NFL Color Rush
The NFL Color Rush was a promotion done in conjunction with the National Football League and Nike that promotes so-called "color vs. color" matchups with teams in matchup-specific uniforms that are primarily one solid color with alternating colored accents, primarily airing on Thursday Night Football. Despite being promoted as color vs. color, some games had one team wearing traditional white uniforms, either by choice or out of necessity. The uniforms did not count against each team with regards to their allowed alternate uniform allotment. The games received mixed responses from fans, with some praising the NFL for changing up their games in terms of uniforms, while others criticized the promotion for some of its garish uniforms. The promotion was officially discontinued for the 2018 NFL season, but many teams continue to wear the Color Rush uniforms and promote them heavily, notably the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
History of color vs. color matchups
Early years
In the early days of the NFL up through World War II, it was not uncommon to see teams wearing their team colored uniforms against each other, often only wearing a second jersey if the uniforms were too similar. Following the arrival of the rival All-America Football Conference where each team had both a team colored jersey and a white jersey, NFL teams began adding a white jersey as a neutral color to avoid color clashes. Again, this was only used if teams such as the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers played each other and had similar jersey colors. Additionally, NFL teams were not required to add a white jersey.It would not be the AAFC that would change the status quo, but the mainstream adoption of television. Due to the technical limitations of TV, programming could only be broadcast in black and white, making it hard for fans to tell their teams apart. Out of necessity, starting with the 1957 NFL season, all teams were required to have both a team colored jersey and a white jersey, with the team colored jerseys being worn at home and white jerseys being worn at away games. This caused teams such as the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Los Angeles Rams to add a contrasting white jersey. In the Rams' case, it also forced the team to drop their gold jersey, as it was considered "too light" to wear against teams wearing white jerseys, replaced by blue jerseys. Other teams, such as the Cleveland Browns, that had worn white as their primary home uniform were also no longer allowed to wear those jerseys at home.
For the 1964 NFL season, the league allowed the home team to decide which jersey could be worn at home, which prompted many teams to wear their white jerseys at home so that fans could see the colors of the visiting team. With blackout policies not allowing the home games to be aired in home markets until 1973, this also meant that fans not attending games in person at times only saw the team's darker colored uniform on TV, which depending on the television they were watching may still be in black and white. Despite this rule change and the widespread adoption of color television by the end of the 1960s, the color/white rule generally remains in effect for the NFL even as college football relaxed its jersey rules in 2009.
Leaguewide promotions
The NFL began to allow exceptions as part of leaguewide promotions, beginning with the league's 75th Anniversary season in 1994. For the first time, the NFL allowed teams to wear throwback uniforms and in some cases allowed color vs. color as long as the colors did not clash with each other.Color vs. color matchups would continue for a time in the early 2000s, mostly on Thanksgiving games. In 2002, the league allowed alternate uniforms with some jerseys being allowed to be worn against a colored jersey if it was light enough. Examples included gray jerseys worn by the New England Patriots in the 2000s and the Seattle Seahawks of the present day, as well as a one-off gold alternate by the New Orleans Saints that was worn against the Minnesota Vikings in 2002.
In 2009, the NFL celebrated what would have been the 50th season of the American Football League by allowing each of the original eight AFL teams to wear AFL-era throwback uniforms. One of those teams, the Kansas City Chiefs, was granted special permission by the NFL to allow the visiting Dallas Cowboys to wear their early 1960s throwbacks against the Chiefs in "The Game that Never Was".
Launching the Color Rush
Initial rollout
For the 2012 NFL season, Nike replaced Reebok as the league's uniform supplier. As Nike had been the longtime supplier of the Oregon Ducks football team and used the Ducks as the team to start the trend of college football teams radically changing their uniforms on a regular basis, some had speculated that the NFL was about to follow college football's path, or at the very least one team becoming the "Oregon of the NFL". The Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, and New York Jets are the only teams that completely redesigned their uniform since Nike took over, but none of them became the "Oregon of the NFL", with the Browns, Dolphins, and Vikings opting for more traditional styles. This was further subdued in 2013 when the NFL banned alternate helmets out of fears of concussions.During the Packers annual shareholder meeting in 2015, the team nonchalantly mentioned that color vs. color matchups would be allowed as an option during Thursday Night Football contests in 2015, while becoming mandatory in 2016. Initially, this belief thought teams would be allowed to wear their normal uniforms against each other or even their alternates. However, in a surprise, on October 30, 2015, the NFL announced the initial "Color Rush," a series of four Thursday contests in which all eight teams will wear specially designed alternate uniforms.
