A plea to make Dolphins throwback uniforms permanent. And why they’re not
The Miami Dolphins will dig into their vault of awesomeness this weekend and bring out their throwback uniforms for the game at Hard Rock Stadium against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Against one of the teams known for having great uniforms — the Chargers — the Dolphins are wearing their best uniform: Their classic 1966-era look with the gray face mask, old smaller Dolphin logo in the sunburst and black cleats.
So the uniform the team wore when it won back-to-back Super Bowls during the 1972 and ‘73 seasons will make its first of three appearances this year.
Some people think that’s a big deal. They love the throwback style. They believe they make the Dolphins look tougher, better.
And, they argue, if the players look good and feel good, maybe they play good.
I’d say a vast majority of fans feel that way. All due respect to all the uniform and logo iterations that followed, including the most recent in 2013, but the 1966 uniforms re-imagined by the team in 2015 are the absolute best.
Some people don’t think that’s a big deal. They either think the new uniforms are better or they’re ambivalent about what the team is wearing as long as it is winning.
For a few seconds on Thursday, Dolphins coach Brian Flores was in that camp:
“I’m not a big fashion guy, so it’s not really at the top of my priority list,” he said. “I like the new uniforms, I like the old uniforms. I like the old logo. But I just like coaching football. So sorry Mando, that’s not really at the top of my priority list. It’s not really something I think about.
“And I know there’s people that love the old uniforms. But old uniforms, new uniforms, I like to coach. I don’t care what we’re wearing.”
But here’s the issue: If you really think about it ... if you take a minute, there is no question which uni is best.
The throwbacks!
Without a doubt.
If you allow yourself a pause in your busy 2020 schedule to consider the matter, enlightenment will surely come. The throwbacks rock!
And Flores got there after a few seconds.
“If you want me to vote, I’ll vote for the old uniforms, if you want me to be casting votes,” he said. “If I had to choose the old or the new, I’d probably go with the old.”
Correct answer!
And just as the team’s head coach takes maybe 30 seconds to get to the right place, why hasn’t the rest of the organization done the same? What’s up with that?
Well, my understanding is a lot of people within the Dolphins organization have already gotten to that same right place on the throwback uniforms. They like it more. They think it’s better.
The issue is owner Stephen Ross hasn’t given a final approval to go all in on the throwbacks. He might eventually get there, perhaps even by 2021. But not yet.
It has taken him some time and consideration to fully commit. Because, in part, that would mean decommitting from the current uniforms, which he approved after much consideration.
So here’s where I am on this highly important topic:
I am asking Ross to please, please, please allow the change to be made to the throwbacks as the full-time uniform.
Wear your ultra-modern uniform and logo as the alternate if you like. Those are fine in small doses — except the all orange look that makes the players look like human popsicles. Don’t ever wear that atrocity again.
Embrace your new look as the alternate look.
But give this organization that is striving to regain the stature and respect of those 1970s teams the right look to go with that attempt.
Make those throwback uniforms your forever uniforms.
Think about it. Flores did. And he came to the right answer despite starting out kind of indifferent on the topic. How do I know this?
Because after answering all the reporters’ questions on his Zoom press conference Thursday, he said this unprompted before logging off:
“I like the old uniforms.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 10:20 AM.
