Roundtable: How do we feel about the new Falcons uniforms?

The Falcons were more or less forced to unveil their new uniforms today after someone leaked them yesterday. That surprise unveiling has people reacting in real-time to the changes, and it seems the fanbase is pretty split thus far, probably leaning toward the positive as a whole.

We turned to The Falcoholic staff to get their instant reactions, which you’ll find below. Share yours in the comments!

Like them, don’t love them, but those all-black home uniforms are great

Summed up my feelings in that overlong header, but overall these are an improvement over what the Falcons had.

Full stop, the black home jerseys and pants look great. They’re not up there with the black and silver from the 90s—those are the ones I grew up with and will always love the most—but they’re very clean and I like them a lot. Ditto the all-white away combination, which looks very good. Obviously the throwbacks are still great.

I don’t like the enlarged current logo—which has never been my favorite—on the helmet. I thought that was a weird choice, and I think the gradient on the alternates isn’t great. That has been easily the most divisive piece of the unveil, but with all of these, our opinions will evolve as we see them live.

Overall, though, I like these just fine and they’ll probably grow on me over time, as every Falcons uniform/logo/aesthetic choice has. That’s probably not the overjoyed response the Falcons were hoping for, but given the way most unveils get panned out of the gate, I think a little early warmth will translate into well-loved uniforms down the line. —Dave Choate

This is the uniform equivalent to a 7-9 season

Nothing feels more Falcons than loads of hype surrounding a great opportunity only to really come up short. The uniforms are neither terrible nor great. There seem to be some improvements, like the all black setup, and some WTF moments, like those gradient uniforms. What a perfectly odd mix that really encapsulates so much of the good and bad of the franchise. — Matt Chambers

This is what we’ve been waiting for?

I feel like this transition to new uniforms got a lot of hype and on first glance, they absolutely did not warrant it. Are they an upgrade? Sure, but a marginal one at best. This is what happens when you aren’t sure if the season can even go forward and there isn’t much else to talk about. They sucked us in. The lettering is super odd, and notwithstanding the good-faith attempt at boldness in the uniform design, the helmets are ... [shrugs]. — James Rael

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’ll admit that I’m ambivalent when it comes to uniforms. I just want the men in them to generate wins. That being said, there’s some positives and negatives with the new Falcons unis. I’m a big fan of the black-on-black home look, but completely despise the red-black gradient. It’s giving me strong late night whiskey MS paint vibes. At the end of the day, I don’t care if they’re wearing potato sacks and motorcycle helmets as long as they’re winning. - Carter Breazeale

Uniform grade: B

When it comes to revamping uniforms, it’s universal that folks will either like or dislike. The newest uniform combinations for the Falcons are not the best in the world but to say that none of the combinations look good is completely lazy. I’m a fan of the all-blacks (which Falcons fans have wanted for years) as well as the all-whites and the white-black combo. I absolutely love the chrome facemask addition and I believe the unis will pop once people are able to see them on an HD or LED television. - Eric Robinson

Loathe with a passion

Now I must say, as a uniform junkie, the way the team looks means more to me than some people. I’m an NFL traditionalist, in the sense that the best uniforms in my opinion are those of the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, etc. I was very much looking forward to the Falcons new uniforms, as 17 years is a long time and their at-the-time “modern” look became quickly outdated with a silly sleeve pattern and wavering side panels down the side.

I’ll start with the positives. As mentioned above, the sleeve pattern is gone and replaced with just the logo. Less is more sometimes, and I think it allows the logo to pop. There are also a bunch of combinations. For years the team had only three uniforms (red/white, white/white, throwback.) We still get to keep the best uniforms in my opinion, the throwbacks. I was hoping for the team to go in this route, since they’re largely considered some of the best uniforms in football, not only by Falcons fans, but league wide. The team had a template for what greatness looks like, why not expand on it a little and make it your iconic look?

