NFL: Enough With The Throwbacks

It's getting ugly out there.

Literally.

The Pittsburgh Steelers do it right. They wear their throwback jerseys, which are nowhere near as offending to the eyes as some that we've seen, a couple times a year during important home games.

San Diego modified their throwbacks and adopted them as their regular uniform.  It's hard to argue with the fact that they are the best looking uniforms in the league today.

For some teams, however, it's been a while since we've seen their regular uniforms.

Denver continues to trot out the runner up for the ugliest throwbacks ever (last year's Blue and Yellow Eagles incarnations were the worst by far) at home and on the road (see photo). 

New England and Tennessee have been wearing theirs often too.  Some confused fans are probably wondering if the Houston Texans had finally decided to do the decent thing and bring back the Houston Oilers.

No, it's just the hapless Titans.

It isn't bad enough that Seattle trotted out hideous green jerseys that made the University of Oregon's experiment with bright yellow look tame.

There's a reason that some of these teams changed their colors and uniform designs after color television became the norm.

What's next? Leather Helmet Day? Illegal Forward Pass Day? No Facemasks Day?

Maybe the Steelers should really go over the top and bring back those jailbird uniforms from the 1930s and change their name back to the Pirates.

Hey, at least the Pirates would be winners again in Pittsburgh.

All joking aside, this has gone far enough.  There used to be rules governing this kind of skulduggery. 

It's a money-making scheme.  I get that.  It generates revenue because some crazy small sect of fans actually wants to own those striped socks from the Broncos or a too-loud bright green Seattle jersey.

But to wear them more often than your regular uniforms?  Come on.

Or how about picking the least offensive throwbacks.  Denver would look great in the old "orange crush" uniforms.  Tennessee would look good in the last incarnation of Oilers duds.

They still would look ridiculous every week, though.

It's time to retire the idea of using throwbacks to generate cash.  You can still sell them.  People will undoubtedly buy them (even if it's just as a gag gift for some unsuspecting fan).  But let's quit wearing them every Sunday as if they are our regular garb.

Time marches on and, believe me, there's always a reason for progress.