Photo: Cleveland Browns |
Browns, who might have finally gotten something right under the stewardship of Jimmy and Dee Haslam.
The return to the traditional uniforms seems to be mostly welcomed by Browns fans, other than a few that have said "they are the same as before", which is the point of the whole thing.
The Cleveland Browns are a franchise built on tradition and even though almost all that tradition was earned by the stolen team that resides in Baltimore and their claim to these Browns are only notations in the team media guide, it's still cheered on by a fanbase that wants its team to look similar to those champions and perennial playoff teams from the past.
Almost all of the most popular teams are usually winning teams, but most of those teams have uniforms and helmets that are similar to the ones they used 50 and 60 years ago.
Teams such as Green Bay, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Oakland sell lots of merchandise and they don't look very different than they did then, yet they still sell plenty.
Every year, teams think they know what the fans will like more than the fans themselves and give them some of the worst looking uniforms you could imagine and many times those "fresh and new" uniforms last the required five years and get thrown away in favor of classic styles.
Many times, new owners want to put their "stamp" on teams and shove something down the fan's throats that they don't want with the stamp only reminding fans of the ownership's disastrous idea.
The classic look (or close to it) is what is usually wanted and the Browns did an excellent job in returning to the traditional togs.
Buffalo has beautiful uniforms after returning to their classic blue from a two-tone navy blue jersey and the Browns have followed.
There are several teams that I'd like to see a return to an older version with the Broncos, Cardinals, and Eagles at the top of the list, but for now, it's good to see the Browns off that list!
They aren't perfect though as I'd still like to see orange pants used with the brown jersey at least and the minor changes to the "color rush" uniforms aren't quite as nice as the previous version, but they aren't enough to get angry about considering the upgrade with the home and road uniforms.
They could use a little more orange as I mentioned, but I don't like the idea of the early 2000s orange jerseys making a return.
All things considered, I'm very happy with the uniforms and for all the decisions that the Haslams have screwed up since buying the Browns, I think they read the tea leaves correctly this time and made the right decision to correct their previous mistake.
Dee Haslam claimed during the process that they had a grasp on what the fans wanted this time (which raises the question of why did they make the change the first time without knowing what they wanted.) and that the team was listening.
Now hopefully with their historic uniforms back in place, the Browns can work on returning to the winning tradition that those uniforms have stood for.
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