USFL 2022 Uniform Reviews

Hi folks. Taking a short break from the 1997 USFL simulation to comment on today's release of the uniforms for the 8 teams that return with the new USFL (USFL Lite). I consider myself something of a sports branding aficionado, as you can probably tell by this entire site, and the USFL is a passion of mine, so I was really hoping the new version would stick pretty close to the original. Mostly they did, but there are some changes I would make to really get the "chef kiss" of approval from me. Here are your 8 USFL 2022 uniforms with my comments.

BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS

I like that they stayed very old-school with these uniforms. Wide pant stripe, traditional sleeves, custom but not crazy font. They also do have a gold set of pants (not pictured) which is good, because the white on white is not my favorite look. The helmet stripe tapers and does not go the full length of the helmet, an acceptable modernization.

I give the Stallions a solid A for not overthinking this one.

PITTSBURGH MAULERS

The Maulers went a bit off base from the original look, but it still works for me. I like that they decided to go with the yoke. It is something I am toying around with as well for this club. I also like the single helmet stripe. But, with this one I do have a few misses:

1. No grey pant set, and very little grey at all.

2. Pant stripe shoud have been purple-orange-purple instead of another single color stripe.

3. They have a nice keystone & hammers secondary logo. I would put that on the sleeves instead of repeating the helmet logo.

I give the look an A- for those three issues. I am not taking off points for them having monochrome socks, because all of the teams do the same. No stripes on any of them. Seems a mistake to me, but at least they did not go with all white socks like so many NFL teams. I hate that look.

TAMPA BAY BANDITS

The Bandits stayed relatively close to their 1980's uniform, more or less. I like the way they handled the sidepanel & pant stripes, so that the same stripes continue from one to the other (not all clubs were so lucky). The helmet stripe is basic, but works, and while I am not a huge fan of the secondary "bandit head" logo, i like that they have separate logos for the sleeves and the helmet. My main beef continues to be that weird front leg on the main logo's horse. Just seems wrong.

A for effort and for not going too crazy tryin to be "kewl".

NEW JERSEY GENERALS

Folks who are saying there is too much red in this new USFL league have a point. Part of that is just that they did not include any Western teams, so they missed out on the quality colors of LA, Oakland or Denver. The choices of Philly, Birmingham, Tampa, and New Jersey were good ones, but I am hoping they get up to 12 teams and add some of those western looks.

As for this uniform, it is perhaps the best of the bunch. They kept the basics from 1983, added stars on the sleeves, but again did not repeat the same logo as the helmet (no oak leaves). Adding a colored cuff to the look is also a good touch and I love that they kept the extra wide red pant stripe with thin blue lines instead of equalizeing all 3 stripes. Solid A from me.

MICHIGAN PANTHERS

So much to like, and yet... I am not sold on them. They clearly pay tribute to the original Panthers, but the new logo is not as good as the old one, and the pants seem too dark. The sleeve stripes on the home jersey (blue & white instead of blue & champagne) just don't work for me, while the ones on the white jersey are great. So, it's a "close but no cigar" feel from me on this one. B+

HOUSTON GAMBLERS

This one is the first full miss for me. It's not that they went crazy, but they made some choices that I really question, such as...

1. Getting rid of the helmet stripes.

2. Going with numbers on the sleeve and no stripes or secondary logo.

3. Two different sets of grey pants, with the dark grey both too dark and too blue.

4. The sidepanel stripes that don't match the pant stripes.

5. Basically borrowing Tampa Bay's pants for the lighter grey set.

I just think they overthought this one. Have 1 pair of light grey pants and either a white pair or a black pair. Move the numbers to the shoulders and add a small logo on the sleeves. Remove the side panels on the jersey and go with a wide black-red-black stripe on the pants. Houston should have been an easy slam dunk like New Jersey, but they strayed too far. It gets a C because "I know you can do better work than this, Johnny".

PHILADELPHIA STARS

Another case of overthinking it if you ask me. The basics are all there, gold & red, main logo on helmet, but then they had to go with side panels again, and the half-&-half almost barber pole stripe just does not say "Stars" to me. When you have a pretty basic shape as your logo/identity, why look elsewhere? Just add some stars.

I would remove the helmet stripe alltogether, add the team name to the logo like originally in the 80's, and maybe go with a single red stripe with some sublimated stars or one star at the hip.

One last thing here. The original logo they released had orange as a transitional color between the red & gold. Incorporating orange into the uniform would have helped distinguish it from Birmingham, as would a white facemask (again as in the 80's). I think they missed a good opportunity with the orange element here.

This one gets a C- and again because they overthought the design.

NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS

I should preface my comments by saying that the Breakers were the club (and the look) that made me fall hard for the USFL in 1983. Loved everything about the original look. Cannot say the same about this version. The pants are the 1 thing they got right, and only because they didn't change anything.

The new helmet design is a major downgrade from the original. You end up with a huge royal blue semicircle at the back, instead of the cool wave pattern. The lines of the helmet do not feel fluid and oceanic. It is too minimalist to work.

I am also not a fan of the jerseys for 2 reasons. First, they should have kept the lighter blue as the primary jersey color, not the royal. They also could and should have created a greater tonal difference between the two blues, closer to navy & sky than two versions of royal blue. Finally, those sleeve "waves" do not work for me at all. I am sure there is a way to depict this that would work, but this is not it.

Again, it is not like this is a monstrosity like the Washington Commanders, the Alarm Clock Buccaneers, or the horrid CLEVELAND browns jerseys, but it is a huge letdown for the club that went from one of the best looks in the real USFL, to a pretty bad redo in this version of the league. D is the best I can give it, and that is only because they kept the pants.

I am now a bit happy they did not bring in the Wranglers right away. Scared what they might have done to those gorgeous pant flames.

I expect some of you will disagree. That's why we have a comment section. I will say that I appreciated that they debuted the Generals with Flutie's #22, the Panthers with Carter's #1 and the Stars with Kelvin Bryant's 34. That was a nice touch for those of us old enough to catch it.