The Bills on Friday unveiled new uniforms that are “reminiscent of the team's throwback outfits,” according to Mark Gaughan of the BUFFALO NEWS. The new home uniform “has royal blue jerseys and white pants,” while the road uniform is “a return to the all-white look worn during the 1960s and in the Jim Kelly era.” The team has “ditched dark, navy blue as a primary color, which it has been since 2002.” The team also has gotten rid of the “blue pants that were part of the uniform the past nine years and from 1973 to '85.” The Bills' helmets “will be white for the first time” since ‘83. Kelly said, "What I like more than anything is the helmets. The buffalo stands out more on the white helmets." Bills CEO Russ Brandon said, "I think it really pops our past. ... Really highlighting and illuminating the logo, the charging buffalo, which is the highlight of our mark and our brand. ... It's time to get back to a new era and back to a winning tradition." Additional changes include the charging buffalo “above the name on the back of the jersey,” the "Bills" wordmark on the front of the jersey and the buffalo logo on the side of the pants. The stripes on the side of the sleeves “are sort of a combination of the '60s and '70s styles.” On the road jersey, there are “two royal blue stripes, bordered by thin navy and red stripes” (BUFFALO NEWS, 6/25). Bills Senior VP/Marketing & Broadcasting Marc Honan said, “One of the things we heard consistently was there was really no identifying mark on our jersey. We feel that the charging buffalo is perhaps one of the strongest marks in the league and why not incorporate it into the look and we think it looks great on the jersey.” BUFFALOBILLS.com’s Chris Brown noted Bills players “had input on the new design,” with WR Lee Evans “one of the more prominent sounding boards for the design team” (BUFFALOBILLS.com, 6/24). The new helmet is the “sixth different helmet in team history, and the Bills are the only team in 2011 to change their uniform, the fifth major uniform change the team has had in its 50-plus years” (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 6/25).
CLEANING OUT THEIR CLOSET: YAHOO SPORTS’ Matthew Darnell wrote it was a “day worth celebrating” because the Bills’ old uniforms, “monstrosities that have been burning my optic nerves since 2002, are now dead.” Darnell: “The shade of blue on the jersey did not match the shade of blue in the logo, and the stripes down the side of the pants had absolutely nothing to do with the stripes down the side of the jersey. The road uniforms had a blue bib type of thing around the neck and shoulders, and the home uniforms had a stripe there for no apparent reason. They were the least attractive things to ever emerge from Buffalo” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/24).
