Uniforms: Atlanta Falcons Through the Years

I've always been a sports fan who loved uniforms.  When I was young I would even gravitate towards certain teams just because of the uniforms they wore.  The Michigan Wolverines are probably the biggest example of that for me.  I want to take a quick look at the Atlanta Falcons uniforms throughout the years.  While it wasn't the reason I became a fan of the team, that red uniform of the 70's is still my favorite of all-time among any sport. 



From the inception of the Falcons until 1970 Atlanta wore a black uniform with white numbers and letters.  Above is all-time Falcons great linebacker Tommy Nobis.  I was too young to remember this uniform but it was a good start for Atlanta.  They were the only team to wear black other than Oakland at the time.  Their helmet was a primary red with the Falcon logo black with a white outline.  A black and white stipe ran from the back to front down the center of the helmet.  Again a good first offering but I wouldn't consider it one of my favorites.  The Falcons currently wear this as a throwback uniform. 

 Gerald Riggs, above, is wearing the uniform the team wore from 1971 through 1989.  While hard to see here his uniform has the silver numbers and pants as opposed to the white numbers and pants used through the 1977 season.  There were other minor changes but I believe those were the biggest.  This uniform is my all-time favorite of the Falcons.  Of course the 70's were my formative years as a young lad when it came to watching sports so this is how I remember Atlanta in my early years.  I own the Mitchell and Ness Steve Bartkowski  version of this jersey.  I really like the red in the uniform paired with the black and the silver.  Again this will always be the benchmark for me when it comes to uniforms.  I really wish Atlanta would wear these as a throwback from time to time which they last did in 1994.

Next was the Falcons' back in black look as I refer to it.  The bold change was good a look and led to other teams moving to black uniforms.  This is Terrance Mathis showing off the look that Atlanta took their only Super Bowl appearance as they wore this particular uniform from 1990 through 2002.  The black version had white numbers with a red outline with the helmet featuring the original helmet logo outlined in white.  The white uniform had black numbers until 1997 when they changed to red.  Considering how much I loved the red unis Atlanta won me over fairly quickly with this version.  Again a sharp uniform that harkens back to the team's original uniform while also starting a trend that spread to other sports as well.  I have the Deion Sanders version of this jersey that I purchased back in the mid 90's.  Even if Deion left for greener pastures he is still a beloved figure in Atlanta.

 

The current Falcons uniform was introduced in 2003 and the black version is shown at the left as modeled by Keith Brooking.  Warren Dunn shows off the red version below.  There have been different combinations of pant colors used over the years with the team settling on only white pants starting in 2009.  Again Atlanta did well.  It is hard to come up with different uniforms over and over and still come up with something that looks good.  I like the black with more red and white added in stripes and shoulder colors.  At first I was leery but it looks good.  The uniform numbers on the black version are white outlined in red.  The helmet logo was redone with red added and outlined in white.  The redesign definitely updates the logo in a sharp way.  The red version has white numbers outlined in black.  Both look great.  I own the Warrick Dunn black version.  Wouldn't mind a red version but as I already have three Falcons jerseys and I'm not sure I really need to add another. 

 

So as you can tell I'm pretty happy with the history of the Atlanta Falcons uniforms.  None were too plain nor went off the deep end with some crazy design.  A good page for seeing the evolution of the Falcons jersey, among all the other teams, can be found here at Gridiron Uniforms.  Check it out.  I doubt this will be my last post on uniforms.  It is definitely something I enjoy so I'll see what else I can come up with.  

  

 

Tampa Buccaneers Get New Uniforms

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers unveiled new jerseys this month.  I thought I'd put down a few thoughts on paper.  First you must know I was that kid to whom uniforms were important.  I'm sure a good part of the reason I came to be a Michigan Wolverines fan was the uniforms.  Yes, them being a national power in the 70's and being on TV quite a bit played into it but I was that kid especially when it came to football.  To this day I still love uniforms and like to stay on top of changes around the leagues.  Paul Lukas and his Uni Watch website is where I go to stay up to date on uniform news.  It is a great site so go there now - well after your read this post.  So now you know uniforms have some value to me. 

Now this being a Tampa Bay reveal also plays into me actually putting my thoughts on paper.  I followed the Bucs for years (70's-90's) as more than a casual fan.  Unfortunately I had to pair down the number of NFL teams of which I was a true fan and the Bucs missed the cut.  One of things I always loved about Tampa Bay was that uniform.  Yes, the dreaded creamsicle unis.  I love those uniforms.  I know the majority despises them but I love them.  And I'm not the only one.  Heck there is an urban dictionary reference for Creamsicle Nation.  I believe Chris Berman coined the "creamsicle" term and often talks about his love for those early Tampa teams.  Ok, yes this post is about the new uniforms.  Just had to get out my background as it pertains to Tampa Bay, uniforms and Creamsicle Nation so you know where I am comming from.

 

When I first saw the pics of the updated duds I immediately thought of the rash of college uniforms. 

As someone that is almost 45 years-old I, like some others of my generation, have issues with some of the new uniforms out there.  Comparatively this one isn't too bad.  Not great but I've seen worse.  The new helmet design is ok.  Mostly just an oversized re-imagined version of the original team logo on the helmet.  The alternate logos aren't bad either.  Simple re-designs that work with what was already in place. 

My biggest issue with the uniforms themselves is the font used for the numbers. I know I'm not the only one as I've read different reviews that also mention the numbers as being a big detractor.  Someone described them as alarm clock numbers.  No argument here.  Just hideous.  I get teams want to be different but ugh.  I don't do well with change sometimes and I'm wishing Tampa had not gone so far out there when they chose the font for the numbers.  The colors on the uniform are ok but sometimes it seems teams are trying to get too many colors and design elements into their uniforms.  They even have some creamsicle in there.  I'm just not sure it works for me.  The pewter seems too much like a faded black.  I'm being picky but what will really matter is seeing these guys on the field and time.  I didn't like the Atlanta Falcons jerseys when they made the change in 2003.  But I've grown to like them.  I actually thought Tampa had a good looking jersey in the red with the pewter helmet.  I think they could have just tweaked what they had and didn't need a complete redesign. 

To sum up not a bad effort but I think I'll never like the uniforms if for no other reason because of those horrible looking numbers.  I can write everything else off as a fact of change but the numbers just look bad.  I wonder what folks were thinking when they approved those.  Were they trying to be as different as possible no matter the backlash?  A "any news including bad news is good news" type situation?  Not sure.  I really hope other teams looking at this will learn from the mistakes.  I understand uniforms will change whether I like it or not.  But I really think the designers here just made one bad choice which really takes away from an otherwise good effort. 

Creamsicle Awesomeness!