The Jets return to the sharpness of the 1980s
In the immortal words of former NFL head coach Dennis Green, “It is what we thought it was.”
The New York Jets officially revealed their new uniforms on Monday morning, per the organization’s official X (formerly Twitter) account. The look indeed takes the shape of the classic 1980s throwback worn against the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 season.
A new legacy begins. pic.twitter.com/xUXaw7RP06
— New York Jets (@nyjets) April 15, 2024
The wait is over. Introducing our new uniforms. pic.twitter.com/m1K37RzeXd
— Woody Johnson (@woodyjohnson4) April 15, 2024
They're here and they're beautiful. pic.twitter.com/XAS3YBbTHU
— New York Jets (@nyjets) April 15, 2024
The look is nearly identical to the garb the Jets donned in Week 1 and Week 4 this past season—against the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, respectively, in prime time at MetLife Stadium. Branded as their “New Legacy Uniforms,” the uniform and logo are a nod to the classic New York Sack Exchange era.
It’s safe to proclaim that an overwhelming percentage of the fanbase didn’t just welcome this change but felt it was also necessary.
After a tough 2018 season, social media chatter and a couple of players (Jamal Adams and Darron Lee) led to a complete rebranding in the 2019 offseason. Although Lee had been traded before the 2019 season, the team’s uniform party—hosted by “Curb Your Enthusiasm’s” J.B. Smoove, commenced as planned.
The end result was this: Do not ever fix what was not broken.
Although the need to change the Jets uniforms wasn’t present, the organization did so anyway. The new jerseys and logo were received worse than the Adam Gase hiring, and as soon as the five-year minimum window hit (the time in which an NFL team must continue using a primary uniform), Woody Johnson pushed the button.
This specific logo was first introduced in 1978—when the team sought buzz after a tough decade following Super Bowl 3. It lasted until 1997 when Bill Parcells entered the scene to immediately provide his team a firmer identity with the classic Joe Namath-era uniforms (1998-2018).
Now, the New York Jets return to another throwback. It’s one the fanbase holds near and dear to its heart, and it’s a modernized version that simply cannot be sufficiently criticized.
The shade of green works, the uniform is incredibly clean, and it screams football in every way (with the classic stripes that don’t strangely veer sideways for some strange reason). Highlighting these attributes makes one appreciate the organizations that stuck it out with traditional uniforms (i.e., Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders).
Yes, New York Jets fans, your traditional football team is all the way back, and nearly everybody associated could not be happier.
it’s not “all the way back” that black needs to go. Every team wears black, they could have easily dumped the black and used the Namath uniforms for two games.