Uni Watch assistant writer Phil Hecken has taken his uniform jones to The Sporting News, where he has published several lists of uniform rankings. Here’s what he thinks of the NFC, from top to bottom. In general I agree, with exceptions noted in parenthesis. Anything to publish one more uniform list.
16 (13) Tampa Bay’s new Nike unis are ranked worst. They take several of the worst features of recent college look at me uniforms. My thing is, at least they haven’t been wearing them for ten years like the Falcons have. That’s why I rank Atlanta last.
15 (14) Phoenix hasn’t had their ugly unis as long as the Falcons. The Cardinals have one of the best helmets in football, slightly better than Atlanta’s.
14 (16) Atlanta’s only saving grace is their simple helmet. Too bad they can’t wear their throwbacks any more. Hopefully new uniforms will come with the new stadium. I would say no new uniform could be worse, but after seeing what Nike did to the Bucs and Jags I’d better hold my tongue.
13 (12) New uniforms might be in the works for St. Louis, hearkening back to the glory days of the Fearsome Foursome. The current unis are pretty bland. Another great helmet.
12 (15) Minnesota used to have a great helmet but designers are trying to mess it up. Matte finish is the current trend. I’d like to see the huge horns worn back in the late 60’s. The uniforms are a mess as well, in my book worse than any NFC team save the Falcons.
11 (11) Philadelphia’s wonderful silver wings and striped green jerseys have also been messed up, particularly by the addition of too much black. The rumor is the Eagles will soon switch back to Kelly green. Let’s hope this is the case. Note that my bottom six and top ten are the same as Hecken’s.
10 (6) Like the Eagles, Detroit’s once great uniforms have been uglyed up with too much black. The fancy numbers do not reflect the gritty history of the once proud franchise. Only the Columbia blue and silver colors keep Detroit in the top ten.
9 (7) Seattle sports my favorite colors: a nice shade of blue and silver, with a tiny smattering of volt/lime green. Unlike Tampa Bay, the bells and whistles on the Seahawks’ uniforms are understated and good-looking. Winning helps as well.
8 (1) Giants: my theory is that New Yorkers like Hecken and Paul Lukas are too familiar with the Giants to appreciate their old school look. They grew up in the late 60’s and 70’s with the white pants – and losing team. To me the thin-striped grey pants and red-trimmed road uni is the best in the conference, a reminder of the early 60’s glory days as well as the most recent Super Bowl championships.
7 (9) New Orleans: gold and black works, but the lack of stripes and black pants and socks (aka the leotard look) deserves a lower ranking. Nice helmet though.
6 (3) Dallas’ uniform has stood the test of time. Simple and understated, and deserving of a high ranking. They wear their blue jerseys so infrequently that they hardly matter.
5 (5) The Redskins have also gone a long time with the same uniform, and have even brought back the yellow pants and striping pattern from the 60’s and 70’s. These traditional uniforms even make the ugly yellow facemask look ok.
4 (10) Not sure why Hecken ranked Carolina so high. Teal may have been the rage back in the late 1980’s but now it looks dated. Used sparingly, teal could be a great accent color, but the teal socks coupled with the white jerseys and pants look terrible. The black jersey does look good.
3 (8) San Francisco has always looked good, especially the helmets. Since the jerseys lost their sleeves the stripes have been barely there. The new all black unis have drawn deserved protests from the fan base, hence the lower than usual rating. Like the Panthers, perhaps my dislike of the quarterback influenced my decision.
2 (2) Chicago has a great uniform, and great colors. Every combo looks good: navy over white and white over navy. Even the throwbacks look good. Number one in Lukas’ book, but Hecken had to be different.
1 (4) Green Bay’s uniforms do look good but don’t deserve the top ranking. Those ugly stripes on the collar are the deciding factor. The green facemask is another reason. Stripes on the socks would be a nice touch. The throwbacks have looked better than their regular unis.
Next up: Hecken’s AFC rankings.
No comments:
Post a Comment