The Buccaneers, who lost at home to the Chiefs in Week 12 wearing dark jerseys, have chosen to wear white jerseys for Super Bowl LV. As the home team (the NFC gets that designation in odd-numbered Super Bowls), the Bucs had the privilege of making the choice.
The reportedly went with white because quarterback Tom Brady has a 4-1 record in Super Bowls while wearing white. The lone loss game three ago ago, when the Patriots were the home team for Super Bowl LII against the Eagles, and the Patriots chose to wear white.
The Buccaneers are the seventh Super Bowl home team to choose to wear white. The first happened in Super Bowl XIII, when the Cowboys opted for white in a 35-31 loss to the Steelers. In Super Bowl XVII, Washington wore white, and they won the game over the Dolphins, 27-17.
The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVII over the Bills in white, 52-17.
Each of those happened because the teams making the choice habitually chose white. In Super Bowl XL, the Steelers became the first home team to choose white despite usually wearing dark jerseys. The reasoning was simple: Pittsburgh had won three straight road games while wearing white, and they wanted to wear white to finish the job. They did, with a 21-10 win over the Seahawks.
Ten years later, the Broncos opted for white in Super Bowl 50, citing a history of performing more effectively in Super Bowls while wearing white. The Patriots, as mentioned above, opted for white in Super Bowl LII; they’d won three in a row in white, and they’d lost two in a row in blue.
Brady got his fourth win in white against the Rams two years ago, when the Rams chose to wear blue as the home team in Super Bowl LIII.
The Chiefs probably aren’t complaining. They’re 2-0 when wearing red in the Super Bowl, and 0-1 when wearing white.
