If you meandered onto Twitter this weekend, you probably caught wind of the overwhelming outrage expressed by the Los Angeles Rams fanbase. It wasn’t because of anything the team did with its roster – Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald weren’t traded – but rather because the new logo apparently leaked.
It was shared on Twitter and Reddit, showing a completely different look than the one the Rams currently sport, which is the iconic ram head. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports then confirmed it’s the team’s new logo.
As is the case with every redesign in sports, it was received with criticism.
Only, this wasn’t a 50-50 split of fans loving and hating it. The divide was more like a 1-99 split with only a handful of fans actually liking it. The Rams have declined to comment on the matter, which only adds fuel to the angry mob’s fire; COO Kevin Demoff has been active in refuting mock-ups on Twitter in the past.
As bad as the logo is – and it is really, really bad – there are reasons for hope. So, let’s run through four reasons not to overreact and panic just yet.
It (probably) won’t be on the helmets
The Rams boast one of the most iconic helmets in the NFL. Why? Because there’s no logo on it. The horns are recognizable no matter which colors the Rams are wearing, and there’s a resounding hope that that aspect of the uniform will remain unchanged. For those opposed to this new logo – which is just about every Rams fan in existence – that’s great news.
Hopefully if this logo is real, it won’t replace the horned helmets. Better yet, it won’t appear anywhere on the uniforms – jersey, pants, gloves or otherwise. If you look at the Rams’ beloved blue and yellow throwbacks, the logo is nowhere to be found.
One can only hope it stays that way if this is indeed the primary logo.
It could just be a secondary logo
Because the logo appeared on a hat that was shipped to Dick’s Sporting Goods, there’s a decent chance it will be used in some capacity. But, that doesn’t mean it’ll be the primary icon of the Rams moving forward. It could simply be a secondary logo – similar to the way the Rams use this branding in a variety of ways around the Coliseum and on their website.
On the leaked draft hats from Michael Kist, the Browns and Bears use alternate logos, which is reason for optimism.
In the event that the hideous L.A. logo is real and will be used, the best-case scenario is that it’s a secondary logo. Granted, fans would still have to see it around SoFi Stadium and online, but that’d be better than it being branded across hats and hoodies.
It will look better than it does on the draft hat
The logo looks hideous on the hat. There’s simply no way around that, and it’s something 99% of fans will openly declare. With some background, though, you begin to realize that it’s not representative of how the actual logo will look digitally and on other pieces of apparel.
The leaked logo on the hat is for the 2020 NFL Draft, which comes with a Vegas-style neon theme. It’s not representative of teams’ actual logos because they’re all outlined and not colored in.
It’s possible the logo will look more like this, which is still bad … but less so.
There’s still time for the Rams to pivot
According to the Twitter user who leaked the hat, it won’t go on sale until early April, as Paul Lukas of Uni-Watch learned. That aligns with the release dates of draft hats in recent years, hitting shelves just before the big event. That gives the Rams a little less than a month to make a change in response to the overwhelming outrage expressed by fans across the interwebs.
If the hats have already been mass-produced and shipped to stores across the country, it’d be a costly move to pull them before they’re released. However, if this is the primary logo, it might be a decision that saves the team some money.
A large number of fans on Twitter have already said they won’t buy merchandise with the leaked logo on it, which probably carries some truth but is also likely an overreaction by angry supporters.
