Continuing the modern look first adopted by the Denver Broncos, the Cincinnati Bengals unvieled their new uniforms on Thursday in a gala celebration. The new duds were modeled by Bengals stars Chad Johnson and Carson Palmer, among others. And they are, to say the least, a doozy. (Pics from the fashion show.)The Bengals have modernized their traditional look with designer numbers and different colored sleeves, complete with bengal stripes. The Bengal-stripping down the leg of the pants has been modernized and a pair of black pants has been added full-time, something they had flirted with last year.
The Bengals also added (unsurprisingly) an alternate orange jersey, to be worn with either the white or (gag) black pants. At this point there's been no mention of orange pants, but, honestly, how far off can that be.
Interestingly enough, no change was made to the helmet, which though unique, has been a target of criticism for Bengal fans and uniform-istas alike for many years.
Now I don't wanna say that these uniforms are ugly, but Eli Manning just announced that he's adding the Bengals to his list of teams he won't sign with.
It's not that these uniforms are just ugly, which they are, it's how ugly and completely unimaginative they are. The new-look Bengals are a mirror of the new-look Broncos, Falcons, Seahawks and Bills.
Except for the days when the Bengals looked like the Browns with the word "Bengals" on their helmets, this team has never had good unfiorms. So if it's always gonna be ugly, why not try for unique. They should take the Bengal stripes all around the jersey, a la the Dallas Knights (who wore a torso-sized red Knight's cross over on a gold jersey) in Any Given Sunday. They'd still be ugly, but at least they'd be original.
Tony
