Amid a flurry of uniform-related announcements over the last week, the New England Patriots revealed they’ll wear their “Pat Patriot” throwback uniforms twice this season, including Sept. 21 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dec. 1 against the New York Giants.
The Patriots originally wore the uniforms, which feature white helmets with a vintage logo on the sides, red jerseys with white and blue UCLA stripes and white pants with matching stripes, from their inaugural season in 1960 until a redesign ahead of the 1993 season.
They revived the road version for three times in 1994 as part of the NFL’s 75th season celebration, then wore the home version on Thanksgiving Day in 2002. They also wore both in 2009 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the American Football League.
The home version remained in the rotation and was worn at least once each year until the NFL implemented its one-helmet rule in 2013, though New England ultimately played a role in the league doing away with that rule in 2022 and immediately reintroduced them that season.
The Patriots are 1-5 in the throwback uniforms since they were revived, including a win over the Detroit Lions in 2022 and losses to the Buffalo Bills in 2022, Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins in 2023 and Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts in 2024.
In addition to the uniforms, New England also painted a vintage design on the turf and added throwback signage at Gillette Stadium for each of the aforementioned games. That included “Pat Patriot” at midfield and a retro wordmark in the end zones.
Though unlikely, the Patriots could wear the uniforms two additional times this season, as teams are permitted to wear alternate or throwback uniforms as many as four times after the league further relaxed its rules this offseason.
That doesn’t include the NFL’s new “Rivalries” series, which will see teams from the AFC East and NFC West unveil community-inspired uniforms on Aug. 28. The Patriots are scheduled to wear their uniforms against the New York Jets on Nov. 13.
Photos courtesy of @Patriots on X/Twitter.
