Carolina Panthers

Saints Unveil 2016 Color Rush Unis

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

New Orleans Saints’ all-white Color Rush unis will be on display in week 11 contest against the Carolina Panthers on November 17 in Charlotte.

Dec 17, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams fans holds a sign referencing the Color Rush uniforms during the game between the St. Louis Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

For the 2015 season the NFL and Nike introduced the Color Rush concept, matching jersey and pant combos typically using a club’s third color, for teams playing games on the joint CBS/NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football. This season, the Thursday Night slate has expanded from the eight games aired last season to every week this season starting with the September 15 matchup between the Jets and the Bills. NBC will pick up the games in the latter portion of the season.

Many Saints fans probably remember last year’s contest between the Rams and Buccaneers which the Twitterverse branded the “Ketchup and Mustard Bowl”, and were hoping to avoid that sort of eye scorching look for their Who Dats.

The good news is the uniforms unveiled for the Saints look simply awesome. You can view them at this link on the New Orleans Times-Picayune website.

The Saints often wear all-black when playing night games in the Mercedes Benz Superdome so we knew they weren’t going there with the design and all-gold, though probably considered, was eschewed, for a clean, all-white look. The trim and numbers are black and old gold. The old gold creates a subtle throwback effect as the Saints stopped using the color, going instead to new gold, in the 2000 season.

Fan reaction on Twitter is the typical mix of love and snarky comments one would expect to find there with some memes popping up comparing the Saints’ Color Rush look to a similarly clad, sword-wielding White Power Ranger. Similarities noted.

Overall, however, the Saints are blessed to not be one of the teams in the NFL with truly horrendous Color Rush kits. The Miami Dolphins’ and Denver Broncos’ all orange unis are perhaps a touch too loud but the Seattle Seahawks’ “Action Green” look is something you can’t unsee, sure to make you question whether 4k resolution on your TV is something you’d truly want to pursue if the results only serve to enhance the image to be presented on your screen for the week 15 matchup between them and the all-yellow Los Angeles Rams.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be in all-gold and I think Saints fans can be thankful the Who Dats didn’t go that direction given the resulting visual shock of that look.

Not all teams will wear their Color Rush garb this season. The projected all-brown Browns vs. the all-purple Ravens was deemed to be too confusing for viewers, players, and officials. Further, some teams would be wearing the same color unis which is an obvious no-go, for example the week 9 game featuring the Falcons and Bucs. Additionally, Thanksgiving Day matchups will not feature the Color Rush concept.

The Saints’ Thursday night contest will air in week 11, November 17, against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte. The home team will be in Panther Blue which is a hat-tip to the Carolina blue worn by the sports teams of the University of North Carolina. Thankfully this game will be much easier on the eyes than some other Thursday night affairs and hopefully the outcome will swing the way of the Saints in their “good guy whites”.