Best Football Uniforms

Today our friends at ESPN.com gave me inspiration for a blog once again.  They ranked the top 10 helmets in the NFL.  But that's not the way I roll.  The helmet's only part of the ensemble, and there are 32 teams!  So, in Part III of our series, I present from 32-1 the best uniforms in the NFL:

32. Cincinnati Bengals-I'll go on record as one of the few people who actually likes the tiger-striped helmets.  However, the ridiculous number of jersey/pant combinations are a little too much.  And the tiger-striped B logo is nowhere near as cool as the tiger head logo they used to have.

31. Denver Broncos-Remember the orange jerseys?  I miss them.  The logo's cool, but the uniforms are ugly.  I'm really not a fan of that blue-blue combo.  Plus, they're the team that started the whole stupid stripe that's not the same size coming up from the back of the helmet thing.

30. Atlanta Falcons-I like the red jerseys.  That's about it.  The throwbacks are nice for a change, but the red helmets on those are ugly.

29. Buffalo Bills-I love the Buffalo Bills, but their uniforms are one of their many problems.  There are way too many stripes in the middle (it's almost like they couldn't pick a color), and of the four different colors, only white and blue are actually in the logo.  And the Bills have an all-blue home uniform, which is not a good combo.  Especially with a red helmet.

28. Tennessee Titans-The logo's nice, but there are way too many uniform combinations.  Of those, the light blue jerseys with dark blue pants are incredibly ugly.  So are the white jerseys with light blue pants.  Then there's the helmet stripes that stop halfway.

27. Jacksonville Jaguars-The Jaguars had cool jerseys until they decided to change them for some reason.  The new ones just don't do it for me.

26. Seattle Seahawks-The entire NFC West has bad uniforms, but Seattle's are the worst.  That blue color they invented is cool, but there's way too much of it.  In case you couldn't already tell, I don't like it when the jersey and pants are the same color (except when they're both white).  Add a helmet that's also that color to the mix and you get the Seahawks' home uniform.

25. Carolina Panthers-I give the Panthers credit for taking the "electric blue" jerseys that used to be alternates and making them the regular home jerseys.  They're better than the black.  See "Denver Broncos" and "Tennessee Titans" for my thoughts about the helmet.

24. Washington Redskins-I know what you're thinking, "The Redskins are a bit low."  Well, they're the Redskins and they suck, so that's part of the reason.  But the real reason for their drop is Mike Shanahan's yellow pants.  Burgundy pants belong with the white jersey.  And the burgundy jersey-yellow pants combo makes me want to barf.

23. St. Louis Rams-The Rams get bonus points as the innovators who created helmet logos, of which they have one of the best.  They also switched from yellow to gold a couple years ago, which looked awesome.  But they ditched the awesome gold pants for some reason.

22. New Orleans Saints-Not a fan of the gold alternates.  Nor am I a fan of the black-on-black thing they like to do from time to time.  But the Saints have a classic helmet, which helps their cause.

21. Miami Dolphins-Another one that might seem low to some of you, but if you've ever seen those ridiculous orange jerseys they wear sometimes, you'll know where I'm coming from.  They also lose some points for sometimes doing white-white instead of white-blue, which is their best combination.

20. Baltimore Ravens-In this case, I'm somewhat willing to overlook the helmet stripes not going all the way to the back.  The Ravens pull off a purple jersey, and they have a unique number font that's also cool.  The black-on-black alternates are a minor thing, and since they only wear them for night games at home, they actually aren't that horrible.

19. Houston Texans-My only complaint with the Texans' uniforms is the ugly red pants that they wear with the red jerseys.  They always play well in the red jerseys, which means they wear them a lot, which means we're subjected to red pants a lot.  Same thing when they go blue-on-blue.

18. Arizona Cardinals-I don't know why the Cardinals don't get more love in the NFL uniform community.  When they redesigned a couple years ago, they made a significant improvement.  Just don't do red-on-red, please!

17. Detroit Lions-Rounding out the bottom half of our list is the Detroit Lions.  I actually have no complaint with these, there are just 16 uniforms that are better.  The addition of black as an accent color was a nice touch.

16. San Francisco 49ers-I'll admit it.  I miss the classic 49ers uniforms of the '80s.  They've brought some elements of them back, and I like that.

15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers-As ugly as they were, the "Creamsicle Pirate" uniforms were awesome!  Who didn't love it when they busted out the throwbacks last season?  But thumbs up to the new primaries.  Pewter helmets?  Check.  Pewter pants?  Check.  Red jerseys?  Check.  Creamsicle throwbacks?  Check.

