Houston Texans Update Their Uniforms

 By John Turney 

The Houston Texans wore the original uniforms through 2023 ... 21 years. Sure, they added red to their combinations but the design elements were the same.

Now they have updated them and they look good. The navy "deep steel blue" and red is a nice color combination. The new ones are not "Nike out of control" types, like so many of the uniforms Nike designed in the mid-2010s.

This is a good, solid B+ or so -- in that range—

And added a pretty odd alternate uni and helmet. 

Here is the Texans' press release—

HOUSTON – Today, the Houston Texans revealed four new, fan-inspired uniforms for the first time since the team's inception in 2000. The four new uniforms – home, away, alternate and Color Rush – are a direct result of Texans Chair and CEO Cal McNair's charge to fearlessly evolve. Through more than 10,000 surveys and 30 focus groups, the uniforms are H-Town Made.

"Today, for the first time since 2000, we are so proud to reveal our new uniforms. They are even more special because they are inspired by and for our fans," Houston Texans Chair and CEO Cal McNair said. "Our fans asked us to be more H-Town and we delivered. They were with us every step of the way and there's truly something for everyone over the four uniforms."

The home uniform is classic, featuring the updated Deep Steel Blue color that matches the original Deep Steel Blue unveiled in 2000, along with a H-Town call out on the inside collar. The home helmet is Deep Steel Blue with blue-on-blue metallic flake paint. It includes the traditional bull logo on the sides with the new H secondary logo on the back. The away, Liberty White uniform is traditional with a modern edge, featuring the traditional sleeve stripe on the back and sides of the jersey that transforms into a bullhorn-inspired design from the front.

The alternate uniform is the bold Battle Red version of the away jersey. The alternate helmet is Battle Red with candy paint red flakes, a red metallic chrome facemask, new bullhorn-inspired helmet logo application and the Texans bullhead logo on the back. The Color Rush city-inspired uniform introduces H-Town Blue as the first new color introduced to the Texans brand in team history. The Texans are also the first team in NFL history to introduce a new logo on an alternate helmet and a two-logo system across all helmets.

 This is pretty gerish and it "borrows" Columbia blue from the old Houston Oilers. The "H" looks like it belongs on a MLB hat. To us it does not look like a football design. It looks like baseball. This gets a C- grade—

"Battle red" they call it. Interesting use of the horn on the lid. Similar to the Eagles' and Rams' concepts that have part of the animal on the helmet and/or sleeve in the case of the 1973-99 Rams unis. Call this a B- grade—

The white uniforms combine the old helmet and the horn concept on the sleeves This is a B.

These are fine, there are some good design elements and the colors are good. Other than the Color rush kits they get good solid B- (the Color rush being the grade down).

RIP Roman Gabriel

By John Turney 

Art Credit: Dan Stromme

Former quarterback Roman Gabriel wasn't just one of the best quarterbacks of the 1960s. He was legendary, going 41-11-4 during a four-year run with the Los Angeles Rams when they won two division championships and Gabriel had more rushing touchdowns than any of the team's backs.

He was an accurate passer, an effective runner and a natural-born winner. What he wasn't ... and never has been ... was a Hall-of-Fame candidate, though that never seemed to bother him.

"I never gave it a whole bunch of thought," he said in a 2018 interview with the Talk of Fame Network, "especially when it took my good friend, Kenny Stabler, to die to get in."

Sadly, Gabriel joined Stabler on Saturday, passing away at the age of 83. His death was announced by his son, Roman Gabriel III.

"We mourn the loss of Rams' legend and football pioneer, Roman Gabriel." the Rams' said on X (formerly Twitter). "We extend our condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time."

At 6-feet-4, 225 pounds, Gabriel was large for a quarterback of his era -- or any era, for that matter -- and was so imposing that one opponent called him "a tackle playing quarterback." But he was more than big. He was talented, too. Strong and tough, he had the arm to throw deep outs and accurate bombs better than most quarterbacks.

He was also inspirational. As the NFL's first Filipino-American quarterback, he once said he hoped to become a role model for "a lot of the young people" ... and he did. He not only impacted Filipino youngsters but legions of Rams' fans who -- to this day -- name Gabriel as their favorite Rams' player. 

In short, Gabriel was as iconic as the Rams' horn on his helmet. He just had this thing, this imperceptible thing,  that stuck with people. He was as charismatic as he was successful, and he was successful.

In 1969, he was the NFL MVP and a consensus All-Pro. He was also a four-time Pro Bowler.

