The Falcons Get New Uniforms With Old Gimmicks
I was not expecting two uniform reveals in a row so quickly like that. It was honestly pretty fun because of how differently they both approached the new look. The Bucs went full backpedal into nostalgic comfort and classic, but the Falcons trudged ahead and tried to give us something different. Watching the reactions has been predictable but entertaining.
Here’s where I’m going to go against what most people were saying and admit the horrible truth: they aren’t that bad. In fact I even like them. I don’t love them and I have some gripes that I feel most people would agree with, but overall? I think it’s a pretty solid update and I think people are too eager to bash them.
People hate change and after the Bucs basically went “whelp, back to what we literally had already straight up”, things were even more primed to crap on the Falcons. I disagree with this general desire to just revert to all the classic looks. I love a lot of old uniform designs too, but it’s 2020 and we need to stop living in the past for everything. We can use the past, we can be influenced by the past, but just straight up pining for what you loved as a kid is kind of sad. I think the Falcons did a relatively okay job going back to a previous look while also bringing in some more modern sensibilities.
THINGS I LIKE
-I like going solid color for the jersey overall. It hearkens back to these and frankly that’s good. I like the solid black jersey. I like the subtle side stripes. They don’t dominate and stay mostly hidden due to the angle.
-I like that the solid black pants have a stripe on the side. I hate completely solid black pants, they just look like yoga pants. I’m always in favor of stripes.
-I like the home black and white away uniforms, though I would prefer if they did black jersey/white pants for the home combo, because frankly it looks the best.
-I have no problems with the number font. It’s a bit sharp but doesn’t overdo it.
-I like the alternate red gradient jersey. There I said it. I love that it isn’t the main jersey. If it was the main look it would be too much, but as a fun alternate? I love it. I love most of Nike’s experimental alternate uniforms because they allow for such fun ideas without being the main idea. Color rush rules because it is just a fun way to enjoy a single game. The gradient is implemented far better than the Jags helmet was. For a weird alt jersey we will see once a season? I love it. I wish we’d get more weird alternates and I hate the purists who get all bent out of shape because one game features gimmicky looks. Sports are goofy and fun, and being silly once in a while is good, you nincompoops.
–The throwback uniform is fire
THINGS I’M MEH ABOUT
-Drop shadows on the numbers. Drop shadows reek of clients who don’t understand design saying “make it pop! oooh drops shadows look 3D!” I’ve never seen a drop shadow on a uniform that I thought was better than just an outlined number. Outlines all the way, every day. That said, the drop shadows on this uniform aren’t egregious, but I’d still prefer an outline or nothing.
-Not a fan of the solid color look. I like when jerseys and pants match, but if you are going to match the jersey and the pants, the socks gotta be a different color. This isn’t a huge issue on the black home uniform because it is literally black from head to toe and that’s kinda unique, but it poses a balance problem on the white away look because the helmet is black and then from there it’s white to the toe. Needs black socks to keep the white contained in the middle. Also, I wish more socks had stripes. Sock stripes are good.
-The matte black helmet. I don’t like matte finishes. I like my helmets shiny. Matte just makes the decal look more like a slapped-on sticker.
THINGS I HATE
–This combination is straight trash. Black helmet on white, then red pants and socks? garbage balance, too many colors with no central color as the focus, just terrible. Make the jersey red and the pants white with red/black socks and it might be passable.
-The big ATL. I don’t like it. It’s too big, and I wish it just said “Atlanta” instead. Having it be “ATL” feels like some hello fellow kids corporate appropriation of city slang. If saying “The ATL” was ever hip, a major brand using it like this has officially murdered it. But the real problem is size. It ruins the balance of the front. The numbers feel too low, and thanks to that big ATL, my eyes always end up reading the letters first. My eyes should see the number first and foremost at all times. ATL is simply too big. I don’t think they have to completely remove it, but it needs to be downsized and the numbers raised up the front a bit. also make it say Atlanta instead of trying to be too cool for school.
-People who always use the XFL for a cheap dunk comparison on modern jerseys. The XFL uniforms are all very modern and homogenized because they were all designed at exactly the same time, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. I think most of them are fine. The NFL does not have a particular style thanks to years of history and teams updating and changing at different times. There have been a lot of bad uniforms in NFL history, many of them worse than the XFL is. Modern doesn’t equal bad, it just usually means we haven’t had time to adjust to them and make memories with them.
That said if they made every single uniform just a solid color with shoulder stripes in some combo it would be everything I want.
Apparently the Chargers new duds should be here soon too, but I don’t anticipate a big change there. They quietly updated their logo and nobody noticed. Looks like they are just phasing out the dark blue.
Solid black pants only look good when paired with a black jersey. Otherwise it looks like the team is on laundry day. The Saints and Ravens look terrible when they wear white on black.
The Flying Elvis Shoulder Pads are good
I think the uniforms aren’t bad. I don’t care for the ATL on it personally. They do have a bit of a minor league feel to them, but it’s not so bad that they won’t catch on. What I really disliked was Atlanta’s intro video. It was horrible. You sit through the whole video before you actually get a good shot of what they look like. It was as if they were trying to distract you from them the whole time they were introducing them.
