Isn’t it amazing how quickly we all just sorta stopped giving a crap about Nike’s Color Rush gimmicks?

They first came out and it was a giant talking point (partly because of the color blindness issue, but still). The few attempts they had for the remainder of the year were major deals and we all just wanted to talk about it. Then they announced the color rush for every Thursday game last year, and we all got hyped up and chatty, discussed it every week, and it was over.

They’ve been doing it this year once more, and honestly it’s almost as if we’ve all just sort of ignored it. Nike’s clever idea to shake things up ran out of juice. They need more gimmicks.

I am being actually kind of honest about that, actually. Count me in as a fellow who enjoys color rush and generally likes what Nike has been doing with the uniforms. They have a tendency to throw all sorts of ideas onto a wall and see what sticks, which can result in a fairly decent upgrade (Seahawks went from a nothing style to something actually memorable) to a complete disaster (the Jaguars Helmet is the worst uniform element ever made). I think most people outraged at the new looks are honestly just mad that things changed and change is BAD. Don’t make me look at things that are different, everything has to be as I remember.

I like color rush a lot. I like the funky color experimentation. Sometimes when I make pictures, I sit there tweaking colors for fun just to see what sort of other looks I can come up with. Nike was doing that and making the already dreadful Thursday nonsense a little more interesting in a harmless, fun way. Some of it worked, some of it very much didn’t, but I appreciated that it happened. If anything I feel like Nike was really close to actually generating some great changes, but they were hamstrung by the helmet color restrictions (The Bengals recent “white tiger” look especially) or a few dumb decisions (Not making a different color sock so it looks like players are wearing footsie pajamas).

I don’t want what Oregon has become, a team that almost has no visual identity whatsoever as Nike has stripped everything from it like mad scientists, but I wouldn’t mind seeing some more Thursday gimmicks in the future. More alternate jerseys. Maybe holiday uniforms. Maybe instead of color rush, a BEAST form, where they incorporate elements of the team’s name into the uniform, like animals (Sort of like the Bengals already do). More different color shoulder-pads, I like different color shoulder-pads.  Maybe Nike should try a gimmick where they don’t make uniforms that have awkward sweat spots.

Or…NEW HELMETS. LET THEM HAVE FUN WITH THE HELMETS. I’m honestly pretty convinced the helmet rule is bogus and is just some way for the NFL to have consistent team branding instead of being about player safety. Half of the helmets in the league are so boring, let Nike have some fun. Even the Jags one is at least interesting for how utterly atrocious it is.

But if we are going to get color rush in October, just straight up go for the full pink and kill us all. Do it Nike. Do it. My body is ready.