Trial run
The initial rollout featured the Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans wearing their regular alternate uniforms, while the Dallas Cowboys revived their white "Double Star" uniforms from the mid-1990s and the then-St. Louis Rams wore a yellow version of their 1973–99 throwbacks for the games. The other four teams involved wore all-new uniforms for the games:- The Buffalo Bills debuted all-red uniforms for the first time in team history, with red, white and blue shoulder stripes and blue-white-blue pants stripes.
- The Jacksonville Jaguars wore all-gold uniforms, after an accent color on their uniforms.
- The New York Jets, who wore kelly green from 1963–1997, wore their current uniforms in the kelly green color scheme, with their normally white sleeves also green and the middle shoulder stripe being the team's current shade of hunter green.
- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wore an all-red ensemble.
Full rollout
On September 13, 2016, the NFL and Nike unveiled the Color Rush uniforms for all 32 teams. The eight teams that participated in the Color Rush the year before will continue their uniforms while the Steelers had already announced theirs. For 2016, the Jets, Browns, and Rams will wear their regular white uniforms, while the Cardinals, Falcons, and Texans will also wear their regular white uniforms due to their opponents wearing similar Color Rush uniforms and their opponents being the home team. The Lions, Colts, and Redskins will not wear their Color Rush uniforms at all for 2016 due to Thanksgiving games being exempt and none of the three teams having other Thursday night games or playing on Christmas Day. The 2017 season also featured at least one team, the Buffalo Bills, wearing their Color Rush uniform on a Sunday afternoon game. The 2017 Pro Bowl also features the two conference all-star teams in solid red and blue colors respectively.
Discontinuation
On April 10, 2018, the league announced that Color Rush would be discontinued under the terms of the new Thursday Night Football broadcast contract. The exact terms of the discontinuation will be decided upon at the spring owners' meeting in May; tentative plans are for teams to be allowed to continue to use their existing Color Rush uniforms as standard third or fourth jerseys. Many teams during the 2018 season continued to wear their Color Rush uniforms during Thursday Nights, and the Browns, who were the last team to have worn their Color Rush uniform debuted theirs on September 20, 2018 in a 21-17 victory that was the Brown’s first win since the 2016 season. The Browns also debuted end zones painted with the stripe pattern found on their Color Rush jersey.Team by team
If Color Rush uniform is identical to an existing uniform, "First Use" in a Color Rush game is shown in italics.| Team | First Use | Times Used | Color | Numbers | Detail | Notes |
| Arizona Cardinals | November 9, 2017 | 2 | black | red, white outline | similar to existing black alternate with red panels on arms instead of white, different color numbers and black pants | |
| Atlanta Falcons | December 7, 2017 | 1 | red | black, white outline | throwback style numbers, no striping, modern logo on sleeves | |
| Baltimore Ravens | November 10, 2016 | 2 | purple | gold, white outline | ||
| Buffalo Bills | November 12, 2015 | 6 | red | white, blue outline | First team to wear Color Rush on a Sunday | |
| Carolina Panthers | November 26, 2015 | 3 | blue | white, black outline | ||
| Chicago Bears | October 20, 2016 | 2 | navy blue | white, orange outline | regular navy blue jersey with navy pants normally worn with the white jerseys | |
| Cincinnati Bengals | September 29, 2016 | 3 | white | solid black | black sleeves with shoulder tiger stripe pattern, black and white tiger stripes stripe on pants | A nod to the white tiger. The Bengals themselves unveiled their Color Rush uniforms at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. |
| Cleveland Browns | September 20, 2018 | 3 | brown | solid orange | with different shoulder stripes and pants stripes | Last team to wear Color Rush for the first time. |
| Dallas Cowboys | November 26, 2015 | 6 | white | blue, blue, silver and white outline | blue sleeves, stars on shoulders | |
| Denver Broncos | October 13, 2016 | 3 | orange | white, blue outline | throwback style, including helmet decal | Worn again on November 28th, 2018 against the Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Detroit Lions | December 16, 2017 | 3 | grey | white, Honolulu outline | The team had all black color rush uniforms it never wore. The grey uniforms were unveiled along with a whole new set of uniforms in 2017. | |
| Green Bay Packers | October 20, 2016 | 4 | white | solid green | essentially white pants with the regular white jersey; the team has continued to wear their Reebok-era design with few changes | |
| Houston Texans | September 14, 2017 | 1 | navy blue | solid red | ||
