The Detroit Lions are the latest NFL team to make changes to their uniform, unveiling the new duds at Ford Field in an event for season-ticket holders.
Have a look!
The changes -- as always with this stuff -- will seem extremely minor to most and wildly significant to others. The home jerseys will remain Honolulu Blue, which, if I may say, remains one of the very best colors in the NFL uniform game. The numerals have been altered to matched the team's new logotype. There is a new color, too, anthracite. That's an ugly word, so the Lions will officially call it "dark steel grey." That will serve as the trim to the silver lettering.
A noticeable change is on the right sleeve, which now features 'LIONS' screen-printed in white. New color rush jerseys will be dark steel grey -- there's anthracite again! -- with white numerals trimmed in Honolulu blue.
The Lions also brought back their throwback jerseys, replicates from the franchise's 1934 inaugural season. The 2017 season will see the return of the throwbacks for the first time since Detroit's 2010 Thanksgiving matchup against the Patriots.
Our verdict? We're on board. There's no alternate black option, a thankful omission. We did hesitate at the decision to add the team name to the uniform top; the same questionable move made when the Browns rolled out their re-design a few years back. We're not alone.
"Why does the sleeve have to say the team name like nobody knows who they are?" Dave Dameshek, NFL Network's unofficial uniform czar, wondered aloud in the newsroom after getting his first gander of the Lions' new kit. "That says self-esteem issues."
That's a strong take. How say you, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix?
OK then! Forget the haters, Lions, you did well. Get the full uniform breakdown, including a detailed infographic, over on the Lions' official site.
