Mason’s Mailbag: What the Broncos should do with their uniforms

To get in on the next Mailbag, use the comment section below or send a question on Twitter with #AskMase!

Uniforms.

For some, they’re no big deal.

For others, they’re as important to the team as Von Miller.

In 2019, 26 years into the free-agency era of NFL football, a team’s togs are one of the few true constants that define a club’s identity.

Sunday afternoon, the Broncos will wear blue jerseys with white pants, a look they donned for most home games between 1997 and 2011, but have worn for just a handful of games since then as the Broncos switched the primary-jersey designation to orange for the 2012 season. The change was announced midway through the 2010 season, largely based on fan sentiment.

One can argue that it was one of two positives from a 4-12 campaign that was the Broncos’ worst since the AFL-NFL merger. (The other, of course, was being so bad that they earned the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2011, which became Miller.)

Up to one-third of the roster turns over annually. But the clothes worn by those players are the connective fibers. And more than a few Broncos fans want change.

First, the Twitter poll. Friday, I asked fans what they thought of the blue jerseys that will be worn Sunday.

It’s the #AskMase conversation-stimulator poll for this week’s mailbag!

What do you think of the blue-jersey, white-pants look that will be worn by the Broncos on Sunday?

Feel free to comment; some of the best comments/questions will be in the unfiltered @DNVR__Broncos mailbag!

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 11, 2019

While I put no scientific validity in a Twitter poll, it was interesting that just 19 percent thought it should be the primary uniform. Based on which color jerseys are seen most often at Broncos games, clearly the preference remains for orange jerseys (although I expect plenty of 1990s/2000s vintage blue jerseys to be worn Sunday).

Now, the comments …

I’m torn….I grew up with the Blue. We had some of the best years in Broncos history with the blue. However, looking at the NFL, everyone wears navy blue now (HOU, DAL, LAR, LAC, NE, CHI, SEA, IND, TEN) or Blue (BUF, DET, NYG) The Orange, It’s so different and really pops.

— Taylor Burck テイラー・バーク (@Taylor_Burck) October 11, 2019

That is my problem with navy blue as anything but a trim color. It’s overused. And as we saw in Week 2 when the Bears visited, it was hard to tell one set of fans from another from a distance. At least the Broncos play up the orange more than the blue, but in the blue-jersey years, they were basically a modern version of the Chicago Bears rather than something distinctive and unique.

I like it as a memory of happier times, but this team’s identity has always been — and always should be — in orange jerseys.

— Mike DeCicco (@MikeDeCicco) October 11, 2019

I suppose it depends on the memories. The Super Bowl years of 1997-98 will always stand out with the blue jerseys. But I also see the 2006-09 run of mediocrity and the 2010 collapse to the franchise’s worst season since the 1960s. I suppose these things tend to balance out in the end.

I voted to retire the blue jerseys except that if the NFL would loosen uniform rules, I would bust them out to commemorate certain occasions like when the Broncos wore the blue-white pairing that they donned in Super Bowl XXXII when facing the Packers again in 2015.

— RSH (@RSH089) October 11, 2019

I agree. And when they wear blue jerseys, I wish it was always with white pants. The blue-jerseys-and-blue-pants look is a sartorial nightmare, and particularly unflattering to some of the linemen with more ample physiques. Were I in charge, the blueberry look would be permanently trashed.

Not everyone agrees with my take.

Nevermind, always with blue pants.

— Thicc Fangio (@doucheyfugitive) October 12, 2019

I’m really not certain why anyone would want the Broncos’ worst current uniform to be worn on a regular basis. Monochromatic looks are awful for pro football, with the exception of all-white or all-black. To my eyes, they scream minor-league operation. Some of the worse monochromatic looks that have popped up over the years — all-red in Kansas City, all-aqua in Miami, all-burgundy in Washington, all-navy in Houston — ought to be mercifully retired.

Anything but those fluorescent carrot uni’s

— bob volpe (@bobvolpe10) October 12, 2019

Not a fan of the Color Rush all-orange uniforms, eh? I don’t like the all-orange, either, although I think there are elements of a uniform that could be the finest ever worn by the Broncos lurking in there.

Speaking of which …

Primary uniform should be color rush with white pants. Would like to see an all white color rush too, or have that be away uniform.

— Adam Andrews (@AAndrewsMusic) October 11, 2019

DING. DING. DING.

