Patriots throwbacks make long-awaited return this week

Oct 5, 2022 - 8:00 PM

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The time has finally come. After a 10-year hiatus, the New England Patriots will bring back their classic red-and-white look this week: the Patriots will wear their “Pat Patriot” throwback uniforms on Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

The organization itself has fully adopted the throwback theme this week, kicking things off with a hype video published on Wednesday:

The Patriots going retro did not stop with the 30-second clip. New England also modified its social media and web presence by bringing back vintage graphics and the old Pat Patriot logo — a process that will continue in-stadium as well: Gillette Stadium will be decked out in red, white and blue for Sunday’s game.

It will be the first time since the 2012 season that the Patriots are going old-school. After all, a rule change in 2013 prevented them from wearing multiple sets of helmets during one single season.

Throwback looks such as the one worn by New England became outlawed: the Pat Patriot uniforms use a white helmet compared to the silver one worn by the team as part of its regular setup. The rule was introduced as a concussion countermeasure, but was modified last year to allow teams to wear two different sets of helmets starting in 2022.

This paved the way for the (re)introduction of alternate looks such as throwbacks, so long as all proper safety protocols are followed and players will have ample opportunity to break in the other helmets during practice. New England did just that on Wednesday, with players donning the throwback helmets during the first practice session of the week:

The Patriots wore the red-and-white look from their inaugural season in 1960 until a design overhaul of 1993: Pat Patriot was replaced by the so-called “Flying Elvis” that has graced the team’s helmets ever since; the color scheme initially changed to blue-and-silver before another modernization ahead of the 2000 season. Between 2000 and 2019, New England used navy and silver as the main colors and basis for its uniform.

The organization made another change in 2020, moving to an all-blue look that was first introduced as a Color Rush design in 2016.

The throwbacks, meanwhile, reappeared only now and then since the original change in the 90s: the Patriots wore them three times during the 1994 season and once in 2002, before returning them as a regular third outfit between 2009 and 2012. They are 9-3 all-time when wearing throwbacks, including wins over the Lions in 2002 and 2010.