Indianapolis Colts Unveil Alternate Uniforms for the 2023 Season
With the start of the NFL season less than 50 days away (it can't get here soon enough, in my opinion), several teams around the league have started revealing alternative uniforms their players will wear for at least one game if not more. One of those teams is the Indianapolis Colts who revealed their alternate uniforms on social media Thursday morning.
Alternate uniforms aren't a new concept, and for the most part, the Colts have stuck to the same color scheme when wearing alternate uniforms. For example, when the NFL implemented "Color Rush" uniforms several years ago featuring jerseys and pants of the same color. The Colts wore blue pants instead of white with their blue home jersey. The last time they wore that uniform was against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2020.
Ahead of the 2020 season, the team revealed a few tweaks it had made primarily to its wordmark and numbers which evolved from rounded letters and numbers to more block-style. A secondary logo featuring an outline of the state of Indiana incorporated inside of it, and the addition of "Anvil Black" in the team's color pallette were also part of the updates.
In 2021, the team brought back the uniform they wore in the 1950s for a home game against Tampa Bay in November of 2021 which featured a few minor changes.
The most noticeable between the throwback and the current jersey was the team's horseshoe logo, which has been featured on either side of the helmet for decades, was returned to the back. Another less noticeable difference was the player's numbers on the sleeves were moved to the top of the shoulder and a third stripe was placed back on the sleeve.
Indianapolis Colts Unveil Alternate Uniform for the 2023 Season
Teams that have already announced their alternate uniforms include the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who will sport the classic "creamsicle" uniforms complete with the classic helmet featuring the face of a pirate biting down on his knife; the Philadelphia Eagles announced they'll go back to the "Kelly Green" uniforms a couple of times; and Colts division rival, the Tennessee Titans will honor its history by wearing the old Houston Oilers Jersey (the team was known as the Houston Oilers before relocating to Nashville in 1997 and rebranding themselves as the Titans).
The Colts teased the uniform reveal through a video posted on social media on Wednesday. As you can see, it gave no hints as to what the alternate uniforms would look like as the players modeling them are almost completely blacked out.
Thousands of fans commented on the video while others in the Colts subreddit on Reddit debated on what exactly the uniforms will look like with several expecting them to feature "Anvil Black" as the primary color.
The big reveal came Thursday morning at 10:00 AM Eastern / 9:00 AM Central.
I'm sure somewhere on the internet there are fans that don't like any part of this because people are terrible and the internet is a cesspool. But I am not one of those people. I think the horseshoe pops off the black helmet nicely, and I like the more prominent location of the secondary 'C' logo on the chest.
The team will debut the jerseys during the October 22nd home game against the Browns.
[Sources: CBS Sports / Indianapolis Colts on Twitter / Indianapolis Colts on Instagram / Reddit]