First of all, the Color Rush uniform — which we will see in Week 16 when the Lions visit — incorporates the old “D” logo. This logo, like most from the 1960s, is timeless. It remains a shame that it did not endure past the 1990s as the primary logo; other helmet logo designs of the late 1950s and 1960s — particularly those of the Cowboys, Packers, Bears, Lions, Raiders, Chiefs, 49ers, Steelers, Chargers, Saints and Eagles — are timeless. There have been tweaks — see how the Chargers have adjusted their lightning bolt over the years and how the Eagles used various iterations of the wings on their helmet — but the 1960s represented the apex of helmet-logo design that doesn’t become dated. I would like to see the horse on the “D” logo tweaked to appear more realistic, but the horse-in-a-D remains a brilliant design.

The template of the “Color Rush” uniform is perfect. First of all, the stripes are of a consistent design on the helmet, pants and jersey. One of the major issues with the Broncos’ current uniform is that the helmet stripes and side swooshes on the jersey and pants do not match. It creates a chaotic, disjointed look.

Second, the block-numeral font is crisp and clear. It wouldn’t bug me if the Broncos maintained the current number font on a new uniform, but there is a reason why block numerals remain the most popular around the NFL.

Third, if you apply the template of this uniform properly, you can create white, blue and orange jerseys and white, blue, and orange pants that are interchangeable. I’d love to see orange pants back with the white jerseys. Or what about an alternate blue jersey in the Color Rush template with orange pants? Or orange jerseys with blue pants? And, yes, even though I would die a little bit inside, blue-on-blue and orange-on-orange uniforms.

This needs to happen. Because …

Time for new uni’s overall.

— MileHighBroncosGuy (@MileHighGOAT) October 12, 2019

On this, I agree. The current uniform is the antithesis of my modified Color Rush-template application. The side swooshes are dated and scream turn of the century. The problem with going with a “modern” uniform design now is that, with rare exceptions, it becomes passe’ and dated sooner.

Find a look that stands the test of time. Modifying the Color Rush template with white pants, white jerseys and blue alternates would do that.

More feedback …

The Orange is Bad luck especially in the Super Bowl! For gods sake go back to navy

— Eddie krivca (@Ekny729) October 12, 2019

While the Broncos are winless in the four Super Bowls in which they wore orange, their historical supremacy in orange — including a 41-17 record in their primary orange jerseys since they promoted them from alternate status in 2012 — shows that you’re wrong. It’s also worth noting that the Broncos are 5-5 in blue jerseys since they became the alternate jersey in 2012, and they have lost four of their last five games in blue jerseys.

I would have been happy if the last game they played in the blue jerseys was the Packers beat down in 2015. Such a good tribute to SB XXXII and an even sweeter memory since we won it that year.

— Matt Nuñez (@MattNunezCO) October 11, 2019

That game ended the Broncos’ five-game winning streak in blue jerseys, which began in the last home game in the 15-season era in which the blue jerseys were the primary choice. That game — a wild-card contest with the Steelers — is better remembered for Tim Tebow’s 80-yard, overtime-opening-and-ending touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas. The Broncos won in blue against the Chargers in 2012, Cowboys in 2013 and 49ers in 2014 before beating the Packers. On Dec. 13, 2015, the Broncos fell 15-12 to Oakland in the blues, starting their current 1-5 run in blue.

Inject blue over white into my veins.

— Jason (@jay_peg) October 11, 2019

That would be dangerous.

Now, on to other topics …

#AskMase what are your top five candy bars you can’t get in the ?? and in light of Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend what is your favorite Thanksgiving dish for dinner and for dessert? Not ? related but had to ask.

— B.C. Bronco (@Broncoholic52) October 11, 2019

I haven’t done enough global traveling to make a top-five list. While I have been to England on multiple occasions and try to go to Canada as often as possible (which hasn’t been that often recently), my travel beyond North America and the British Isles is, sadly, limited.

That said, I used to love Smarties, which my grandmother would bring from England when she made her summer-long visits to the U.S. from her home in Yorkshire. They differ dramatically from the American candy of the same name, which is chalky and tarty; British Smarties are akin to M&Ms, but with a more genuine milk quality to the milk chocolate used.

In 2010, when I visited London for Broncos-49ers at Wembley Stadium, I had a Kit Kat Dark, which was lovely. I also once had a raisin-and-biscuit Yorkie bar, which was terrible. (Seriously — raisins in a candy bar? Who thought that was a good idea?)

What I need to do is visit Japan. I heard once of a soy-sauce-flavored Kit Kat bar. That sounds disgusting to my taste buds, but it might be appealing to others.

#AskMase Jason Bourne or John Wick?

— Brad Bonesteel (@BBonesteel) October 11, 2019

Of the two, Jason Bourne. But I’m more of a Jack Ryan guy in general.