The wait is over.
The Falcons will debut their color-rush uniforms against New Orleans in their key matchup Thursday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons will wear red jerseys with black numbers and white outlines, with red pants. The Saints will sport white uniforms with gold numbers and trimmings.
Coming into this season, the Falcons were one of seven teams that had not worn color-rush uniforms. Arizona, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis and Washington also have not join the league-wide Thursday night jersey marketing fad.
“I saw them for the first time a few days ago. It’s different when you see pictures and then up close,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “The fellas are excited about it and on the league end, they look sharp.”
The idea of color-rush uniforms started in 2012 when Nike replaced Reebok as the NFL’s uniform supplier. An initial rollout occurred in 2015, with the uniforms becoming mandatory starting with the 2016 season for Thursday night games.
“I was one of the models,” Vic Beasley said. “But you know what I want to see, though? I want to see it with all black uniforms or all white uniforms with red numbers. That’s what I want to see because that would be something. Maybe we can do that for next year.”
The Falcons were scheduled to wear them last season in their Thursday game against Tampa Bay. However, with their designs being too similar and Tampa Bay being the home team, the Falcons wore their regular white uniforms.
For linebacker Deion Jones, the wait has been long enough. For the New Orleans native, the fact they’re debuting against his hometown team make it that much sweeter.
“I feel pretty good about them, against the hometown team, and I’m ready for competition,” Jones said, “I like the all red, we didn’t get a chance to wear them last year, so I’m real excited for this year. I love it, especially with the black.”
It’s been an interesting few weeks for the Falcons, uniform wise. This will be their third uniform scheme in three weeks. Against Tampa Bay two weeks ago, the Falcons wore their retro black jerseys and last week they went back to their regular home uniforms against Minnesota. A small locker-room poll indicates of all the uniforms the Falcons have worn to date, the retro blacks are the team favorite.
While the hype around the uniforms is fun, Beasley understands the goal is to beat the Saints.
“It’s the first time that we are wearing them,” Beasley said. “The fans love them. They are getting a lot of hype of social media. But we have to play well in them.”
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