road jersey. What the hell is that? It looks like they ran out of white material, and had to finish the shoulders with blue. It looks like a bib! They are terrible. The only reason the Bills are ranked #2, is they announced in February '11 that they were changing them again. From what I've seen, it will be their best change yet.
1. Denver Broncos: Why? Orange was the Broncos. The "Orange Crush" defense. As recognizable as the "Purple People Eaters" in Minnesota. Orange jerseys in Denver were like the star on the Cowboys helmet, Silver & Black in Oakland, the Terrible Towel in Pittsburgh, the....well you get the idea. Denver became another team that went to navy blue. They also ruined their logo. The bronco coming through the "D" was perfect. It represented the team, and the city. The new one is the same as the Eagles, Panthers, Patriots, Rams, Jaguars, and Cardinals. It's just a head seemingly rushing forward. They did themselves a favor by adding orange alternates, but the old brighter blue worked a lot better with the orange than the navy. This is definitely a uniform that should have never changed its colors, or logo.
I'm sure not everyone will agree with this list. Maybe your favorite team made a change you don't like. Maybe you like one of the changes that I didn't. Let me know. I wan to hear some feedback on this.
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