The Jacksonville Jaguars are dusting off a beloved look to celebrate their 30th season of football in Duval County.
The Jags unveiled their "prowler" throwbacks on Thursday, fulfilling a persistent fan request to revive a classic uniform from a bygone (and perhaps, returning) era. The kits feature plenty of unique attributes, including a custom type font, black-and-gold trimmed numbers and the prowling Jaguar logo from that era. Most importantly, they remind Jags fans of the good times of old.
The old-school kits will debut this season in Jacksonville's Week 5 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
"Everywhere I go and from every comment I read -- it's apparent our fans are longing to see Jaguars' players in throwback uniforms," Jaguars president Mark Lamping said in the team's news release. "That persistence paid off and our uniforms reminiscent of the team's early years are back by popular demand, just in time for the 30th season and, in particular, the Pride of the Jaguars induction of our inaugural head coach, Tom Coughlin."
When a seasoned football fan sees these uniforms, a few names immediately come to mind, including Mark Brunell, Tony Boselli and Keenan McCardell. The Jags of this era were a fun team that enjoyed near-immediate success under the franchise's first coach, Tom Coughlin, who produced the quickest results for an NFL expansion team in the modern era, including two appearances in the AFC title game in their first five years of existence.
The Jaguars have tweaked and revamped their uniforms plenty in the last 30 seasons, giving them plenty of options for throwbacks, with differences ranging from minor to complete overhaul. With vintage uniforms making an emphatic return across sports and the "modern classic" approach dominating uniform changes at the collegiate level, it was time for Jacksonville to join the growing list of NFL teams to debut throwbacks in recent years. This isn't a rebrand, but a timely introduction of a beautiful kit that coincides with the team's planned celebration of its first coach, Coughlin.
Don't be surprised if Jags fans follow in the footsteps of the Jets and ask for a permanent return to these uniforms in future seasons.
