Evaluating NFL Uniforms by Division - NFC East
The NFC East consists of the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and the newly rebranded Washington Commanders. As for the reception of these teams, it's all over the place. Some people like the Cowboys and Giants uniforms, others don't. Many dislike the Eagles uniforms, and the Commanders first uniforms were panned by everybody except for those within the fanbase. Poor misguided souls... With that, I will tell you what I think of these teams' uniforms and how I would improve them.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are a hated team to say the least. Me? Not really. I do think that their uniforms are really good, and being the Cowboys, they are awfully flamboyant. The silver helmet, three different jerseys, shiny pants, there's a lot to like. I love the simplicity of the white jersey, which uses a ton of royal blue instead of navy and the dreaded seafoam pants, which are a major negative for myself and many others. The navy jersey is also really awesome. In fact, it might be my favorite of the group. It matches perfectly with the helmet and is paired with normal silver pants that really help embrace the color scheme. The color rush jersey is also really nice. They remind me of the Little Giants, which featured skillful football kids wearing pretty much the exact same thing. The star makes a big impact. I'm usually against differing jersey designs, but the Cowboys are among the teams that make it work, and the color scheme helps. To make it more consistent, however, here are some changes that I would make:
Changes:
- First off, I would get rid of the seafoam silver pants that look... sickly. When you got a light metallic helmet, it's best to match.
- Ditch the royal on the white jersey, or ditch the navy. Preferably the former. The Cowboys definitely have somewhat of a confusing color scheme, so getting rid of one of the two blues would lighten the load.
- For the navy jerseys, I would add a second stripe and make both thicker to match the white jersey. Therefore, it also adapts the pre-1996 navy jerseys as well.
- The numbers on the navy jersey either get recolored to silver with the outer trim remaining white OR the numbers stay white and the trim becomes silver. Prepare for a poll. It's tough because I like the white numbers on navy, but the the former thing was done before. I tried the latter, it looks good, but it wasn't as effective as I'd hoped. I'm picking silver numbers. It does match everything else more.
- The first optional is striped socks. Once again, they've done it before, but for the Cowboys, it's not a big deal.
- To not complicate the navy jersey, another optional move is removing the logo from the sleeves. Again, consistency.
- Another optional is removing the wordmark on the chest of the navy jersey. I don't have to explain this one.
- Finally, the all-whites become double-whites with standard navy socks. I think that would ease everyone's pain a bit more.
In conclusion, a lot with a little can be done to improve this look, specifically the navy jersey mostly reverting to its pre-1996 form, but the Cowboys still have iconic looks that every generation can enjoy. The designs are fairly standard, but they make it work well.
New York Giants*
The Giants have a greater history of designs than you'd think. There's the wild disco era of their 1975-1979 uniforms, the iconic Lawrence Taylor jerseys from the 80's and 90's, and their current ones, which are based heavily upon their 1954-1963 uniforms. The Giants are another team that does well with differing designs for jerseys, though one jersey is blank, the other has stripes. Also, the aforementioned Taylor jerseys were consistent. As much as their current look is dear to me, it should draw from other eras of its history to make the perfect look. Let's go into the changes I'd make.:
Changes:
- Let's start with the numbers on the white jersey. They get recolored to blue. On top of that, each jersey number gains a red trim just like the 80's look.
- The helmets should have white facemasks. As for the logo, I would love for the GIANTS logo to be used full-time again and become the primary logo.
- Gray is eliminated from the color scheme entirely, no need for it.
- As far as sleeve designs so:
- The blue jersey either remains blank with TV numbers on the shoulders or they regain its predecessors' cuff stripes at the bottom of the sleeves.
- For the white jersey, take the current sleeve stripes, keep the middle red, but make the outer stripes blue and make them slightly thicker. This is a reference to their 1966-1974 sleeves mixed with, you guessed it, their current ones. I like this idea a ton. These stripes could also be put on the blue sleeves but with the red stripes on the outside and the inner stripe colored white. As an optional, the white sleeve stripes could be placed on white socks.
- Red jerseys return, but how different will they be? What I had in mind was take my ideal stripes above and put them on the red sleeves, but this time, they're all white. An optional for that jersey would be blue strokes, but I'm uncertain of how that would look. The pants used for the white jerseys in 2021 get paired with the jerseys.
- The red stripe on the pants get thinned to match the helmet with the blue part getting adjusted as well. A white gap between the stripes is added as well.
