Game Illustrated: Kyrie Irving
October 28, 2014Cleveland Browns vs. Oakland Raiders: Behind the Box Score
October 28, 2014Last week, FOX sports national posted a Buzzfeed-style flipbook of the NFL uniforms, ranking them 32-1. I was shocked to see the Cleveland Browns come up first on that list at dead last, but then again, maybe I shouldn’t be all that surprised. The Browns have had their critics in the new era of “everybody has an opinion, so here it is” when it comes to uniforms. That’s great, and if someone doesn’t like the Browns uniforms, colors, and logo (or lack thereof), I really can’t blame them. What I don’t like is some of the unfounded “rationalization” and cheap shots that the FOX sports article included and are not isolated to that piece of “journalism”.
The article’s Browns put-downs can essentially be summarized to the following points:
(1) The Browns haven’t won anything in half a century
(2) You can’t do a lot with brown
(3) Ditto for the helmet-less logo
(4) It’s the ugliest thing in pro sports for decades
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By this bit of logic, all three Cleveland teams should just keep rotating their uniforms annually until they win a championship.
Then, there’s the shot at brown. Look, critics of brown are correct in saying that brown is a much less versatile color than pretty much any uniform color going right now. However, it’s also incredibly unique. Plus, orange and brown undeniably go together and pair well. There are far more nasty clashes around the NFL with a pair of two primary colors. Now, that isn’t to say I would necessarily be opposed to a focus shift to orange as the primary color and a slight de-emphasis of brown, but it should still be the team’s second color at worst. Orange is definitely more common though as Cincinnati, Denver, and Chicago all have significant elements of orange in their uniform or color scheme, though Denver is the only one with a primary orange home jersey (a recent switch from when their navy was primary and their orange was alternate). Cincinnati and Chicago both wear orange alternates. The bottom line for me and the overwhelmingly majority of Browns fans is that we are more content with keeping the same colors we’ve had for the franchise’s entire history at the risk of being a little boring instead of just scrapping it and going with something completely radical.
As for the helmetless logo, it’s much of the same reasoning. What are the Browns going to put on the helmet that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb and not look gaudy? Do Brownie or Swagger belong on the helmet? A stylized CB typeface? BROWNS in bold? I just don’t think the team would find anything even if they had made a decision to include a logo that people wouldn’t almost universally hate. The best they can do in my opinion? Change the finish on the helmet. I would like a flat (or matte) finish, much like Minnesota’s helmet. While the Browns may be the only team in the pros without a logo, there are plenty examples in college where this setup works and looks just fine.
The other ranking that made me laugh was the Packers being just outside the bottom ten at No. 22. This writer, who seems to be a wealth of uniform knowledge and analysis, says the Packers colors don’t look good to anybody outside of Packers fans. That’s complete conjecture as the Packers have one of the most solid looks in the NFL. Their green home jersey paired with the gold pants may be the best jersey in the entire league, in my opinion. Even if they aren’t the best, criticism like this isn’t really constructive. The Packers aren’t going away from green and gold, just like the Browns aren’t leaving orange and brown, the Steelers aren’t leaving black and yellow, and so on and so forth. Why not instead critique the execution of the uniform design, pattern, striping, consistency, etc. rather than strictly whether you like a color? Those things actually have a chance at getting changed.
While I can’t really argue with most of those included in the top ten (San Francisco, Oakland, Pittsburgh, the Giants, San Diego, and Dallas all make sense), I found it humorous that the Jets made the top ten in part because “it’s such an upgrade over the awful and simplistic design the team sported from 1978-93.” Therein lies the concern for me. There’s a non-zero chance that these new Browns uniforms won’t turn out to be a positive shift for a sizable portion of the fanbase. There’s ALWAYS a risk when significant changes are made. Look no further than the Dolphins, Bucs, Jaguars, and Vikings who all recently made changes and are all in the bottom half of this list. Another interesting line in the Colts’ write-up, ranked 11th, was “not much has changed since 1958, and that’s perfectly fine.” Make up your mind on if sticking to your guns is a good thing or not!
And finally, the ugliest thing in pro sports for decades? We all know that isn’t true by a long shot.