He spent 11 seasons with the Rams where he was their all-time leading passer in nearly every passing statistic and holds the career record for most touchdown passes with 154. But by 1973, he was gone from L.A., traded in a blockbuster deal to Philadelphia where he spent the last five years of his career.

He was successful there, too, voted the league's Comeback Player of the Year in his first season with the Eagles, while leading the NFL in pass completion and yards passing and tying for the league lead in touchdown passes.

All told, Gabriel ended his 16-year career with 2,366 completions for 29,444 yards and 201 TD passes. He also had 149 interceptions, which may seem like a lot. But it's not. In fact, as late as Week 11 in 1983, Gabriel held the NFL record for lowest interception percentage.

It was 3.3 percent.

Born in 1940 in Wilmington, N.C., Gabriel played at the same high school as Sonny Jurgensen -- New Hanover in Wilmington -- where, as a 6-4, 210-pound senior, he was allowed to do something no New Hanover quarterback ... not even including Jurgenson ... had been.

Throw on third downs. 

It was a smart move. Gabriel was named an All-American. He was also the conference MVP in basketball on a team that won the state title and all-conference in baseball as a senior.

Despite numerous collegiate offers, including one from Notre Dame, Gabriel chose to stay close to home and play for North Carolina State where he was a two-time ACC Player of the Year and two-time All-American.

As a sophomore, he led the nation with a 60.4 completion percentage, a mark that stood as a school record until 1974. As a junior and senior, he set so many school and ACC passing records that still remain in the top 20 in career passing yards, completions, completion percentage and touchdowns.

Then it was on to the pros, where he was the second-overall pick in the 1962 NFL draft and the first-overall choice in the AFL lottery. 

Gabriel chose the Rams and was a part-time starter in his first four seasons there, going 11-11-1 -- a record so superior to the others (a combined 4-27-2) that when George Allen was hired as the Rams' coach in 1966, he named Gabriel as his starter.

That was another smart decision. But the Rams got lucky. They almost lost him. 

Prior to Allen joining the team, the Raiders' Al Davis signed Gabriel to a four-year, $400,000 contract from 1967-70, a move that -- along with others -- pushed the NFL and AFL to negotiate a merger and kept Gabriel in L.A. where he was given a significant raise.

That was smart, too. Because under Gabriel's direction, the team not only improved immediately, going 8-6 in 1966, but it beat the Packers and Colts in back-to-back weeks at the end of the 1967 season to win a division and finish 11-1-2. Gabriel threw three touchdown passes in each game and was named the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Week after both wins.

Though the Rams would lose in the playoffs to the Super Bowl-bound Packers, Gabriel was elected to his first Pro Bowl, was chosen a Pro Bowler again in 1968 and, in 1969, led the Rams to an 11-0 start when he was the AP and NEA MVP, UPI Player of the Year and was chosen to his third Pro Bowl.

In those first four years under Allen, Gabriel was the Rams' short-yardage and goal-line threat, scoring 18 rushing touchdowns -- more than any running back on the team -- and converting countless first downs on third- or fourth-and-short situations.

However, knee and arm injuries caught up to him in the early 1970s, and by 1972 his production was limited. That prompted the Rams to bring in Chargers' quarterback John Hadl which, in turn, prompted them to trade Gabriel. 

Initially, he wanted to join his former coach, George Allen, in Washington, but he'd unloaded all the teams's draft picks on other players. So the Redskins had no draft capital to compete with Philadelphia, which sent Pro Bowl receiver Harold Jackson, Tony Baker and three high draft choices to the Rams for Gabriel.

Through devotion to Kung Fu, acupuncture and daily paraffin baths for his sore arm, Gabriel regained his functionality and performed so well in his first season with the Eagles that he was named to the Pro Bowl and chosen the league's Comeback Player of the Year.

But that was it.

The next few years, he slumped as a passer, eventually became a backup and completed his final pass in 1977 to local hero Vince Papale after stepping in for an injured Ron Jaworski.

After retiring, Gabriel worked as a color commentator for CBS Sports, was the head coach at Cal Poly Pomona and head coach of the Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks of the World League of American Football. In between, he was an offensive coordinator for the Boston Breakers of the USFL. 

He also did some acting throughout his career, co-starring in a film with John Wayne and getting spots on "Gilligan Island" and "Perry Mason." He appeared on national television plugs for various companies, too, and co-owned a car dealership with Hall-of-Fame teammate Merlin Olsen. 

Later in his life, he spent countless hours raising money for various charities.

Gabriel was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989 and in 2013 was chosen to The Professional Football Researchers Association's Hall of Very Good. He's also been inducted into the N.C. State Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

But Canton? Nope. Not even close. He's never been a modern-era or senior finalist or semifinalist, a snub that seemed to annoy his fans more than it did Gabriel.