Now for the negatives. Everything. It’s 2020 and we’re still trying the chrome facemask with matte helmet thing, really? Maybe if this was an NCAA team, but this is the NFL. The matte black, although horrible, I could live with if the random chrome facemask weren’t sticking out like a sore thumb. Changing the facemask from chrome to black would go a long way. The side panels are also back for literally no reason. If they wanted them back, at least play with the whole “Falcon” thing with perhaps some sort of wing, I just don’t understand what the thin line is for. Would’ve looked cleaner without it. The numbers are massive! Not only are they too damn big, they added “ATL” on the chest in case we forgot what city they played for. I could be here all day on how terrible the gradient idea was.

Overall, I’m underwhelmed. Are these better than what we had for 17 years? Sure, maybe. They kept mentioning that they were focused on fan input. Didn’t a lot of fans want a return to red helmets? I don’t recall seeing many call for a matte black helmet with a chrome facemask and oversized logo. They basically just took elements from previously used and soon-to-be abandoned uniforms that were largely considered some of the worst in football. The oversized logo and chrome facemask via the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the chest city wordmark and number shadow where they go to the right instead of down and to the right. I expect to be considered a “hater” for not liking these, but as a lifelong fan, I wanted more even if I expected to be let down. The colors of red, black and white are almost impossible to screw up, and I think if you used colors from any other NFL franchise on the Falcons new uniforms, people who like them would change their mind. Regardless of how I feel, success on the field will certainly make these uniforms look better. - Evan Birchfield

Back in black

Let me preface this by saying I’m probably the opposite of Evan in that I generally like more aggressive, modern uniform designs. My favorite uniforms were the Vick-era modern all-blacks—they were just the right level of aggressiveness without being over-the-top. With that in mind, I will say that I quite like the new uniforms. For me and many fans, the priority with the new uniforms was pretty simple: the Falcons needed to return to black primary. They did just that with the new design. So, just for that, I’d label the uniform revamp a success.

It’s clear that Atlanta wanted to go in a more modern direction with the uniforms, and they definitely accomplished that. They traded the tricolor shoulders on the previous uniform for a more simplistic logo design, and added a stripe up the sides to inject a little color. I think it looks good and a little bit cleaner overall than the previous iteration of the uniforms. The matte black helmets look nice, although I think the enormously oversized logo is a bit much. As for the chrome facemask, I’ll have to see it on the field. It hasn’t worked so well for other teams that have tried it, but the Falcons color scheme could support it.

The black-on-black and white-on-white combos are both quite good—which is nice considering they’ll probably be wearing these most of the time. They’re relatively clean while adding a bit of modern style. The most controversial addition will undoubtedly be the red gradient jersey. If the team sticks to wearing it with only the black pants, I think it’s fine. It simply doesn’t work with any other color. In terms of other color combos, I think the white with black pants looks great, and the black with white pants provides a more classic look.

Uniform designs are always going to be polarizing, because each of us has a mythical “perfect uniform” in our head that the team is probably never going to achieve. If you liked the Vick-era black uniforms, you’ll probably love these new designs. If you were hoping for a return to a more traditional look (or red helmets), you’re probably disappointed. I’m definitely a fan, and can’t wait to see how the team looks on the field. - Kevin Knight

They’ll look good on the field

Uniform revels will rarely completely satisfy the masses, but what matters is how the jerseys look in action. I think the majority of these combinations will look very good when we see the Falcons line up in them at the Benz and in various road stadiums.

The ones I’m not a fan of at all are the red gradients. It feels like Nike was just trying too hard with these and wanted something more unique when a simplistic approach of regular red top and black bottom would’ve sufficed. I also wish they would’ve shifted to a red helmet (I know that they’re talking about having red helmets as alternates but I had my heart set on red becoming the primary helmet color again).

I’m a big fan of changing the primary home jerseys to the all black, and I also really like the white on white and especially the white on red combinations as road unis.

Since there isn’t much to talk about beyond the draft at the moment, people will dissect every facet of these jerseys over the course of the next few months. However, I’d recommend reserving full judgement until we see them on the field of play. - Adnan Ikic