14. Minnesota Vikings-I love the simple helmets that don't overdo it.  The Vikings' helmet definitely falls into that category.  My only complaint with their uniforms is the piping up the side of the jersey that creates that awkward arc thing between the shoulder and the sleeve.

13. New England Patriots-Boston sucks.  Plus, I hate Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.  Now that I've gotten that off my chest,  blue and silver good, white and blue good.  Helmets good.  And they're the only team that's able to pull off a silver jersey, which would be ugly on anyone else.  I miss Pat the Patriot, though.

12. Philadelphia Eagles-The Eagles have a cool logo to go with awesome helmets and uniforms.  They pull off the black jerseys so well, they might as well be interchangeable with the green ones.  I'm not sure anyone would notice.

11. New York Giants-Yes, the Giants didn't make my Top 10.  I still love my New York Football Giants, but there are elements of the uniforms that I would definitely change.  For starters, lose the numbers on the front of the helmet.  And get rid of those ridiculously ugly red alternate jerseys!

10. New York Jets-As crazy as it seems, I'm putting the Jets one notch above the Giants.  They switched to the old logo a couple years before the Giants did, and their old uniforms are very nice and clean.  I don't like it when they go green-on-green, and those New York Titans throwbacks need to be thrown away.  But the Jets still have an overall impressive look.  The fact that Woody Johnson is annoying isn't a factor in this decision.

9. Cleveland Browns-The lack of a logo drops the Browns down to No. 9.  But they've had the same uniforms for a long time (which is part of the reason why they don't have a logo).  And those uniforms fall into the category of "classic."  If they hadn't ditched those terrible orange alternates, they would've fallen out of the Top 10.

8. San Diego Chargers-The best uniforms in NFL/AFL history were the Chargers' power blues.  A new version has been brought back as an alternate.  It's not the same, but it's close.  The Chargers pull off all three of their uniforms, and they all go with the white helmets.

7. Kansas City Chiefs-Probably surprisingly high to some of you, but the Chiefs have had basically the same uniforms throughout their entire history and don't seem to have any desire to change them.  They only have two colors, so they'll never be tempted to introduce an alternate.

6. Indianapolis Colts-Peyton sure makes these uniforms look good, doesn't he?  Like the Chiefs, these haven't changed much, except for maybe changing the pant color from time to time (I wish those ridiculous blue pants could be wiped from my memory).  Slight issue with the gray face masks, but that's nitpicking.  Please ditch the throwbacks, though!

5. Oakland Raiders-Now we get into the five classic uniforms of the NFL.  Silver and black.  That's the Oakland Raiders.  Even their throwbacks are essentially the same as the current uniforms!  Little known fact about the Raiders' uniforms: the numbers on the black jerseys are silver.  Which means the only white on the uniform at Raiders home games is inside the logo on the helmet.

4. Dallas Cowboys-A blue star on a silver helmet.  I must be talking about the Dallas Cowboys.  They've had some misses on the blue jerseys, but those white jerseys have remained pretty much the same since they debuted in 1964.  And seeing as they wear white at home, they only wear blue maybe 3-4 times a year (I love it how the Eagles and Giants sometimes wear white at home, but only against the Cowboys, so that Dallas has to wear blue).  When they do, the current blue uniforms get the job done very nicely.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers-I know some people love it, but the helmet provides me with the only two issues I have with the Steelers' helmet, which is what keeps it out of the top two.  I'm not a fan of the numbers in the front, and I don't get the whole logo only on one side thing.  But regardless, these uniforms are classics.  And I know better than to mess with Steelers fans.

2. Chicago Bears-Da Bears come in at No. 2.  Those rounded numbers just look so good!  It was a tough call, but the only thing separating them from their Wisconsin-based archrivals are those hideous orange alternate jerseys.  If you want to sell orange jerseys, go ahead and sell them.  But please don't wear them on the field.  It's hard to believe those home jerseys only date to 1949, but even still, think of the great players who've worn them.  And, of course, those uniforms were designed by George Halas.  You know, the man who founded the NFL.

1. Green Bay Packers-The Super Bowl champs come out on top of the uniform rankings, as well.  Believe it or not, the now classic Packers uniforms only date back to 1950, and the "G" logo didn't debut until Vince Lombardi showed up.  In fact, the Green Bay Packers wore blue, not green, for much of their early history.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with this uniform, which makes it the best in the NFL.