It's a new decade, and thanks to the departure of Tom Brady, a new era for the New England Patriots. The franchise's look will reflect that.
The Patriots revealed updated uniforms Monday morning with a video posted on Twitter:
Look familiar? It should. The Patriots are doing what the internet has asked them to do for the last two years: Make the sharp color rush alternate uniform the standard.
They did, but this isn't simply a promotion of a color rush look to primary. New England has changed a few key details, including introducing an entirely new road uniform. Gone is the white jersey the Patriots have worn on the road since 2000, replaced by a new white shirt that mirrors the elements of the team's popular (former) home alternate. Instead of running silver piping down the side of the home jerseys and over the shoulders and blue down the side and over the shoulders of the road tops, the Patriots are replacing the detail with cleaner triple shoulder stripes (commonly known as UCLA stripes) first shown in this century on the team's throwback tops before being included on the color rush uniform. They'll appear in a pattern of red-navy-red on the white jerseys in a detail that harkens back to the franchise's earliest days in the AFL.
The greatest improvement is in the team's jersey numbers. The Patriots are leaving in the past their large, somewhat gaudy number font introduced in 2000, which became a staple of New England's look of success but was clearly from a bygone era. In their place will be traditional block numbers, with the same red-and-silver trim making its way to the new home uniforms, and a new red-and-silver trim coming to the road set. With the team's pants -- the same set worn in the home color rush set -- making the transition to the new look but devoid of any silver, the new road jersey's number trim marries the uniform with the silver helmet.
That's about it for the changes. The Patriots will go all-blue at home, and white-on-blue on the road, leaving one to wonder if there will be a white or silver pair of pants introduced later. Frankly, with the removal of the silver trim elements and the silver pants, New England is one small step away from leaving the color behind altogether. While it won't happen soon, it would be another improvement.
Thanks to these updated uniforms -- so long, oversized 2000s numbers and giant silver striping -- the Patriots have already improved. Hopefully they'll help their fans move on from the Brady era, too.
