Carolina Panthers Uniform News: Team May Wear Black Pants in 2012

There's a lot of Carolina Panthers fans out there who may be receiving some happy news with this article. In the early release of a Madden 13 video making rounds on YouTube, the team has appeared to have added a uniform combination that includes black pants.

Madden 13 often scoops new uniform combinations around the league each year before said organization makes any official announcement. For instance, the Buffalo Bills had the curtain pulled on them a bit early in April prior to last season. In this video (check around the 20:00 mark), one of the Panthers' "alternate" uniform combinations features a black pants option.

From Scott Fowler, who covers the team with the Charlotte Observer:

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Now unless you are really into uniforms—and apparently some of you are, judging from the hit counts on this blog every time I post uniform news—this isn't a huge deal even if true. The Panthers generally wear their "alternate" blue jerseys only two times a year—their main jersey colors being black and white. But when they do wear them it has always been with silver pants, not black. (Sometimes, they wear the alternate blue twice in the regular season and a third time in the preseason).

But the Panthers certainly aren't dismissing this notion of blue-and-black together. When I contacted them today for a comment, a spokesman simply said that nothing has been completely decided as of yet. (Remember that Panther owner Jerry Richardson has said the uniforms won't be changing in his lifetime, although this might not count in Richardson's mind as a significant change).

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It sounds like it might be time to prepare for more of a new look beyond the newly designed Panthers logo (I call it the "lazy-eyed" Panther logo).

This would be fine with me. For those who say that uniforms don't matter, I think you're dismissing it too easily. When a team looks good, they play better. Now if someone could just get the organization to wear the black at home even earlier in the season rather than the plain whites, I would be thrilled.