It may be the NFL offseason, but there are always things for fans to get fired up about — and Tennessee Titans fans are going to be making some noise about these alleged uniforms.
Red, white and blue seems like it would be a hard color scheme to mess up. It adorns our nation’s flag, it makes for the most patriotic confetti and it lights up the sky in fireworks shows every year on July 4.
But when red, white and blue goes wrong, it goes really wrong.
Case in point: these alleged new leaked Titans uniforms, via David P. Woods of The Score:
New leaked pic confirms these are the Titans' new jerseys. Man, do they ever suck. Nike is basically ruining the NFL's aesthetic one team at a time. pic.twitter.com/11LjwWvMfl
— David P. Woods (@davidpwoods) April 3, 2018
These can’t be real, can they? The Titans have been hinting about new unis for awhile, unveiling a promo video in early March:
4.4.18 pic.twitter.com/2Y5FAKrX6X
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) March 12, 2018
While the video didn’t show much, it did suggest that the two-tone blue scheme would still be in play, with the expected white and red accents.
The Titans have also been having some fun with fans who have gotten overeager about sleuthing details ahead of time.
When they unveiled an image on their website in March showing a silhouette of a football player, fans who tried to zoom in on the image were met with a tongue-in-cheek admonishment reading, “Nice try.”
But then Woods shared this eyesore, and fans’ hopes deflated faster than a football at Gillette Stadium in January.
There’s a lot to take in here. The font for the numbering is distracting at best, lame at worst. The shoulder details are also quite busy, reminding one of those ubiquitous cold-shoulder sweaters. And players are going to hate the placement of the light-blue contrast panels that are going to showcase their pit sweat in all its glory.
The same creative director who handled the Jacksonville Jaguars’ and Cleveland Browns’ redesigns also helmed the Titans’, and when you put all the results together, as Woods did in this lovely little collage, it’s underwhelming…to say the least:
Like... how do I even find the motivation to wake up and strive to be great in a world where a guy got paid a lot of money to do this, and then this, and then this? pic.twitter.com/BSgslU66E2
— David P. Woods (@davidpwoods) April 3, 2018
As with any leak, there’s always hope that it’s not the final version. But that photo looks pretty legit.
Hang on to those old jerseys a little tighter, Titans fans…and maybe wash them a little more gently.