- In addition, blue pants return. Only the red stripe is on it to match the helmet.
In conclusion, the Giants lack ambition. They have a legacy of looks to draw from and a lot of mockups I see have some good ideas. What's required is less gray and more blue. I like the Giants unis as they're easy on the eyes, but a lot could be done to make them look fabulous.
Philadelphia Eagles
The most divided area between the Eagles look is the shade of green. They use midnight green, and they used to wear kelly green. However, it's very much in kelly green's favor as it's very nice looking. I myself like both colors and both suit Philadelphia's culture. One is edgy and menacing, one is powerful and proud. The rest of the uniform is simple. You got that Colts-like serif but rearranged a bit, the logo on the sleeves and who could forget the iconic wings on the helmet. Anybody who thinks that the current version should change is crazy. It does however suffer from too much black. Unfortunately, the players love it so much that they're doing a black helmet, but I'm okay with it being its own thing. Now, for some changes.:
Changes:
- I'll start with what bothers me; black. Remove black from the collar and the sleeve cuffs and wear midnight green socks from now on. Also, the black jersey? Gone.
- Gray or silver pants added into the mix. I don't want to hear it. Gray works for the Eagles. Not every gray or silver team needs silver. That said, it's played a big role in the Eagles' color scheme for decades now, I think it deserves usage.
- The pants need a new stripe. I don't care which version they use. My favorite is the 1995 one, so I'd pick that one.
- Use a bit more gray or silver on the numbers for the green jersey and possibly the white jersey. Black is a bit too dominant here.
- Now, the most important question: Midnight or Kelly Green? My answer: Kelly. Though we won't see it on the field until 2023 and though I like the midnight green, I wish it were more vibrant. Kelly green is the winner.
In conclusion, the Eagles struggle with their colors a bit. Too many shades of gray and silver, and the midnight, though very menacing of a color, is a bit too dull. Limiting black and wearing kelly would do the trick for the Eagles. That said, it's still decent.
Washington Commanders*
Here's another team whose uniforms are so bad I have to simplify it. It's the worst look in league history. Ever hear the term, "Consistency is the key to success"? Not the Commanders. Their look is, above all, inconsistent. There's simply too many miscues, from the lack of any designs for the pants and socks, no gold facemasks, the "you can't be serious" W on the black helmet, and this is a big one, no gold on the white jersey. There's black and gradients. Yikes. Only the burgundy jersey is okay, but it needs TV numbers (like the others) and that COMMANDERS wordmark shrunken. I prefer white numbers over gold as well. Once again, only the number font is okay aside from the stencil. Nothing else is done right at all. Here are some changes I'd make.:
Changes:
- Just go back to the predecessors...
- If I do have to make changes, the first thing I do is add the burgundy sleeve stripes onto the helmet, pants and socks for each jersey. The stripes reverse colors with a small gap added in between. This is a reference to the Redskins helmet stripes that were popular once they were removed.
- Black gets removed from the color scheme entirely. That means gold goes back on the white jersey numbers as a trim.
- TV numbers get added back onto the shoulders of each jersey (not included the black one, which I removed).
- Gold pants get added back into the lineup. The stripes are burgundy on the outside. Gold facemasks go back on the helmet.
- The helmets change texture to either a metallic or familiar gloss one.
- The gradient pattern on the white jerseys gets removed entirely. The burgundy area of the sleeves gets recolored to white to accommodate for the new stripes with the Nike swoosh getting appropriately adjusted.
- The wordmark goes on the white jersey as well as shrunken for both jerseys. The stencil designs for the numbers get removed.
- Finally, the optional choice. The numbers go back to white with a golden trim for the burgundy jerseys, with the fabric getting removed as well.
In conclusion, it's atrocious. There's almost nothing done right. Thankfully it doesn't have as many "are you kidding me?!" designs as the Rams, but it's far more inconsistent than that team's uniforms as well. The most miscues of any team in NFL history. They should've stuck with their predecessors; they were innocent from the scandals and controversy all along... They were iconic and everybody loved them.
Here's an article I wrote about the brand as well. https://www.behance.net/gallery/138191025/Washington-Commanders-Brand-Review
That's the NFC East. Not as disappointing as their AFC counterparts because at least the Cowboys and Giants look decent, while the Eagles have a demeanour to them that I like. The Commanders uniforms are awful though. There are ways for each team to go however. I hope you enjoyed this episode, next time it's the AFC South!
