2023 Drip

By Joe Valenzuela

This offseason has had no shortage of drama, but there’s a new buzz that has fans wondering if games this year will be played on Saturdays, not Sundays. Now stay with me, you might be asking what in the hell is this guy talking about? And believe me I understand, but it’ll all make sense soon.

Every year it feels like NFL fans are wanting more of one thing; updated jerseys. Surem back in 2012 when Nike took over for Reebok there was an optimism that modern-day fans had never encountered, but that was quickly put to bed when Seattle was the only team to adopt Nike proposed jersey adaptations. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with tradition, but college football figured a long time ago that having large amounts of jersey variations was something fans enjoyed. It feels like every week we saw Oregon in a completely new concept while the Bears were continually getting beat up in their traditional navy. 

In walks Summer 2023 and Mr. Progressive Roger Goodell. It seems like every week for the last two months we have seen social media teams play out new jersey reveals – and I gotta admit, I’m all for it. Because there are so many, it feels best to list the top three in reverse order and see if you guys agree:

3: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

While the Buccaneers haven’t done a lot roster-wise to get fans excited, boy have they delivered with revamped ‘Creamsicle’ jerseys – first displayed in 1976 in the team’s inaugural season. Granted these jerseys might have the worst record of all time given how awful the Bucs used to be, even posting an 0-26 stretch while sporting these bad boys…

Let’s not let this distract you from how clean the orange and red work with the vintage pirate logo. I’ll be honest it is a little bittersweet for me because I was actually a fan of the uniforms they had been rocking, probably in large part because Keyshawn Johnson is my favorite player and he won his only ring in those. But if I’m being honest it would be hard for me to pick against the creamsicle colorway – and from the reception they received it feels like fans are in agreement.

2: Cleveland Browns

Boy does this hurt to write. Every part of me is screaming to put the Browns first, but I just can’t do it. Being the lone Brownie on the Touchdown it’s a natural instinct to play mama bear to these cubs. I mean, just look at that glorious white helmet accompanied by the white jersey and pants, what’s not to love?

My favorite part (and I’m not sure why every team doesn’t do this) is the double outline on the numbers. I first fell in love with the look back when Shane Falco went on the road in his third game and stole one to stay in playoff contention. If that last sentence confused you, please watch the 1999 classic ‘The Replacements’ – you’ll thank me later. The Browns will sport the white helmet on three different occasions this year; week 2 against Pittsburgh (who will also be sporting a new black uniform), week 6 against the 49ers, and week 17 against the Jets.

1: Seattle Seahawks

I can’t lie, Seattle knocked every part of this out of the park. I literally can’t think of one thing to complain about. Not only are the uniforms unbelievably clean, but the drop was just as good. They revamped their whole website to align with the 90’s fit, and even dropped the video above. It makes sense that they went to such great lengths to promote these jerseys, because they know they were going to have fans in a chokehold.

You see football, I see art. The light blue top and and facemask pairs so well with the gray helmet and pants. Dont even get me started on the shoulder logo!. To top it off they put just the right amount of green to give the whole uniform that pop to propel it into ‘elite tier’ status across all sports leagues.

Honorable Mention: Tennesse 'Oilers'

Of course, the morning after I write this bad boy I find out the Titans drop their Oilers throwbacks. The only reason they’re not in the top 3 is because Tennessee has no reason calling these home uniforms. Never heard of a rig in Nashville and thats a fact; these throwbacks belong to Houston and the great state of the Texans.

Granted, I never actually got to see the uniforms on live tv, instead only hearing about them when my Grandad used to tell me old war stories of Earl Campbell destroying static DB’s in the 70’s. Whilst not quite cracking the triumphant trio, these powder blue darlings still have a soft spot in my heart.

Goddell is known to be a tightass, but he obviously had to agree to all these uniform modifications on some level, and for that I salute him. Hopefully this propels a new generation of updated jerseys across the league that only get more creative over time. Until then I’m gonna take this as a victory and ride this wave until football officially kicks off in a few short weeks!

JOE VALENZUELA

NFL ANALYST

A former collegiate wide receiver and current Texan, Joe is the newest member of The Touchdown. In addition to writing for The Touchdown, Joe also works as an NCAA analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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