In 1993, the New England Patriots made a massive mistake.
The Pats, to that point, had struggled through the harsh landscape of the NFL for 33 years with limited success. New England had been to just one Super Bowl in its existence and was blown out 46-10 in a game where a defensive tackle scored a rushing touchdown. Between 1989 and 1992, the franchise won 14 total games.
In search of a change, the Patriots hired Bill Parcells to effectively run all things football, from coaching to personnel decisions. This worked out well enough. The problem, however, was the branding one that accompanied the team’s shift in priorities. Out went the iconic Pat Patriot logo and the fruit punch red of New England’s perfect uniforms. In came dark blue and this garbage heap on the helmet.
This was terrible, but the six Super Bowl wins that followed helped ease the pain of the “Flying Elvis” that dots the team’s helmets. Unfortunately, he’ll remain a fixture in Foxborough this fall and into the foreseeable future.
But not every week. In 2022, the Patriots will rectify that mistake and bring back the glory of the NFL’s most beautiful, non-powder blue uniforms. Specifically through the power of one DeLorean and 1.21 gigawatts of power.
Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me the red uniforms are back? pic.twitter.com/X1pd6kpdpG
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) June 22, 2022
Pat Patriot, after being shelved for years thanks to an NFL rule that forced teams to wear one helmet all season, will make his triumphant return this season now that rule has been lifted. Same with the glorious red jerseys and striped white pants that were once the cold comfort of cheering for a terrible team — “yes, they’re bad, but hot damn do they look good.”
While this could serve as a distraction for a team whose place in the AFC is threatened following a quiet offseason, it’s important to note New England has been awesome in these uniforms before. The red throwbacks were a staple of the middle stage of Tom Brady’s career. And, as with most things Brady wears, he made them look good:
The exact date these will be unveiled hasn’t been announced. We can hope for a throwback vs. throwback showdown vs. the Bills in their red helmets or perhaps against the Dolphins in their immaculate 1970s kits. Either way, for at least one glorious weekend the Patriots are going to look cool as hell, with or without Doc Brown’s time machine in the background.