Detroit Lions: Rumored Leak Says Color Rush Uniforms Will be Black
By Zac Snyder
A supposed leak of Nike’s plans for 2016 Color Rush uniforms indicates the Detroit Lions will be outfitted in Black on Thanksgiving Day.
Detroit Lions president Rod Wood revealed during a radio appearance earlier in the offseason that the Lions, and the rest of the NFL, would wear alternate uniforms for a Thursday game during the 2016 season. He didn’t use the exact words, but this is a league-wide implementation of the Color Rush uniforms that were featured on a handful of Thursday games last season.
Wood didn’t provide any details and the official announcement has yet to be made, but a supposed leak reveals what the primary uniform color will be for each team’s Color Rush alternate.
It’s a good news-bad news proposition depending on how you felt about the Lions’ black alternates during the Matt Millen years. The leak indicates that black will serve as the base color for the Lions Color Rush uni this season.
I have a few reservations about buying into this supposed leak as truth.
First, Eric Ebron put a teaser out on Twitter earlier in the offseason about seeing the colors for an alternate uniform. After a fan responded with a comment about a black uni, Ebron came back with a reply that indicated they would not be black.
It is entirely possible that Ebron was referencing a non-Color Rush alternate the team is expected to wear in 2017 instead of the Color Rush for this season. However, it would seem a fitting case of “first things first” if it was in reference to the 2016 Color Rush.
Second, while the page tweeted in the photo looks good at first glance, you’ll notice that just 30 of the 32 teams are displayed. In a subsequent tweet, the @NFL_Leaks account says that Washington and Tennessee were on an unphotographed page two.
It just seems an odd bit of formatting to display 30 teams on a first page and two teams on a second page.
Paul Lukas, the man behind Uni Watch, has not verified the leak’s authenticity and adds warning by noting that the document specifically states it is subject to change. Benjamin Allbright reports that the “leak” is not real.
Even if it turns out that this truly is an authentic leaked document, it is possible we see something else on the field by the time the Lions and Minnesota Vikings meet on Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps this was a first pass by Nike that was rejected by the Lions and so we’ll see something different. Or perhaps they really will wear black for their Color Rush uniform. Either way, an official announcement shouldn’t be too far off.
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The release of the schedule last week means all the Thursday matchups are officially set and Nike can work through the details of avoiding similar color schemes between opponents and color pairings that don’t negatively impact the viewing experience of color blind fans.