In honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the American Football League, and to sell more jerseys, the NFL is having former AFL franchises wear their original uniforms. This has been done in the past several years with various teams, but the AFL focus has prompted a fierce debate on the fashion aesthetics of the old unis. For example, I love the classic New England Patriots jersey (with the adorable little patriot hiking the ball on the helmet), while Cyd hates them. Then again, he cried at “Titanic” while I was rooting for the iceberg.
Here are some of the AFL throwbacks worn this season, along with a few of original NFL teams, along with my votes. Agree or not?
Row 1, left to right: Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers.
Row 2, left to right: Kansas City Chiefs (originally the Dallas Texans), Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets (originally the Titans).
Row 3, left to right: Tennessee Titans (originally the Houston Oilers), New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers.
(Click image for larger view).
My votes:
Thumbs up: Bills, Chargers, Oilers, Patriots
Thumbs down: Broncos, Cowboys, Jets, Steelers
Neutral: Chiefs
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Pats and Chargers are the best. Classic looks, great colors and logos.
Oilers are OK, but from a throwback standpoint the Oilers unis from the Earl Campbell and Bum Phillips era are so much better.
Bills are just OK, but compared to modern Bills uni, the throwbacks look like the greatest uni ever.
Jets and Broncos are pretty ugly. Too bad Broncos aren’t wearing the classic Orange Crush throwbacks from the Randy Gradishar, Tom Jackson and Lyle Alzado era.
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
For once, I wholeheartedly agree with you, Jim. By the way, I also cheered for the iceberg, and wish the ship hit it in the first 15 minutes.
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 10:55 am
The only one I like is the Chiefs. The Chargers’ isn’t much different from their current uniforms except for the color. The Patriots’ uniforms are hideous, but the worst is the Bills. An actual Buffalo? Yikes.
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I like the Chargers and Oilers the best. Bills is too plain.
As an aside about why the Bills now have red helmets - in case you have not heard this story. The Bills passing game was struggling and the coach at the time thought with everybody else in the AFC East having white helmets - the quarterback of the Bills would better be able to see his receivers if they had a different colour helmet from the defenders - so they switched to red. I’m not kidding.
The year after the switch the Sabres - Buffalo’s hockey team - hit a rough patch and after a loss one of the local reporters asked Jim Schonefeld - their coach at the time - ‘Ever thought of changing the color of the team’s helmets?’ That got a good laugh.
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Broncos, by far and away are the worst.
A shit brown/piss yellow color combo. who thought that one up back in the day.
Pats, Bolts, Bills - top notch
Chiefs,Oilers, Raiders - eh, soso
Jets, Broncos - hideous
btw - the Bills haven’t always had a red - white - blue color scheme uni with buffalo helmet. They began in 1960-1 with a silver helmet with blue number on the helmet. Why? Team owner Ralph Wilson was(is) from Detroit and wanted his team’s colors to resemble the Lions.