Timid? Perhaps. Plain? You betcha. But, a team without tradition, one that wanders aimlessly, throwing crap at the wall every 5-10 years, seeing if it sticks, has no identity at all. For better or worse, I’m glad the Cleveland Browns have an immediately identifiable identity that has a traditional backing. I’m holding out hope that the changes we’re in store for aren’t earth shattering and add to the identity rather than take away from it.
48 Comments
“The Browns have had their critics in the new era of “everybody has an opinion, so here it is” when it comes to uniforms. That’s great, and if someone doesn’t like the Browns uniforms, colors, and logo (or lack thereof), I really can’t blame them.”
The diatribe that follows these words would seem to indicate that their opinion does matter and you can blame them.
Don’t you mean “logoless helmet”?
Cinci wears a black helmet with orange stripes. All our rivals wear black hats (Pitt, Baltimore, Cinci).
Not to be confused with “Legolas’s helmet.” (Because he doesn’t wear one, duh. He’s a helmetless Legolas.)
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/7600000/Legolas-legolas-greenleaf-7631693-800-619.jpg
Which gives me the idea that we should slap Legolas on the helmet, wearing the Brownie costume. Then we would have a helmetless Legolas as the helmet logo to fix the logoless helmet.
I can blame them for their approach in attacking the look. Everyone is going to have different tastes in color preference. I don’t like black and yellow as a Browns fan but I’m not going to deduct the Steelers for that. I’m more interested in critiques of execution or layout. That’s all.
Argh. Yes. Kind of like that horseless headsman Snickers commercial. D’Oh!
Indeed, as our official logo is actually quite “helmetfull.”
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VuNhdE04u-k/UBs7vU4LEqI/AAAAAAAAA94/qC_bxD8pnKM/s1600/Browns+logo.jpg
Stretching it . . . but I really like where you’re going!
I am glad that I didn’t click on that link from the snippets you provided. There are tons of good uniform debates to be had, but it seems that particular writer isn’t interested in them.
And, I would have absolutely no problem with a matte-finish for our helmets.
For the Browns, here are just a few reasons that I love them:
(1) What says fall more than playing football and the colors of Brown & Orange?
(2) Noone else in American professional sports uses brown (many colleges do). Being unique is a good thing and not just being a part of the “everything black” crowd (hello Arizona, when did black become part of your uniforms?)
(3) Orange pops but it doesn’t burn the eyes (like yellow or yellowish gold). Stands out without being garish (well, it can be, but that’s where the brown provides balance).
(4) The uniforms look clean and classic. The piping on the pants to the sleeves to the helmet. All work together to provide an overall good look (when done properly, we have messed up in the past having non-piped pants or tiny-piped sleeves).
(5) The fan gear works surprisingly well for a team without a logo. Dark brown hat with a bright orange helmet on it is distinguished and well-known throughout the country.
http://nflshop.frgimages.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_802000/ff_802987_xl.jpg&w=180
I like the current Oregon State helmets (aside from the stripes going all the way through the face mask) The wider stripes take away from not having a logo.
http://forum.go-bengals.com/uploads/monthly_04_2013/post-3160-0-18161700-1365285504_thumb.jpg
I’ve said this before, but I’ll just go ahead and say it again (because it’s kinda brilliant).
In the new “Oregon” uniform world that we live in, the only problem with the Browns uniform is that it doesn’t help in recruiting 17-year-old High School kids or those that think like them. I’m okay with this.
Is that an actual thing?
If Legolas wears the helmet with his depiction on it, then it would go inward forever causing opponents to look into it with a hypnotic stare.
Sort of. Marvin Lewis had them made up a few years ago, but they haven’t actually worn them in a game. So, it is physically in existance (and in his office when he does interviews there).
Which means we’ll have to re-sign Brady Quinn for ultimate dreaminess.
Just technically speaking, you call orange and brown primary colors. Neither orange nor brown are primary colors.
well, I hear yesterday was his birthday and all.
I had a similar reaction when I read that article originally. The cheap shots were unintelligent and irrelevant to the topic, but it was the author’s opinion so what can you do. The “ugliest thing in pro sports in decades” crack was way off base. I love your examples of uni’s that are much worse. I would like to add the San Diego Padres uniforms of the 70’s/80’s to the list. Tony Gwynn deserved better.
Agreed! And that nonsense that Maryland wore against the Buckeyes was ridiculous.
