The Red Throwback Uniforms Are Back, And They’re Glorious

By / June 22, 2022

They did it. They finally did it. It’s been ten long years, but the New England Patriots are rolling out their red throwback unis once again in 2022. All I can say is, it’s about damn time.

I’m not going to sit here and definitively say these are the best uniforms in NFL history (that honor goes to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Creamsicle unis). However, these are easily an all-time great uniform and a classic for all Patriots fans. New England fans have been clamoring for these uniforms to make a comeback ever since they were discontinued after the 2012 season.

They are just so iconic and beautiful at the same time. It’s not just the red jerseys with the blue and white shoulder stripes either. That, combined with the shiny white helmets with the beautiful throwback Pat Patriot logo that complete the look. It’s because of those white helmets that this uniform set was discontinued in the first place.

Photo by AP Photo/Steven Senne

Back in 2013, the NFL implemented the one helmet rule. This rule stated that NFL players must wear the same single helmet all season long. The rule was put in place to improve player safety, especially due to the growing rates of CTE. It was around this time the NFL really started to take initiative and implement multiple new rules to prevent head injuries.

The result of the rule meant that teams could no longer feature multiple helmet colors. This meant that the white Pat Patriot helmets unfortunately had to go. New England wasn’t about to abandon the silver helmets they had donned for most of the 21st century. Thus, we lost one of the greatest throwback uniforms the NFL had ever seen.

New England has been wearing variations of the red uniforms since the 1960s. However, the red uniforms that inspire these returning ones are based off the 1980s and early 1990s versions. The Patriots first brought these throwback uniforms back in 2009. They subsequently wore them at least once a season until 2012.

Once news broke in 2021 that the NFL would be ending the one helmet rule, many speculated that these throwbacks would be making a return. Low and behold, it happened.

What’s even cooler than announcing the return of the red throwbacks? Doing it in an homage to Back to the Future, an all-time classic movie that happens to be one of my personal favorites.

So, so good. There quite possibly couldn’t have been a better way to announce the return. Seeing the modern Patriots players like Matthew Judon rock them just gets me amped to see them back on the field in 2022. This was absolutely well worth the wait.

Feature Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images

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