One-on-One: Which NFL uniforms make best fashion statements?

Tunison: This is somewhat tangential to our debate, but the Jets adding a callback to their '80s-'90s look for 2019 has convinced me that many pro sports teams are caught in 20-year nostalgia loops with their uniforms. For a while, they try to push things in a new direction, but inevitably retrench back to an older appearance, or they go to retro look then revert to a look that is retro to the retro look.

As for great uniforms, the Oilers were something to behold. To me, the greatest proof is the Chargers realizing there was a void left by the Titans adopting whatever you want to call their get-up and adopting the powder blue with white helmet as their primary uniform.

Both the Oilers and Chargers are forever the keepers of the close-but-no-cigar flag, so in that sense, it works. Still, the Oilers seemed to pop that much more than the Bolts with it. Plus, as much as we might realize petroleum has its problems as an energy source, that oil derrick was one sweet logo. 

Mueller: Oh, those Oilers uniforms. A classic look if there ever was one. Powder blue, the red outline of the numbers -- all of it was exquisite. Picking between those and the Chargers' powder blue is tough, but the Oilers' uniforms get the nod, partly because the Titans just ... you know what, let's move on without talking about their uniforms, because they are bad. As it happens, I just happened upon a video of Earl Campbell running over defenders while typing this, and it only reinforced the love for that old Oilers look.

Coincidentally, Campbell was laying waste to another team in the great uniform pantheon — the Los Angeles Rams. The Vegas gold and navy blue look in St. Louis was atrocious, and should never have been foisted on the masses. There’s a lot going on with the Rams’ uniforms, which is usually a death knell from a fashion standpoint — witness Seattle’s futuristic failures as an example — but everything works in harmony, and blue and yellow are a great combination. The colors pop off the screen, and instead of looking amateurish, come off sharp and put-together. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that two teams who’ve spent part of their history in L.A., where fashion trends take flight long before they reach middle America, know what it takes to look good at all times. And those helmets? Perfection.

You’re right on the money about the 20-year nostalgia thing. The Steelers angered some fans when they went to rounded numbers in 1997. Here we are, 22 years later, and color rush uniforms feature block numerals, and the team’s alternate jersey pays homage to the glory days of the 1970s with that same blocky, classic look. It should come as no surprise that most fans seem to love them.

Tunison: Having teams shuffle through different throwbacks from year to year can be amusing, whether you're talking the Steelers bumblebee unis or the Packers weird khaki pants look. But every once in a while, you learn about a uniform that works surprisingly well.

For me, that was the Falcons' 1966 throwbacks, which have the less busy black jersey with block numbers and a striking red helmet featuring the old logo -- y'know the one that doesn't look like a boss from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. To me, the red helmet look is a nice compromise between the current uniform and the all-black version of the '80s and '90s.

It was a tight call between this and New England red jersey throwback with the white Pat the Patriot helmet that they still bring out every once in a while. It might not rank high on the scourges the Patriots dynasty has visited on us since 2001, but dominating in ugly uniforms has been unpleasant nonetheless.

Mueller: My thought on the true throwbacks is this: Most of them work in present-day simply because the colors pop more on television, everything looks crisper, and jersey-making technology has resulted in something that just looks better than it did back when it wasn’t a throwback, just the regular uniform. 

That said, one throwback stands tall above the rest. Tampa Bay’s “Creamsicle” uniforms still get me every time I see them. Orange and football just seem to work, and the original Tampa uniforms are another classic example of that. The swashbuckling pirate on the helmet was great, and the contrasting shades of orange on the leg and helmet striping was a nice, necessary touch.

Tampa Bay’s current uniforms look like they belong in the XFL, so perhaps there’s hope that in a few years, the team will give the original color scheme a slight modern tweak, and bring it back as their primary outfit.