The New England Patriots unveiled new uniforms in April 2020 that effectively promoted their Color Rush uniforms to full-time home status and included a matching road design.

The franchise considered several other directions before deciding on those uniforms, though, including a design from independent creative director Michael Irwin that modernized their previous look.

New England won six Super Bowl titles in its previous uniforms, which were worn from 2000-19, including victories over the St. Louis Rams in XXXVI, Carolina Panthers in XXXVIII, Philadelphia Eagles in XXXIX, Seahawks in XLIX, Atlanta Falcons in LI and Los Angeles Rams in LIII.

Despite that success, the uniforms were viewed as dated by current design standards and prompted the Patriots to adopt a new design that combined their current color scheme, logo and number font with the UCLA stripes from their “Pat Patriot” throwback uniforms.

Irwin’s concept, meanwhile, kept the core identity intact with chevrons on the shoulders and their logo on the sleeves, but removed pipping and added some modern touches with a stars on the collar – similar to their “Rivalries” uniforms – and a truncated pants stripe that pulls inspiration from the flowing cap of their “Flying Elvis” logo.

Irwin also created an all-gray alternate uniform that followed the same template, though it featured TV numbers instead of the chevron-shaped shoulder stripes and no logo on the sleeve caps. The uniforms obviously didn’t make the final cut, but Irwin said on Instagram that they “had some nice potential.”

In the six seasons since New England decided on its current uniform design, the franchise has made several additions to its overall look, reintroducing silver pants to the home rotation in 2022 and then wearing them with its white road jerseys in 2024.

The Patriots also debuted matching white pants this season, and are looking to improve to 6-0 in the look with a win over the Seattle Seahawks this evening in Super Bowl LX. Irwin’s concept also had a pair of white pants, though they don’t have the same red and blue stripes as their actual design.

So, do you think the Patriots made the correct decision(s) with their current design or should they have given more serious consideration to Irwin’s concept, especially given the role(s) he played in the Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers’ current branding and the Detroit Lions’ previous look, among others? Let us know in the comments!

Photos courtesy of @michaelirwinco on Instagram.