I have that exact hat.
USC just changed their helmets. Same color, different finish.
Old regular red helmets…
http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Oregon+State+v+USC+guPMYEZPdiKl.jpg
New chrome red helmet…
http://cdn.nikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/New-USC-Helmet-1.jpg
Matte orange would be ok…
http://dawgpoundnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/wpid-atlxj8qciaayjx8.jpg
But, I really like the chrome orange…
http://cdn.nikeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Orange-Oregon-State-Helmet-1.jpeg
That is cool.
Don’t forget the old brown and gold Vancouver unis…
http://cdn.nhl.com/canucks/images/upload/2010/10/jersey_skate_yellow_tf.jpg
Primary uniform colors. This isn’t art class and words have multiple meanings.
USC will be wearing an all chrome helmet coming up including facemask.
Toronto is bringing back the purple uniforms with the red dinosaur!!!
http://barstoolu.barstoolsports.com/files/2014/03/Screen-Shot-2014-03-06-at-11.13.50-PM.png
I like the chrome hues, but no straight chrome dome, or facemasks.
I think every Brown’s fan has that exact hat. And, it’s beautiful.
Arg! I can’t find a pic of Bosh in that uni. lol
I also have the khaki version for driving with the top down. That brown gets hot down here.
they removed the dinosaur before he played for them. then, they switched it over to red & black because apparently no other NBA team uses red & black (oh wait).
anyway, at least he had a season in the dumb purple+red combo, but there has got to be a retro-night somewhere with him in the older uni:
http://www.rantsports.com/nba/files/2014/08/Chris-Bosh-All-Time-Raptor-Feature.jpg
Sadly, it’s much easier for some uniform designer to get attention with a bad look than with a good one. The people at Nike don’t care a bit about us or our traditions. They just want attention.
There must be at least one uniform remake in the past five years that is actually an improvement over the previous look, but I can’t think of one. Anybody?
Um, I think you’re color dyslexic. Doesn’t Cinci wear an orange helmet with black stripes?
Seattle, for me personally.
I like the black and white version better
http://www.tjmgraphix.net/cart/images/uploads/sports%20logos/nfl%20logos/brownslogo.jpg
http://www.bocaratontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Robin-Williams-Perspective-Gif.gif
The Lions. They dropped the dumb black alternate jerseys, refined the piping and slightly changed the Lion, but actually did so without it being ridiculous (I actually like the new lion better).
http://uniformcritics.com/football/nfl/detroit-lions/
I believe it’s straight chrome but that was last week when I read about it. I’m not into all of these uniforms it’s a waste of money. I get that the schools probably get paid to wear it but that money could be used elsewhere. I can live with an alternate heck maybe even two alternate uniforms but a lot of these schools have 3, 4, 5. Nothing but $$$$!
Barney objects!
https://cdnil1.fiverrcdn.com/photos/783270/v2_680/Best-of-Barney.jpg
Great Post….I agree with everything you said…..Classic looks never go out of style…..The only Brown color scheme in Major Professional Sports….Helmet with no logo…..BTW…of the 128 FBS football programs only 3 have brown in their color scheme…..( BG , where our colors come from…Wyoming and Western Michigan..)….Sorry fellas, every jamoke team out there has Blue or Red …. nothing unique at all about any of them……Much love for the Brownies….
Just FYI, many schools sell the one time jerseys to alumni and fans and probably make money on them, so that argument isn’t necessarily a great one for *most* programs.
Too Penn Statey.
like the colors and simple not cluttered like some.GO BROWNS!
What if Bosh wore that uni, and the jersey on the logo had a pic of Bosh on it…it would be like Legolas wearing a helmet with his depiction on it…
I think the simplistic (Old School) look is Absolutely perfect for the Cleveland Browns, however I would bring back the orange pants. The orange pants looked great with white or brown jerseys. Leave the helmets alone,they are a work of art that would look even better with orange pants.
The guy likes metallic colors and we are the furthest thing from it. His top 8 includes 5 teams sporting silver or that metallic gold. (49ers, Lions, Raiders, Saints, Cowboys).
I agree, Tim. I’m a white jerseys with brown pants, brown jerseys with orange pants kind of guy personally. Maybe the alternate orange with brown pants? I just hate the white-on-white combo almost universally.