Our Philly sports teams have shown some strong looks over the years, but that doesn’t mean that each local club has been exempt from some bad jerseys during that time.
When news of an uninspiring new logo for the Los Angeles Rams leaked recently, the first reaction of Philadelphia fans (other than pointing and laughing) should have been relief that we don’t have to deal with such things. While the local clubs have tinkered over the years, the looks of Philly’s teams are all recognizable and established brands in their respective sports.
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We haven’t seen any uniforms to accompany the Rams’ new logo yet, but the sports mind in all of us naturally makes the leap from team symbol to how the players on said team will look on the field/court/ice once they are fully outfitted with their club’s symbols and colors. There are the standard looks at home and on the road, alternate unis, and even some nods to team history or one-offs for special occasions.
With that in mind, we’re taking a look back on this century in Philadelphia sports (twenty years already!) to see what jerseys have stood out for each of our four local teams. But we’re not going for style here. Instead, we’re singling out the looks that are notable for being the worst that each team has sported over the last couple of decades. And while they’re not as bad as some of the other threads we’ve seen across sports, most of these should definitely be confined to the dustbin of Philly sports history.
76ers: Road blacks, 1997-2009
This article’s cover photo of the Sixers’ “City Edition” uni was a red herring, although some of their alt-retro looks are kind of iffy in my book. The Sixers just never seem to be content and are always making modifications, at least as much as you can with a basketball jersey, which is the most boring canvas of any of the major sports leagues.
But with apologies to Allen Iverson, these black unis were just odd and look extremely dated today, just a decade after the end of their run. The Sixers should stick with some variation of red, white and blue. Cradle of liberty and all that. But this is the way the NBA was going in the 1990’s, and the 76ers seized the opportunity by going the black route and playing with some other shiny new colors.
It wasn’t as bad on the home jersey, but the road look just wasn’t the Sixers. And that’s a shame, because nearly all of Iverson’s career was spent in them. He’d have looked so much better in more traditional garb.
Maybe if the Sixers had won the title in 2001 or some other year, these things would have deserved to be remembered more fondly. But these jerseys shouldn’t hold a special place in the hearts of any self-respecting fan.
Dishonorable Mention: These throwback “duds” the Sixers wore twice in 2004. Enough.
Flyers: Road whites, 2007-2010
As the NHL attempted to refresh itself as a league following the 2004-05 lockout, they adopted the Reebok Edge system a few years later. The jerseys (or sweaters, if you’re a true hockey fan) were made of new material and also went for a more form-fitting and sleeker look. They were also pretty minimalist, largely eliminating elements like bottom stripes at the waist and arm/wrist piping. Honestly, they were pretty boring. I mean, look at this.
Some teams went with totally new designs, while others (especially long-established clubs) went with more simple reboots of classic looks, some hardly noticeable. The Flyers’ new design fell into the latter category, but the results weren’t great.
The black home jersey was so-so, but the road whites were worse. The lines made it look like the Flyers were wearing sleeveless t-shirts or big white bibs with a Flyers logo on them. It’s like they didn’t know what they wanted, just gathering scraps of orange and black and sewing them onto the white base. Not a total disaster, but the current look is much better.
The Flyers managed an amazing comeback down 0-3 to the Bruins during the 2010 postseason while wearing these, so they’ll always be in the memories of Flyers fans, for better or worse.
Dishonorable Mention: The Flyers didn’t even wear these, but a bunch of dumb people thought they were going to be the actual 2012 Winter Classic jerseys and spent their money on them.
Eagles: 75th anniversary threads
Don’t worry, I’m not using this whole slideshow as an excuse to dump on Kelly Green again. I think I’ve already made my point there. Midnight Green is straight up better. Instead, I’m singling out these one-time throwbacks.
On September 23, 2007 against the Detroit Lions, the Eagles busted out these things to commemorate their 75th anniversary. Yes, this was the Birds’ look way back in the beginning. But did we really need these? Did football even allow forward passes back then? “Old and original” doesn’t mean better.
The Eagles won that game in blowout fashion, so you will occasionally see clips from it in some team highlight packages, And once in a while you’ll see some bozo on the street wearing one because they “looked cool on the rack at Modell’s.”
Since they were worn for a very specific occasion, we don’t have to worry about seeing them again. Although, would the Eagles don them once more for their 100th anniversary? We’ll find out in 12 years.
Dishonorable Mention: There’s not a lot to choose from here, but I’ve always found it underwhelming when the Eagles wear all white. Credit to them for finding a way to make a preseason game against the Jaguars even less exciting.
Phillies: Saturday Night Special, 7/27/19
When it comes to these jerseys, I think Samuel L. Jackson said it best in A Time to Kill.
A little background: On May 19, 1979, the Phillies wore their infamous all-burgundy “Saturday Night Special” jerseys for the first time. It would turn out to be the only time, as they were universally panned and instantly retired forever. Or so we thought.
Then the Phillies announced that they would be busting them out once more to “celebrate” their 40th anniversary for one night only during the 2019 season. What’s old is new again, and the thought of the Phillies wearing these…interesting…uniforms was actually kind of fun. At the very least, there was an element of curiosity about them. What could it hurt?
Maybe if the Phillies had performed well while they were clad all in red, we’d all have good feelings about the jerseys. But they came out that night against the Atlanta Braves and were obliterated 15-7. And it wasn’t even that close, with the Phils trailing 14-1 at one point. As a result, let’s never do this again. But at least Gabe looked sharp.
Dishonorable Mention: On Players Weekend 2017, your beer league softball team was dressed sharper than the Phils. Also, negative a million points for “Knapp Time“.