With no real build-up or pre-release teaser, the Los Angeles Rams finally revealed their new uniforms on Wednesday morning. It was a long time coming and a few years in the making, ushering in a new era of Rams football in Los Angeles.
As with every uniform release, this one was met with a ton of criticism, as well as some praise from fans who like the new threads. There are elements of the refreshed uniforms to like, but also aspects of the whole release that simply don’t work.
Rather than piling on and only pointing out what the Rams got wrong, I’ve detailed some parts of the uniforms that the team actually got right, too – like the helmet and the color scheme.
Let’s run through the pros and the cons, beginning with what the Rams nailed.
What they got right
The helmet
For years, every time the Rams wore their spectacular throwback uniforms, they also wore mismatched helmets. Their jerseys were a bright royal blue, while the helmets were a darker navy. It was easy to look past, but fans noticed the difference.
Now, everything will match. The Rams’ royal and yellow helmets are awesome and the metallic design of them really pops. Fortunately, the team didn’t use a white-to-yellow gradient in the horns on the helmet like it did with the L.A. logo, keeping it simple with the all-yellow horns.
Most fans like the new helmet, but there’s also a contingent of Rams supporters who don’t like the change to the split-horn look. I probably would’ve preferred the traditional horns, the helmet works – especially with a blue facemask.
The yellow pants
This might seem obvious and boring, but the Rams got the yellow pants right. They look great with the blue jerseys and keeps with the tradition of the throwback uniforms Los Angeles has worn for years. It’s definitely the best uniform combination released by the Rams, and should be one they wear the most.
The blue and white stripes look good and tie the whole set together, much like the way the yellow pants on the throwbacks did, too. It’s easy to get behind this color combination and it should look great on the field on Sundays.
The entire color scheme
This includes the “bone” color, which I actually do like. The royal, yellow and gray all look good when laid out next to each other, and the “bone” is one-of-a-kind in the NFL, even requiring approval from the league.
This goes back to the Rams’ new logo reveal. They nailed the colors and brightened them up to really make them stand out. The jerseys certainly do that, too. On the bone jersey, the blue numbers stand out with a nice contrast to the gray.
The royal and yellow color scheme is one fans have come to love, and the team was smart to stick to its roots with a blue jersey being its primary one – instead of going crazy with a gradient or yellow jersey.
What they got wrong
The numbers
This is the biggest point of contention with these uniforms. The numbers on both jerseys just…don’t work. The gradient from white to yellow is meant to signify the Rams changing from white to yellow throughout their history, but it doesn’t look good on the numbers.
It looks like a past Pro Bowl jersey, which is fine for one game but probably not something that will stand the test of time.
The shape of the numbers also gives off a soccer jersey feel. They’re very rounded, which fits with the curved horn theme, but the Rams’ old number shape would’ve worked just fine.
On the bone jersey, the shiny accents make it look almost like icing. The curves are meant to follow the redesigned horns, but they seem kind of unnecessary. Maybe they’ll look better on the field and on TV, but the numbers are one of the worst aspects of the uniforms.
Jersey patches
There’s a lot to digest here. The Rams are the first team to put patches on the chest of their jerseys, and it’s easy to see why that is. The white patch on the bone jersey sticks out like a sore thumb and almost looks like a nametag. The patch on the blue jersey at least blends in, but it has a strange yellow stitching at the top that seems out of place.
It’s supposed to signify a fashion designer’s mark on a piece of clothing, but it doesn’t work for a football jersey.
And the fact that the patches feature different wordmarks is questionable, too. If there was some consistency and both patches blended into the jerseys, it’d be much better. But as they are, they look like nametags or an advertisement.
No yellow jersey
Yellow is such a prominent color in the Rams’ branding, yet the team didn’t release a single yellow jersey. They plan to release alternate uniforms in 2021 and 2022, one of which is probably going to feature a yellow jersey, but the absence of one right now is surprising.
While their Color Rush uniform wasn’t beloved by all fans, the yellow jersey on its own is one a lot of Rams supporters liked. Some even thought their new primary jersey might be yellow instead of royal.
The uniform set just feels incomplete right now, especially with the Bucs, Falcons and Chargers all releasing new uniforms with at least three different jersey colors. In fact, most teams in the NFL have three different jerseys.
The Rams will be one of the few that has just two different jerseys – at least for the next year.
Shoulder inconsistencies
One of the points of emphasis with the Rams’ entire brand refresh is continuity. The horn from the new ram head carries over to the L.A. logo and is used on both the helmets and the shoulders. Yet, there’s absolutely no consistency when it comes to the shoulders of the Rams’ new jerseys.
On the royal jersey, there are no shoulder numbers – or “TV numbers” as they’re called. The Rams had to get special permission from the NFL to remove them from the jerseys. There is a Nike swoosh and a horn present, but no numbers.
On the “bone” jersey, there are shoulder numbers, but the horn is a completely different shape and style. It’s not the curved horn that appears on the helmet and blue jersey, but more like a yellow line that separates the bone color from white.
It’s seen more clearly in this photo from the back of the jersey, showing the yellow and white on the shoulders.