| Indianapolis Colts | December 14, 2017 | 2 | blue | solid white | essentially blue pants with the regular blue jersey | |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | November 19, 2015 | 2 | gold | white, teal outline | ||
| Kansas City Chiefs | December 8, 2016 | 2 | red | white, yellow outline | regular red jersey with red pants, has been worn on a few occasions in recent seasons | |
| Las Vegas Raiders | December 8, 2016 | 2 | white | silver, black outline | Jersey is a throwback from the early 1970s. | |
| Los Angeles Chargers | October 13, 2016 | 2 | royal blue | gold | similar to Air Coryell-era uniforms but in current design template | |
| Los Angeles Rams | December 17, 2015 | 4 | yellow | blue | identical style of throwback jersey, except yellow with dark blue detailing and numbers. For the 2016 game in which the team wore all-white, the team wore white ram's horns on their helmets, which were adopted for the team's standard uniform in 2017. | |
| Miami Dolphins | September 29, 2016 | 1 | orange | white, aqua blue outline | white stripe on pants outlined in teal and marine blue in style of current uniforms | |
| Minnesota Vikings | December 1, 2016 | 2 | purple | gold | with gold stripes and numbers | |
| New England Patriots | September 22, 2016 | 3 | blue | white, red outline | with red-white-red Pat Patriot-era shoulder striping, and red-white-red stripes on pants | The Patriots wore special white pants with their road jersey for a Color Rush game against the Buccaneers. Also, the first team to wear their Color Rush Uniforms during a Sunday Night Game. |
| New Orleans Saints | November 17, 2016 | 5 | white | gold | throwback uniform, circa 1975 with gold numbers instead of black and no colored collar | |
| New York Giants | December 22, 2016 | 3 | white | blue, red outline | essentially the 1980s and 1990s white uniform with "GIANTS" script on helmets, but the "NY" logo on the collar | |
| New York Jets | November 12, 2015 | 3 | Black | white with gotham green outlining | Gotham green helmet with black jersey and pants with white numbers and gotham green outlining plus gotham green stripes | Was changed from kelly green helmet, jersey, and pants in their 2019 redesign to all black |
| Philadelphia Eagles | December 22, 2016 | 1 | black | Exactly the same as all-black alternate worn since 2003. | ||
| Pittsburgh Steelers | December 25, 2016 | 4 | black | gold | Throwback block numbers, similar to 1946-1965 uniform, but with modern stripes all in gold | |
| San Francisco 49ers | October 6, 2016 | 2 | white | Red with black drop shadow | Is their throwback away uniform from the 2000s with their regular gold helmet | |
| Seattle Seahawks | December 15, 2016 | 2 | green | blue with white border | Blue helmets | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | December 17, 2015 | 5 | red | pewter | ||
| Tennessee Titans | November 19, 2015 | 3 | light blue | Standard alternate blue jersey with matching pants | Combination previously worn with navy socks between 2006 and 2013 | |
| Washington Redskins | November 30, 2017 | 1 | burgundy | Standard burgundy jersey, paired with burgundy pants normally only used with their white jersey | Although the Redskins were originally to wear gold uniforms, they disliked the "garish" gold color plate chosen for them and opted for all-burgundy instead. |
Style
Jerseys and pants
Uniforms are primarily one color, although the uniforms include different color accents for the jersey numbers and uniform details. Many uniforms duplicate the stripes and shoulder details of the team's current uniforms, but many do not. The Green Bay Packers' Color Rush Uniforms have the same stripe patterns on the sleeves as their regular uniforms, for instance. Conversely, the New England Patriots Color Rush uniforms mimic the stripes of their uniforms of a previous era. Whereas NFL teams most commonly wear pants in a contrasting color, all the Color Rush uniforms have pants and jerseys of the same color.Shoes and socks
Color Rush uniforms also have matching colored shoes and matching socks.Helmets
Most teams helmets do not change for the Color Rush games. The Denver Broncos, the New York Giants, and the Los Angeles Rams will wear helmets with versions of older logos affixed in 2016, while the New York Jets wore helmets with the same logo, but in a green chrome finish, in 2015, with the Cardinals doing the same to their helmets in 2016. Since NFL rules dictate that players wear the same helmet throughout the season, only the decals can change, and the shells remain the same color. As a result, although the Broncos Color Rush helmets resemble the ones from early history of the franchise, it is the same shade of blue as currently used.Opposing team whites
