Sorry to burst your bubble on a Monday morning, New England Patriots fans. But those awesome red throwback uniforms aren't making a comeback in 2020.
The Patriots unveiled their new uniforms for the 2020 season Monday, making their blue-on-blue "Color Rush" alternates their primary threads (with a couple slight tweaks) while overhauling their road uniforms.
But what about those terrific red jerseys with the white helmet and old "Pat Patriot" logo that the team wore back in 2009? Could those resurface as alternate uniforms, as Twitter clamored for Monday?
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Alas, the Patriots put the kibosh on that scenario. Here's why, according to Patriots.com's Angelique Fiske:
NFL rules state that teams can only use one helmet for the season, and silver helmets have come to represent the modern era of the New England Patriots. A silver helmet with the "Flying Elvis" logo just doesn't work with the red uniforms, which, of course, feature a white helmet with the iconic "Pat Patriot" logo.
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By keeping the same gray helmet it has worn for decades, the New England essentially ruled out the red throwbacks, as the NFL prevents teams from having more than one helmet per season.
The good news? The Patriots seem willing to dust off the red threads should the league ever change its helmet rule.
"We recognize that fans also have an affinity for the red 'throwback' uniform and we hope to incorporate that into our uniform rotation in the future," Kraft Sports and Entertainment CMO Jen Ferron told Fiske.
So, "Pat Patriot" isn't totally defunct. Just don't count on seeing it in 2020.
