When the Denver Broncos unveiled new primary uniforms last week, they were met with mixed reviews from fans and pundits.
The team’s throwback uniform, however, received overwhelmingly positive support. After the full uniform set was unveiled, team president Damani Leech met the media to discuss the team’s new look.
“Of course, the fan base, a majority of them wanted to keep the same logo — these are uniforms [with the] logo and color that we won three Super Bowls in, so there was a lot of support for that,” Leech said on April 22. “But also, I think pretty closely right behind that was the amount of support for throwback uniforms. The old ‘D’ [logo] and the old colors.
“I think we did a really great job working with Nike on creating something that was really authentic and true to that 1977 ‘Orange Crush’ era, but really with a modern chassis. You will notice that right now it looks really good. You see a lot of photos of our players [in them] and they look good. We’re really excited about how they’re going to look on the field during the season.”
Many fans have suggested the Broncos should make the throwback look their permanent uniform, and Leech acknowledged that sentiment, but he lobbied to keep the throwback as a special occasion uniform.
“I’m not surprised the fans really love the throwbacks,” Leech said. “You hear that sentiment of, ‘We wish we had the throwbacks permanently.’ I love the throwbacks as well, but I also love the modern take on our brand, uniform and colors. I think we have a good mix.
“We’ll be able to wear those throwbacks up to three times [per season], including with our alternate jersey. We can wear that group of uniforms up to three times during the season. So I think fans will be excited when we roll those out. When the schedule comes out, we’ll start working on our uniform schedule and it’ll be really exciting to see it.”
Leech went on to say that the team did not seriously consider making the throwback look the club’s primary uniform.
“That was one of the early sort of design pillars that we had,” he said. “We wanted a modern, fresh new uniform. We wanted to keep the same colors. We wanted to keep the same logo. The feedback from fans, the majority wanted to keep the same logo and colors. So we didn’t entertain those [throwbacks] as a primary closet item really hardly at all.”
NFL teams have to wait at least five years before making major changes to their uniforms. So if there’s still overwhelming support a switch to throwbacks in 2029, the team might revisit the matter.
“We certainly didn’t come into this with the idea that these would be our uniforms forever,” Leech said. “We didn’t put a date on it, either. So we love them right now. I think we’re going to love them for a while. We’ll see.”
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