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Grading the 2023 XFL Uniforms
By Ryver Griffin
Today, the XFL released the teams’ uniforms for the 2023 season. While there are a handful of returning teams from the Covid shortened 2020 season, each team got a fresh-new look. Some good, some alright, but none that were terrible. I’ll break down the uniforms and give each of them a grade, as well as compare them to their 2020 uniforms. Am I qualified to be assessing these uniforms? No. But really, who is? It’s a matter of opinion. So, why am I doing this? Because it’s a Wednesday night, I’ve already done yoga, the Colorado Avalanche are on intermission, so I’m bored. Without further ado, let's get to it
Arlington Renegades - B-
The Renegades uniforms are hard to grade, because there are some elements I love, and some that I despise. My favorite part of these uniforms is the color scheme. I won’t pretend to know the exact names of these colors, because my mom will shame me for getting it wrong. The light blue (this is me cheating with color names) pair beautifully with the red and black. Those colors placed on the white, away jerseys reminds me of Pat Patriot days in New England (a truly great uniform era). Additionally they did a good job with the team name font on the jerseys, unlike some of the other teams.
It’s not all perfect, though. The lines on the shoulders strike me as odd. And, the “sublimated lightweight stretch twill numbers” are meh. The most egregious part of the uniforms, though, is the helmet. The logo is boring and the fading between two shades of blue doesn’t add any value to it. Please just bring back their old helmets.
DC Defenders - B
These uniforms are solid. Nothing over the top special about them, but they’re clean. A lot of startup leagues will get gimmicky with their uniforms, making it hard to watch on TV. The XFL, however, in their 2020 season did not do this. The more flashy uniforms weren’t any flashier than those in the NFL. This, for a simple minded fella, like myself, makes the league feel more legitimate. Of all the uniforms in the 2020 XFL, DC had the most basic. You could almost go so far as to say, boring. This year, however, they decided to spice things up with them. It’s still a simple look, but they’ve added a few touches.
First off, Washington D.C. has one of the best flags in the U.S, so it’s obviously a homerun that they implemented it on the sleeves. That alone makes these jerseys better than their originals. They also decided to add a bit of camo into both the helmets and away jerseys, for obvious reasons. While I’m not usually a fan of camo, the incorporation of it here isn’t overwhelming and I don’t mind it. I wish more teams wore white helmets, so I do approve of it; however, they already had the best helmets in the league. If they would’ve paired their original helmets with the new jerseys and pants, it would be an A+ uniform, but alas, it’s a B.
Houston Roughnecks - A-
Whoa mama, these are bold. I thought the 2020 Roughnecks screamed “Texas”, but I was wrong. Houston took a shot, being courageous with every aspect of the uniform, especially the helmet. Can we talk about the helmet? I wanna talk about the helmet? Let’s talk about the helmet? If you’re trying to get some Houstonians fired up for the XFL, why not turn their beloved state flag into a helmet? My initial reaction to the helmet was closer to ‘dislike’ than ‘like’. Doing two COMPLETELY different designs on each side is not advised, because of the risk of them being atrocious. I still don’t love the helmet, but each side, on its own, is decent, at worst. While watching on TV, only one side will be visible. For that, I give the helmet a pass.
The rest of the uniform is easy to look at with clean lines, subtle fonts, and a color scheme that will look pretty on the field. We have yet to see if they’ll perform as well as they did in 2020, but at minimum, they have uniforms that represent their city nearly perfectly.
Orlando Guardians - D
I am a very positive person. I don’t like to be disrespectful in any way, so I’ll start with the positives. The number font is great. The lines on the jerseys are clean. And the home pants will look nice on TV. That being said, I’m not crazy about these uniforms. I don’t think it’s the designers’ fault either. They were tasked with trying to merge the dark, gothic feel of the Guardians franchise, with the bright, sunny atmosphere of Orlando. To get a truly great uniform, the XFL should have renamed the franchise and started from scratch. The colors on their own, aren’t horrible. Other teams have pulled that color scheme off before. But it’s trying to use that color scheme with that logo that ruins it for me. Maybe my mind will change when I see them in action, but for now, I’m not a fan.
San Antonio Brahmas - C
There are a couple cool elements to the Brahmas uniforms, but outside of that, they’re pretty boring. The neckline on these jerseys is very cool. This design is meant to be a Serape pattern, which is a nice, thoughtful touch. I also enjoy the marbled look on the horns and away jersey numbers. These are the best things the uniforms have going for them, and it still only grabs me a little. There’s not too much bad either, though. The number font is a bit odd and doesn’t look balanced.
San Antonio fans shouldn’t feel too bad. At least their uniforms aren’t awful. Plus, they have the benefit of making fun of every other team, because each team will also wear the Dwayne Johnson Brahmas logo, almost supporting San Antonio in a way.
Seattle Sea Dragons - B-
Whoa! That’s a lot of orange, and I’m a Denver Broncos fan. Orange is never a bad jersey color, especially because it stands out in a crowd. Use the blue in the uniform on the helmet in place of the orange and you’ve got a good looking uni. But the bigger complaint I have is that the away jersey and home jersey look like they belong to different teams; it’s really confusing.
The best thing going for these uniforms are the logos. Wow, does it look good on the helmet! It truly rivals the Kraken for best Seattle sports logo. They know they got it right too, because it’s not just on the helmet. It’s on the shoulders and pants too. The use of this magnificent logo makes up for the lack of direction with the rest of the uniform.
St. Louis Battlehawks - A
This might be the opinion that others will disagree with the most. I love these uniforms, while others may find them boring. Clean lines, good color scheme, and appropriate fonts (both for the numbers and team name). These uniforms are beautiful, plain and simple.
If I have to nitpick, it would be with the helmet. These aren’t bad helmets by any means; I just prefer their 2020 helmets over these. I’m hoping that someday, the XFL will do a new/throwback merger uniform for the 2020 teams. Allowing St. Louis, DC, and Dallas to all improve their uniforms, with a simple helmet swap.
Vegas Vipers - B
Vegas was right with the most important detail (i.e. the helmet and the color scheme). Good for them for getting those things right, because either will make or break a uniform. The helmet will be the focal point and most will judge based on that, so most will grade these as ‘A’ or ‘A+’ uniforms. It’s in the details where they lose me a bit. What is going on with that font on the front of the jersey. It is way too big and looks like a little kid scribbled “Vipers” out. Also the numbers just look random. Are they block style or more free flowing? I can’t tell. Hopefully these details will get fixed, because these unis have good bones.