"I'm really pleased with my life," he said in 2018. "I'm in the Wilmington (N.C.) Hall of Fame, my hometown. I'm in Wilmington's Walk of Fame. I'm in my college's Hall of Fame. And the North Carolina Hall of Fame.

"Some things are good, and some things happen. If it happens, it happens. And it would be great. But I don't think about it." 

Broncos Roll Out Some New and Some Old Looks With New Uniforms

 By John Turney

The Denver Broncos released their new uniforms and a classic uniform today. The Broncos, if you recall were the first to go with Nike designs and in 1997 began the "navy" blue era, changing the blue to a darker shade. 

Shots from the 1997 reveal 

There were mixed feelings at the time and today it's the same. Online there are some who say they are "fire", but seems like a lot of opposition as well "garbage"— so again, mixed results just like 1997.

First, the easy part. T

he throwbacks patterned after the 1977 Super Bowl uniforms are excellent. Could not have done it any better. Give them a "A" because they hit all the notes, clean classic.

Well done.

The throwbacks, the "classics"

The rest? Hard to say. They don't fail like many of the Nike concepts but they have all the silly components that Nike likes to say "inspired" then look so, it's a case of somethings are decent. Some things are over the top.

The colors are the same as before -- navy, orange and white, of course, but the names are tarted up. They are calling the the orange "sunset orange" for example. The white is "summit white". Okay fine. The the navy is "midnight navy" from the department of redundancy department.

The mountains on the sleeves and the "5280" all over everything (overdone) are pretty gimmicky but subtle enough that they won't show too much on television and photos. 

There are three jerseys, three pants and two helmets and creates a mile high pile of combinations—

The helmets were switched to a matte finish, away from the glossy one, and have an odd decal composed of tiny triangles that form an arrow in the back and have a "5280" on the front bumper.

The decals are supposed to represent a climb upward. 

The alternate "snowcap" helmet -- "summit white"

In a statement, Broncos president Damani Leech said,

"It was great to hear from the Nike folks, from a pure design standpoint, them talking about what it felt like in 1997 — or from the ones that weren’t there, how they study uniform history and how it felt like in 1997 was incredibly innovative. We still want to do that. We wanted to move the aesthetic forward, move the game forward. And we wanted expansion. We want this to be something that a new, young, diverse fanbase can say, wow, that’s amazing. I want to be a part of that from a fan standpoint and I want to wear that from an apparel standpoint."

Apparently, the team wanted the whole uniform set to reflect Colorado's mountains and it is all over the uniforms.  The "snowcapped" white helmets introduced last year foreshadowed it, we suppose.

The Broncos are in a mountain motif for at least the next five years. 

So, the throwbacks are an "A" and the rest is a "B-". The design is just Nike trying to show off but the whole thing is saved because navy, orange and white are a good color combination.

Here are some closeups of the uniform "narrative" if you are into that kind of thing—

Lions Release New (And Better) Uniforms

By John Turney

Yesterday the Lions updated their uniforms and did some good things and some things that were just okay -- not offensive, just not spectacular. 

In 2017 the Lions released uniforms that were average in our view. We gave them a grade of "C". 

In the Nike world of uniforms that were not nearly as bad as we had seen at the time, nothing as bad as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars or Cleveland Browns, for example.

All those teams reverted to a more classic look as soon as possible -- teams are stuck with any new uniform for a minimum of five years. After that teams can change. 

Well, the Lions didn't do the exact same thing. They wore their uniform seven years -- two years longer than they had to.

In 2017 the Lions introduced these uniforms—

Yesterday they revealed this—

The white numbers on the Honolulu blue jerseys are an improvement. They have a two-stripe pattern on their sleeve stripes rather than the old Northwestern Stripes.

Apparently, the striping was inspired by that of the Ford Mustang and not the Dallas Cowboys.

It seems the new shade of blue is brighter. They dumped the grey over grey uniforms and added a black alternate, not unlike the ones they wore from 2005-07. This time, though, they have black pants to match.

The primary uniform, blue over silver is an improvement. So our grade goes from a C to a B/B+.

The rest of the stuff, white over white, black over black, black over blue, white over blue ... is just ... meh. Call all that a B-, okay but but great.

The Lions stepped out of the Nike world and reverted to uniforms closer to the 1980s and 1990s and that is a good thing. Nike has introduced some pretty awful uniforms and now teams are catching on and using old templates of classic uniforms and updating them.

