News about the 2016 season is beginning to pick up steam and the Colts are closing in on the start of training camp which is rumored to be starting around July 26th.
Justin has written great pieces concerning Andrew Luck’s potential record-breaking deal as well the as the Colts’ plans at linebacker, check them out if you haven’t yet. Though it was something else that caught my eye that concerned the NFL’s releasing of their expanded Color Rush uniform experiment for Thursday Night Football.
Let me provide a little context on Color Rush and exactly what it it is for those unfamiliar. Last season the NFL allowed Nike to design special uniforms that were not part of the teams regular rotation to be worn only on TNF. These unis were designed to be a special one-time application breaking the traditional home and away pattern for the last portion of TNF that occurred on the NFL Network, after starting out on CBS. The teams were encouraged to break the traditional mold with jerseys and pants highlighted by a monochromatic color pattern. Here are some examples:
Now, let me tie this in with the Colts and how the program impacts our beloved team. The NFL released the expanded Color Rush pairings for the 2016 season which includes the Thursday Night Thanksgiving Day game against Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh will be wearing black and the Colts wearing white. This is not what I envisioned in my mind when thinking about the possibilities available to highlight the teams. Sure, black and white are associated with both teams and both teams really have classic uniforms, but this could have been the opportunity to have a little fun.
Maybe Pittsburgh in all yellow or the Colts in all blue, or Pittsburgh in all black and the Colts in all blue, but all white? Let me throw this for you to ponder on. The game is called Color Rush, white as most know is the absence of color, so what’s the deal? Look, I know the Colts are very conservative (some say boring) when it comes to the uniforms, and that’s fine, but it’s okay to break from the norm on an occasion like this.
The team can’t or shouldn’t make changes to iconic uniforms, but this occasion presented the opportunity to break away from the norm for a one-off occurrence. Maybe the uniforms will resemble the famed “whiteout” April Fools joke the team played a few years ago.
Or, maybe similar to the famed IU “Stormtrooper Unis” that were worn in a game.
The NFL will release the final designs as we approach the game in the season. I guess I was expecting a little more creativity or fun when I heard they would be part of the program, instead I’m envisioning blandness, but I could be completely wrong. Let us know your thoughts!
