The Jaguars have heard their fans and are pivoting back to their proper look as they turn the page to a new era in Duval.
Jacksonville is switching its primary home uniform color from black to teal, the team announced Wednesday.
The shift to teal is the latest in a line of branding efforts made to remake the franchise's image and follows the club's turn to its current, simpler uniforms after forcing the garish, two-toned helmet sets onto the football world for five years. Teal was included in the team's most recent redesign, but as an alternate -- a Color Rush, back when that was an official thing -- that could only be worn occasionally.
Wednesday's announcement changes that to a full-time reality.
Jacksonville wore teal as its primary color from the franchise's 1995 inception through 2011, making them easily identifiable by a color not worn by any other team in the NFL. Jaguars greats Tony Boselli, Fred Taylor and Keenan McCardell made their memorable plays wearing teal as part of a color scheme that only could have come from the 1990s, but endures as a recognizable blend into the 2020s.
The club shifted to its black alternate top as the new home uniform in 2012 and began a theme that would last through two redesigns (2013 and 2019) and into 2020. Now, the Jags will be headed back to their roots, reserving the black tops as an alternate available for key games, as the franchise once did in the first decade of the century.
"We've heard the fans loud and clear," head equipment manager Jimmy Luck said in a release from the team. "As the only team in the NFL that wears teal, we know what this color means to our organization, the 904 and our entire fanbase. Teal inspires great memories of some of our franchise's greatest moments. Making the switch to teal as our primary uniform color allows us to celebrate that history while kicking off a new era of Jaguars football."
Already a popular choice of Jaguars fans everywhere, Jacksonville might soon be able to purchase a freshly pressed Trevor Lawrence jersey in that recognizable teal. Maybe they'll even bring the teal champagne back a few years from now.