Hopefully, the Rams will be next to do something similar, and after that maybe the Falcons will follow suit and follow the trend of updated classics.

This is what the Lions said—

Not sure what the "classic lines of the Bronco" have to do with football, but whatever. And if the home uniforms are reinterpreting the Ford Bronco ... is this the white Ford Bronco?

Just asking.

As far as the black ... not sure who does it better the Panthers or the Lions—

Yep, primary unis = B/B+. The rest? B-.

Jets Reveal New Uniforms for Second Time in Five Years

By John Turney

Jets uniforms revealed in April 2024

There is not much to say about the New York Jets uniforms revealed today because we've seen them before. They debuted in 1978, taking over for the classic Jets look, and continued to wear them through 1997.

Although there were changes made in 1991 it was the basic look for 20 years and they brought it back recently as a throwback.

The Jets are yet another team to revert to a classic look as soon as the NFL uniform rules allow and that is the takeaway -- it's another Nike design fail.

These new uniforms are good, as they always were. And they are good now. There are some differences from the 1978-90 versions but it's the same look.

But they are better than the recent Nike-design worn from 2019-2023 --- 

2019-2024 Jets uniforms

In fairness, the 2919 Jets uniforms were not awful, we graded them a "C" at the time but they were probably as good as Nike ever did. And given the resources at their disposal they needed to do better.

This time they go with a design that they have very little input - a tweak of the font and logo perhaps. The color is not exactly the same but those are minor details.

So, Jets uniforms go from a C to a B/B+ or so. 

Everything old is new again ... basically, the same uniform revealed to day was revealed in 1978.

1978 Jets' uniform reveal

"For Some of Them it Was Only the Moment That Mattered"

By TJ Troup 

Since this will be my last column for the Journal, wanted the title to come from one of the men who I respect for his ability to write lyrics; thus Jackson Browne thank you. There are teams that we know well, and then there are teams that we just don't know well enough. 

Having done in-depth research on the interception and who pilfered the ball, we can all access the list of the men of intercepted at least 10 passes against a specific opponent. Many of the men on the list are Hall of Fame players or achieved a lot of success in their careers. 

One of the names on the list is Joe Beauchamp who intercepted 10 passes against Denver in his career. Beauchamp was drafted in the 6th round of the "red shirt" draft in 1966. He not only joined an organization that had played in five championships in six years but the Chargers were known far and wide for giving unknown players a chance. 

Joe Beauchamp had played junior college football, and lettered in 1964 for Iowa State, but was not heralded as one of the best college defensive backs. 

Beauchamp played in eight games his first season in '66, and in November of that season against the Broncos twice in the second quarter, he intercepted. Very little was written in Street & Smith's over the next few years though Joe started many games. December 8th, 1968 Beauchamp achieved the "double takeaway" by both intercepting and recovering an opponent fumble in the same game. 

He was the only San Diego defender to accomplish the double takeaway over the course of a 32-game span (Oct. 22nd, '67 through November 9th, 1969). Though the Chargers played competitive and winning football, they could not beat the Chiefs or Raiders when it mattered. 

The San Diego Chargers highlight film for 1970 was both entertaining and insightful, and Joe Beauchamp was still playing well when he played either corner or safety. 

Recently have been in contact with Emmy Award-winning producer David Plaut, and he shared his thoughts on a number of subjects on Charger players and coaches. Harland Svare moved from the front office to the sideline for the last four games of 1971 and will detail his first full year as head coach. Quoting Street & Smith's '72 annual "People who watched the San Diego Chargers for the last several years are accustomed to seeing touchdowns scored". 

During 1971 the Chargers finished 23rd in points allowed with 341, with just 19 sacks, and were 24th against the run by allowing 2,296 yards. Svare made multiple trades to acquire veteran defenders who he believed who bolster the defense. David Plaut shared with me that Dave Costa and Tim Rossovich were "hilarious with outsized personalities".  Mr. Plaut also shared that Joe Beauchamp was "extremely intelligent and a thoughtful person". 

When Bob Howard was injured early in '72, Ray Jones replaced him. Ray Jones played for four teams in four seasons and film study shows Jones consistently getting beat. He is benched and Beauchamp moves from safety where he was tied for the league lead in interceptions with five (four other men also had five)on October 29th, to left corner where he continued to play well. 

The Charger defense allowed 344 points in '72, and recorded 26 sacks, yet the Lightnin' Bolts are sure improved in defending the run since they allowed just 1,673 yards. The 1972 edition of the Illustrated Digest of Pro Football on page 232 states that Joe "found a home at right corner in 1970. Top athlete with speed, quickness, and zest for combat". San Diego under Svare failed so badly that he was replaced by Tommy Prothro. 

