PALM BEACH, Fla. — Did you like the Denver Broncos’ throwback uniforms? Or their white helmets?
If you did, you might love the news that team president Damani Leech dropped when he answered questions by the Atlantic Ocean shoreline Monday during a break in the NFL’s annual meeting.
Leech revealed that the league approved an increase in games that teams can wear alternative jerseys — either throwbacks or alternate-colored jerseys, like the navy-blue shirts the Broncos wore in their Dec. 2, 2024 win over the Cleveland Browns from three games to four.
He also shared that NFL teams can use their alternate helmets with their primary jerseys — expanding the number of games when the Broncos can use their white helmets. Last year, the Broncos were limited to pairing their white helmets with navy jerseys. Now, they can use them with their orange and white jerseys.
“So as an example, we could wear our white helmets with orange-on-orange pants and jerseys,” Leech said. “Som things like that will just add more flexibility to the closet and hopefully be exciting for the players, but also for the fans.”
The white helmets were a favorite of the players, who relished the chance to wear them last season. But they were curious as to how they’d look as a part of ensembles other than the blue-on-blue look the team donned against Cleveland.
“Oh, they’re sweet,” tight end Adam Trautman said at the time. “… But I would wonder how they’d look with all white. Or other ones too. So who knows? Maybe that’s coming at some point; I have no idea.”
Well, now he and his teammates have an idea.
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AROUND THE NFL, THE LOOK MATTERS
“I think as it was introduced today ever so diplomatically, it was that uniforms are important,” Leech said. “One way or another, basically everyone in the room — I think everybody has an opinion on uniforms around the league. And they are [important]. They’re amazing.”
Indeed, in an era in which roster churn is a near-constant, uniforms provide a sense of continuity and identity for fans.
The throwback uniforms last year strengthened this generation’s connection with the past — both within the team and the community as a whole, something highlighted by the video produced by the team that starred Pat Surtain II and Randy Gradishar as part of the uniform’s unveiling.
When Surtain joined Gradishar as the only Broncos to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year, the connection took on added meaning. That Surtain’s signature moment last season — his coast-to-coast pick-6 against Las Vegas — came in the throwback uniform added another layer of signifiance.
Similar stories exist around the NFL. The Broncos’ culture and legacy symbolized by those vintage-inspired uniforms is special, but so are those of the past brought into the present by teams such as the New England Patriots, New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons.
When Leech confers with his fellow NFL executives, they understand this — which is why it was such an easy decision to give alternate and throwback looks more chances to be used.
But even the variations on the primary uniforms spur discussion. Socks spur passionate debate in some circles.
“I think the cadence of our games of once a week allows them to have a sense of weight and specialness to them, which is exciting,” he said. “I think the fans love it and get excited about what the players are wearing that particular week.”