If the Color Rush color is too similar to the home team, or if there are issues with visibility for color-blind viewers, the visiting team will wear their whites. It is unclear how each of these team will modify elements of their uniform for the Color Rush games, if at all. At least one team, the Arizona Cardinals, was given a choice between wearing their traditional white-on-white uniforms or a specially designed all-white uniform from Nike. The Cardinals opted for their traditional whites, with white socks. In week two of 2016, the New York Jets wore white facemasks instead of green, white gloves, solid white socks instead of white with green stripes, and white shoes instead of their usual black in the spirit of the Color Rush program. In week three, the Houston Texans modified their uniforms by wearing solid white socks instead of their blue and white socks. In Week 15, the Rams wore their regular white uniform but switched the horns on the helmet from gold to white, marking the first time the team wore white horns on the helmet since the 1972 season; this was also done as a nod to the Fearsome Foursome. The following year in 2017, the Rams decided to make the white horns a part of their regular uniforms, leaving most of their uniform intact save for the pants with the hope to rebrand completely in the near future.Reception and controversy
Color blindness
The first game between the Bills and Jets proved to be particularly problematic, with the Bills' all-red uniforms and the Jets' kelly green outfits being indistinguishable to those with color blindness. The other three games managed to avoid any controversy. The Bills and Jets would be matched against each other for three consecutive Color Rush games; for the second, the Jets wore all-white, while for the third, the Bills wore all-white, complete with white face masks.For 2016, Nike brought in doctors from Mount Sinai Hospital to point out potential colorblindness issues. Aside from red-green, the NFL also avoided brown-purple and yellow-green matchups, requiring one of those teams to wear white uniforms in those games.
Team participation
Some tradition-rich teams such as the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants chose to wear an all-white ensemble instead of wearing an all-team color ensemble due to not wanting to mess with tradition, despite the Packers playing at home in their first Color Rush game and the team having a historical precedence with an all-green uniform in the early 1950s. Giants co-owner John Mara said that Nike initially approached the team about doing an all-red ensemble and later an all-blue ensemble before going with the all-white look as a nod to the Bill Parcells era of the 1980s. Other teams that chose white as their Color Rush uniforms have either traditionally worn white or have already worn one-color ensembles as part of their regular uniforms on a regular basis, such as the New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals; in the latter's case, the team wore white uniforms as a nod to the white tiger.The Packers and Giants non-participation contrasted with another tradition-rich team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who fully embraced the Color Rush program and received a positive response from their fans over the all-black look. The Steelers plan to make their Color Rush uniform their official alternate uniform for 2017. Other teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Tennessee Titans went with their existing alternate uniforms for the Color Rush program, as opposed to creating a unique uniform for the games, while the Kansas City Chiefs simply matched their red jerseys up with their red pants—a look that the team had been sporting at times in recent seasons. The Chicago Bears simply wore their blue pants normally worn with their white jerseys with their blue jerseys, a look the team experimented with in the early 2000s.
In 2017, the Washington Redskins proposed a bylaw which would permit teams to opt out of Color Rush program participation. The Redskins later pulled the proposal before it went into a vote.
Following the official discontinuation of the Color Rush program in 2018, most teams continued to wear their Color Rush uniforms and even branded them as such, following a rule change that allows teams to wear alternate uniforms up to three times per season and allowed two alternate uniforms. The Cleveland Browns, despite unveiling their Color Rush uniform in 2016, did not get the opportunity to wear theirs until the 2018 season, when it was met with great fanfare and subsequently worn two more times by the team that season. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers dropped their Color Rush uniforms altogether by 2018, while the Tennessee Titans actually branding their official third uniform as their Color Rush uniform despite being introduced after the discontinuation of the program. Some teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens also began to incorporate their Color Rush pants into their regular uniform attire while keeping their Color Rush sets.