NFL football is back. A good running game, stingy defense, and super-star quarterback might be what the pundits use to justify success, but there’s another variable necessary to this equation: a sharp uniform.
Here are the NFL’s top five best, and worst, jerseys.
Top five:
1) Detroit Lions
Okay, the Lions may be one of the NFL’s worst teams, but the jerseys look fantastic. The blue lion logo paired with the Honolulu blue and silver jerseys mix the future with the past in a way few teams of the Lions vintage can do. The best jerseys mix the old with the new in a way that satisfies the old timers and new fans alike.
2) San Francisco 49ers
The Niners take their name from the 1849 gold rush, so it’s fitting the jersey incorporate gold. The way the gold helmets and pants bookend the red jersey and white numbers is pure class. The helmet paint has a subtle sparkle, and the scheme looks great against the green field and brown ball. The 49ers make this list because of their look’s unity. It’s tight, orchestrated, and purposeful.
3) Chicago Bears
“Daaaaaaaa Bears” have a great look. The slim number font, orange stripes, and navy blue primary colour are timeless. Plus, the shoulder patch pays homage to one of the league’s greatest owners, George Halas, with a permanent shoulder patch that reads GSH. You can’t beat the way the Bears tie classic and modern styles together in one uniform set.
4) St. Louis Rams
The Rams switched from a straight-out-of-the-1980s yellow and blue scheme to navy blue and gold back when Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk were the Greatest Show on Turf. Now, the Rams are another team with a sharp look and middling on-field play. The gold looks great against the navy blue, and even better with the white piping around the numbers. The team was one of the first to use its helmet as a showpiece, and decades later the Rams’ brain buckets are still one of the most recognizable sports icons in the Big Four.
5) Miami Dolphins
Before Lebron took his talents to South Beach, the only team worth paying attention to in South Florida was the Dolphins. Marino, Griese, Don Shula, the perfect season. Through all the past ups and more recent downs, the Dolphins sported the most original colour scheme in sports. The teal and orange scheme fits the fashion-forward Florida vibe, and look just as good at Sun Life Stadium as a Jimmy Buffett concert. The Fish get points for updating their cartoon-y logo without killing the vibe, too.
Hall of Fame:
The Philadelphia Eagles’ kelly green get-ups were perfect, but they fell victim to the 1990s teal trend. The current uniforms still have the eagle helmet, thankfully.
The bottom five:
1) Jacksonville Jaguars
The teal and gold combination is atrocious. Also, this is a team who tried two-tone paint that changed colour in the sun. Cool idea, but like most of the Jaguar’s personnel decisions, it flopped once executed. The Jags lose points for seemingly changing their look every couple of years, too. If there’s anything that separates the best jerseys from the worst, it’s having an identity that stays strong no matter how brutal you get beat on Sunday.
2) Seattle Seahawks
Three years ago, the Hawks would have been on the best uniform list. Now, the team looks like the product of a synergizing, dynamic marketing meeting between Seahawks employees and Nike’s marketing department. Hey, wait, that’s exactly what happened! The neon green looks terrible against the navy blue, and the number font looks like it belongs on a computer from the Reagan era.
3) Carolina Panthers
Who ever thought aqua blue would go with black? The all-blue jerseys the Panthers wear from time-to-time are risk of burning the LCD pixels of TVs around the world. Plus, the geniuses behind this identity decided to have the seats match the eye-piercing shade of blue on the uniforms. Amateurs.
4) Baltimore Ravens
It’s cool that the Ravens incorporate the surprisingly awesome Maryland state flag in the shoulders of their uniforms, but the accolades stop there. Purple and black? Okay, ravens are black, but why pair that shade with an equal downer of a colour? The number font looks like it belongs on a bad 1990s expansion team, not a perennial Super Bowl contender.
5) Houston Texans
The Texans make this list for the sheer lack of inventiveness. The Texans are the league’s youngest franchise, yet the team chose a red, navy blue, and white colour scheme. Yes, those match the state flag, but the Patriots and Bills already have those colours. Plus, numerous teams use navy blue as a primary tone. Pair that with a dark colour in the sweltering Texas sunshine, and there lots of reasons to shake your head at this uniform.
Hall of Shame:
The Denver Broncos’ brown and yellow jerseys were brutal. The barber pole socks were the best part of a team that looked like a steaming pile of you-know-what on the field. The orange and blue were, and still are, a welcome change.
