Welcome to this website’s off-season sports sartorial content. We are counting down the world’s top 50 most iconic sports uniforms. Only current uniforms apply, we are not including one-off or alternate uniforms. Let’s stick to the basics.
#20
Las Vegas Raiders
“Thhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeee RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRaaaaaiiiddderrssssssssssssss.”
Our 5th NFL team in our countdown now hails from the tourist oasis of Las Vegas. The Raiders opened life with a very New Orleans Saints-like basic uniform of black with dark gold stripes and a plain black helmet. After wearing these same uniforms during the pre-season in their 4th season in existence, the team switched to a black and silver color scheme with the now famous pirate and swords crest on a silver helmet.
In 1964, one season later, the team tweaked the logo go make the background behind the pirate and below the script black instead of silver.
It’s been 60 years and the Raiders have not changed their home uniform one bit. To this day, they have one single black helmet stripe matched on the silver pants. The jerseys remain basic with silver numbers, including TV numbers and nothing else.
In a league where classic has remained king the Raiders are way up there with the most iconic uniforms in the NFL and all of sports.
These are great, no need to mess with them. “Most iconic uniforms in the NFL” — so does that mean no more NFL teams in the rest of the countdown?
My #1 uniform. So badass, definitely the Wario to the old school buccaneers glamorous mario mascot
Seriously, this buccaneer has a VERY morally casual/fluid attitude
I guess I just don’t understand this logo. Is it a pirate wearing a facemask-less football helmet or a football player with an eye-patch? Is it all on a shield? Did pirates use shields, and if so, is that at all the correct shield a pirate would use?
In my headcanon, it falls under the guise of a pirate using whatever they’ve plundered, and this raider comes from a mad max post apocalypse where leather helmets exists. Also, since it’s the post apocalypse, knowledge of aesthics is limited and/or wildly different, so the use of a random medieval shield totally makes sense, since *it’s old and cool*
I’m thinking this guy fought against lord humongous King of the Wasteland, and Al Davis, being a future person sent back in time, wanted to immortalize his legacy