Over the course of his ten years Joe took the field with many other defensive backs, as he was the one constant whether at corner or safety. Beauchamp remained in the Charger line-up through the first eight games of 1975 before being replaced in the line-up. Gary Garrison and Joe were the only two Chargers who played for San Diego from 1966 through 1975. 

Shifting gears, as I stated in my opening sentence this is possibly my last column for the Journal as have decided it is time for me to have my third book published. 

Has been a learning experience for me so far, as far too many of the publishing companies attempt "to hide" the total cost of having a book published. My agent will make sure that the contract is suitable, yet there are so many areas that need to be addressed in having a book published, and am bound and determined to learn them all. 

My upcoming book is titled: "1961—A SENSATIONAL SEASON". Without a doubt this is the best writing I have ever done, and hope some of you will purchase a copy when it comes out. Add to my learning about how to have a book published, my senior softball season starts in two weeks, and this old war horse is motivated to play even better this year.

The Graduating Class of 1981

By John Turney 

Joe Greene by Merv Corning; Alan Page by Joe Isom

In the past few months, NFL stars Aaron Donald, Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox announced their retirements, and they won't be the last. More will bow out or learn they're no longer needed, making 2023 their last season. Donald and Kelce are Hall of Famers waiting to happen. So are Tom Brady and J.J. Watt, who retired a year ago. With four first-ballot cinches bowing out in successive years, that got me wondering.

What's the best class of pros to retire from the NFL?

Certainly, 1973 is one. That's when Johnny Unitas and Dick Butkus retired. But I wonder if there's a deeper class of retirees than the one that left following the 1981 season. Not only were there all-time greats; there was a litany of significant players, too.

Start with Joe Greene and Alan Page. Two of the top five defensive tackles in the history of the game exited the NFL after 1981. Then throw in first-ballot Hall of Famer Jim Langer, the first of the great interior offensive linemen to be enshrined from the Dolphins' dynasty of the early 1970s. It was also Gene Upshaw's final season. Hall-of-Famers Curly Culp and Claude Humphrey called it quits, as well.

But the line doesn't end with Gold Jackets.

Star safeties Bill Thompson and Charlie Waters were part of the 1981 departing class. Thompson's career began in 1969; Waters in 1970. Both were All-Pros and played in Super Bowls, with Waters earning two rings.

Rich Saul (five Pro Bowls) and D.D. Lewis (14 seasons, two rings) exited, too.  Edge rushers L.C. Greenwood, Fred Dryer, Cedrick Hardman and Coy Bacon all played their last NFL downs in 1981, though Hardman and Bacon are asterisked. Both were lured to the USFL.

That's a lot of combined sacks and Pro Bowls.

In 1981 Jerry Sherk's knees finally gave out after 12 seasons and four Pro Bowls. John Matuszak's back gave out on him, too, but in the 1982 Raiders' camp. So he also walked away. Steelers' right tackle Jon Kolb (four rings) left after 1981. So did Randy Rasmussen (15 years), Conrad Dobler (10 years, three Pro Bowls) and Carl Mauck, who played 13 years. I'll throw in Joe Federspiel and Brad Dusek, too. They weren't perennial Pro Bowl choices, but they were good players.

Then there were outstanding skill players, such as Calvin Hill, Lawrence McCutcheon, Ron Jessie, and Raymond Chester. Those four ... as well as others ... put up numbers. With so many stars whose careers ended in 1981, it's a wonder there weren't at least four first-ballot choices in the Class of 1987.

There should've been.

Greene, Upshaw and Langer all made it on their first tries, but Page did not ... and that makes no sense. One of the best defensive players ever, he was unfairly punished for the Vikings' Super Bowl failures (he was on all four losers). Nevertheless, he was enshrined one year later in the Class of 1988.

Had voters then had the ethos of those who followed (and put less emphasis on Super Bowl losses, with the treatment of the 1990s' Buffalo Bills vs. the 1970s' Vikings an example), the Class of 1987 would've been the only one in Hall-of-Fame history with four first-ballot inductees.

I admit that the top of this list may not match the Brady-Watt or Unitas-Butkus combination ... or even the 2010 entry of Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith ... for star power, but I doubt there's been one year with more accomplished players who retired.

I know, 11 other Hall-of-Fame classes included three first-ballot inductees, including 2018, 2019 and 2021. But, in my book, Alan Page, was a first-ballot choice, and the NFL's graduating class of 1981 was the best ever.