After complaining of the “get off my lawn mindset” yesterday, I love almost every single point in this column. Thanks David for showing the other side too! As you said, it’s sports, it’s supposed to be fun! [Which is why I would die on the hill of disagreeing with you on the one point – “if they made every single uniform just a solid color with shoulder stripes in some combo it would be everything I want.” – that’s basically what the super boring Colts, Raiders, Giants type uniforms are already and the ones most in need of a change]
The Giants and Raiders do not have shoulder stripes so that critique is weird? Also the Colts uniform is great
Oh, I guess I wasn’t focused specifically on the shoulder stripes part. Perhaps that shows how boring those uniforms are, I completely forgot how they looked! 🙂 But if you think the Colts one is great, we’re just never gonna agree on uniforms. I lived in central Indiana for almost 20 years and I think it’s the most boring uniform in the NFL.
In general these are an improvement over their last set. They’re not great, but they’re not terrible.
– The vampire font (I know it’s supposed to look like beaks or whatever, but come on, it’s black and red and spiky) looks really silly as a number font but it actually looks pretty good as a letter font.
– I’m usually against alternative striping, but I like the spike stripes. They’d look better if they were limited to the pants, but as Dave pointed out even as a side panel on the jersey they’re subtle enough not to be intrusive.
– The gradient alternate already looks gimmicky and dated, and they haven’t even played a game in it yet.
– I will always take a keyline over a drop shadow. That being said, if you’re going to do a drop shadow this is the way to do it. It highlights the quirks of the number font and, since it’s a single axis shadow it’s a lighter weight than they usually are.
– I agree on the total monochrome look. I don’t like monochrome (other than white) anyway, but the socks should always contrast the pants no matter what.
– Matte helmets have their place and in this instance, where 90% of the logo is the same color as the helmet, the matte finish on the helmet gives it some contrast that’s missing in the color.
– I agree that the black-white-red is the worst of the standard combos. Having the helmet and pants be different colors with a white jersey tends to make it look bottom heavy, which on a sports uniform translates to making the athletes look slower. The gradient set has that problem too. Black-white-black or black-white-white would look much better.
– I like the ATL wordmark. I can see your point about it being too big, but Atlanta is one of the few cities that can successfully pull off the IATA code nickname and it’s been around long enough to not look dated or gimmicky on an NFL uniform.
Let the new Falcons uniform usher in a new era of large wordmarks on every team’s jersey designating the code of the international airport closest to each team’s stadium!
BTW, any new uniform is a good uniform in comparison to what is probably going to end up happening eventually: Premier League-style corporate branding.
This might be my favorite gag on your comic Dave. Never fails to make me laugh.
The away whites are my favorite of all the new looks. I love that they used Grady Jarrett as the model for the gradient uniform. I also agree as the “Color Rush” replacement the gradient uniform works. I’m not a huge fan of the black pants as it makes the players look like they have chicken legs. I’m sure the OL don’t mind that point too much. As a new standard uniforms I think they did fine with the all blacks. Much better than the red ones we have had for years.
Side note- The red pants are terrible and I cannot be convinced that they work with any combination much less the white top.
I am just happy the Giants is one of those teams that’s conservative. Let’s see, different shade of blue or going with the NY or Giants on the helmet. I don’t like this whole let’s changed the uniforms every few years.
Then again after seeing the old school 80’s throwback uniforms last year I wouldn’t be bad if the Giants go back to that style for awhile.
In the first linked pic, why is the guy on the right wearing a Bears jersey?
(BTW, Sexy Rexy would NEVER cover it. He’s infecting girls from 50 yards away…)
Good to see I’m not the only one who caught that! And by that, I mean COVID19. Maybe.
Okay, there is WAY worse “branding” news:
Tom Brady (according to NFL network) has applied for the trademarks “Tompa Bay” AND “Tampa Brady” (!)
So nothing the Nike guys come up with can suck even one tenth that much…..
Why did the falcons need new uniforms anyway? Not saying they were my favorite, but I was airtight with the old ones. If you’re gonna get rid of aesthetic that is seeing as out of date, lean into the throwbacks everyone loves. GO WITH THE DIRTY BIRD. These are just red Jets uniforms with black as primary. Also, I don’t trust Nike/Atlanta to not wear those ugly gradients multiple times a year. It would’ve been a weird move to basically revert back with both uniforms, so maybe you make some adjustments here and there but still.
The Falcons uniforms were relics of the mid-2000’s, they weren’t awful but an update there was just fine. I’m also just fine with them trying something new since using throwbacks is just nostalgia baiting like they are doing with the Bucs and now the Browns
Speaking of color rush unis, I will never forgive the giants for using the throwback all whites when they could’ve done throwback home jerseys with those blue pants they use to bring out with the white jerseys back in the 70s. Gotta monopolize the big blue name
The Niners’ throwback uniform from last year falls foul of a few of your negatives, but I thought it was beautiful. Surely throwbacks at least are exempt from some of the rules?
1 – Throwbacks are not the main uniform, so I’m okay with weirder stuff there
2 – I actually didn’t like those that much, hated the drop shadow and wished it had red socks, the rest was fine