Why did we ever get rid of the old uniforms?

[Pewsterbaby]

The old uniform represents failure on every level... winning, coaching, drafting, ownership, legacy, etc. They had to go.

I know it's a personal opinion, but I HATE the old unis.

In 13 seasons, between 1976 and 1988, The New England Patriots had ELEVEN winning records, one even one, and ONE losing one. What, your memory only goes back to the early 90's?

 

[PYPER]

I was a big fan of the red growing up. One of the reason's I became a Patriots fan was b/c of their uniforms (hey, I was only 9 years old).

That being said, our current uniforms are my favorite. I think they're the best in the league.

I also think its weird for a team named the Patriots to wear red. Red was the color of the British. The colonial army, the Patriots defending this land, wore blue.

 

[captain stone]

As an old fart, I much prefer the old uniforms to the current ones. The Flying Elvis face is only slightly less gay than the original TB Buccaneer face. Pat the Patriot, with his missing teeth & gnarled hands, is much tougher-looking. And to those who claim that the old unis represent failure, incompetency, bad publicity, whatever - give me a break.

I do agree with Pyper, however, that it's weird to see red as the dominant color, for the reasons he gave. Perhaps a substitution of blue for red, using red & white as trim, would be truer to the original patriots' colors 230 yrs ago. I wonder if anyone could provide a Photoshop picture of that particular look.

 

[GaryfromTO]

Neither does Pat.

Pat/Pete whatever

you knew what I meant

 

[Hoodie]

It's always nice to have a visit from Pat Patriot now and again but this team was a loser in Pats' heyday. I never want to go back there. Keep the Elvi.

 

[Joker]

The whole team looks like its taken Brady's hair styling tips...

 

[Horace's Ivories]

pat patriot kicks the flying elvii's butt

 

[JMarr]

The whole team looks like its taken Brady's hair styling tips...

Good stuff.

And the Elvis IS totally gay, as are the red facemasks.

 

[Pewsterbaby]

Good stuff.

And the Elvis IS totally gay, as are the red facemasks.

Here's some fascinating (well, fascinating to me anyway), Patriots facemask history...

1960- Original Tricorner helmet with grey facemask
1961-1981- 21 straight seasons with Pat Patriot helmet with grey facemask
(note- the middle blue stripe was not added between the 2 red ones until 1965. The 2 red stripe helmets they wore 4 times last year was the 1961-1964 design)

1982-1989- 8 years with Pat Patriot helmet with white facemask
1990-1992- 3 years with Pat Patriot helmet with red facemask
1993- debut of silver Flying Elvis hemet with matching silver/grey facemask
1994-1999- Flying Elvis helmet with red facemask

Little known fact- the blue in the Elvis logo was DARKENED when they changed the unis in 2000, so the helmet design DID technically change when they went to their current look. i.e.- players couldn't wear their 1999 helmets in the 200 season, because the blue was lighter on their old one.

2000-2010- Flying Elvis helmet with red facemask

So, in your opinion, you liked the 1993 helmet, I'm guessing. Bledsoe's first year.

I, myself, loved the 1979-1982 Patriots away uniforms the best. White jerseys with the stripes down on the sleeves, below the numbers. Stripes not up on the shoulder, like The Colts have.
The Patriots wore red pants with white tops during those 4 seasons. I LOVED that look.

 

[J2fold]

I like the old unis better, but I can see the point about the red shirts and red coats. Washington wore a blue coat and a tan shirt and I think that was the uniform from the French and Indian war. The continental line in the revolution wore blue with red wool Facings. But anyways what if the pats wear the old helmets with a blue uniform? That might look pretty sharp.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I'm biased but I think the current Patriots away jerseys (white top, navy blue pants)are the best looking set in the NFL.

I can understand those who prefer the old ones but I'm glad they changed them up.

 

[furley]

I've always been a fan of the old Patriots logo. In my opinion, you don't change it like you don't change the logo of the Celtics or Bruins.

The change was purely for marketing which was a shame.

Sometimes, plain is better. The Celtics know that better than any franchise. But, they've sold out too with the alternative uniforms. It's all about money.

Simple is stylish.

 

[TrueBeliever]

Over the weekend I got an e-mail from the Helmet Collectors' Club where a guy was railing against most of the uniform changes made in the last 20 years. He said not only does he want the Pats to go back to their old look, but also the Broncos, the Jets (i.e. 198?-1997, with the green helmet and white lettering), the Eagles (the lighter kelly green they wore until 1996 or so), and the Falcons (red helmets and jerseys.) He doesn't like the "darkening" trend and blamed the whole trend on Jerry Glanville, who apparently started it by getting the Falcons to switch from red to black. Glanville has a thing about black - you may recall that during his tenure with the Oilers, he had a special black jacket made with their derrick logo still in powder blue.

 

[Wolfpack]

I've always been a fan of the old Patriots logo. In my opinion, you don't change it like you don't change the logo of the Celtics or Bruins.

The change was purely for marketing which was a shame.

Sometimes, plain is better. The Celtics know that better than any franchise. But, they've sold out too with the alternative uniforms. It's all about money.

Simple is stylish.

I'm just glad the NFL isn't as much about money as are the sports organizations overseas (soccer). Thank God the NFL hasn't completely sold out.

 

[Omega Supreme]

I'm biased but I think the current Patriots away jerseys (white top, navy blue pants)are the best looking set in the NFL.

I can understand those who prefer the old ones but I'm glad they changed them up.

I agree, I like the current away uniform the best out of all of the used away uniforms. I never liked the old all-white aways from the Pat Patriot era.

Having said that, I do like seeing the old red and blue Pat Patriot home unis. I was a big fan of the switch away from Pat Patriot back in 93, as it was a much needed change at the time. The last decade has erased those bad memories associated with that uniform (at least for me), so I actually like seeing it from time to time again.

 

[Wax Frog]

I like both unis, but given how they fired me up as a rookie fan in the mid-80s, I'd settle to see the blood red jerseys come back in some form as an alternate...

 

[PatsDeb]

I like the Flying Elvis way better than Pat Patriot. I think he's cool. I like either blue or red unis.

 

[MassPats38]

I've always been a fan of the old Patriots logo. In my opinion, you don't change it like you don't change the logo of the Celtics or Bruins.

The change was purely for marketing which was a shame.

Sometimes, plain is better. The Celtics know that better than any franchise. But, they've sold out too with the alternative uniforms. It's all about money.

Simple is stylish.

But when the brand represents substandard performance and mismanagement, you probably need to go in a different direction. 15 losing seasons in 33 years, 6 playoff years, 1 Super Bowl appearance (with a historic beatdown), 0 championships and a 5 year playoff drought with 4 consecutive losing seasons at the time of the change. They were called the Patsies for a reason. While you appreciated the wins more with that team as they were fewer and farther between, I'm not about to get nostalgic over that logo.

The Celtics logo represents relatively consistent success and 16 NBA championships. That brand meant something in terms of success. The comparison is apples and oranges.

 

[buile]

> I never liked the old all-white aways from the Pat Patriot era.

Oddly, I did. I like the new unis... I like the old unis. If the Pats were successful when Kiam sold them, there'd have been less impetus to change the uniforms. I saw it as a re-brand, and an attempt to break away from the losing ways.

Re: Jets uniform change in the 80s -- I thought the helmet an awful attempt at modernizing.

P.S. don't forget that mock-up someone did of Faulk by changing the dominant color to red. that was pretty cool.

P.P.S. Found it: http://img131.exs.cx/img131/8263/3776.jpg