New England Patriots Reintroduce “Pat Patriot” Throwback Uniforms

Although their Hall of Fame leaked the news late last year, the New England Patriots officially announced on Wednesday afternoon they’ll wear their red throwback uniforms for at least one game this season.

Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me the red uniforms are back? pic.twitter.com/X1pd6kpdpG
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) June 22, 2022

The Patriots haven’t been able to wear their throwback uniforms – which feature a white helmet with their “Pat Patriot” logo on the sides – since 2012, the last year before the NFL implemented its one-helmet rule.

New England wore red jerseys with white helmets and pants at home from its inaugural season in 1960, when the franchise was known as the Boston Patriots, until a redesign ahead of the 1993 season.

SHOP: New England Patriots new red throwback jerseys available now!

The Patriots switched to royal blue jerseys with silver helmets and pants that fall and scrapped “Pat Patriot” for their current logo, “Flying Elvis.” They then moved to navy blue in 2000, a look that has become synonymous with New England’s six Super Bowl titles.

This won’t be the first time the Patriots wear their “Pat Patriot” throwback uniforms, which include white and blue UCLA stripes on the shoulders, as they donned the road version three times in 1994 and the home version on Thanksgiving Day 2002.

The uniforms were revived again for four games in 2009 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the American Football League and made four additional appearances from 2010-12. New England went a combined 9-3 in the throwback threads before the one-helmet rule took effect.

Renewed, restyled & classically New England.

More on the revival of our red throwback uniforms: https://t.co/1ouvi3yLPq
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) June 22, 2022

In their announcement, the Patriots claim to have played a significant role in the NFL doing away with the rule, as they worked with senior director of uniforms and on-field products Jonathan Wright to reintroduce the throwback uniforms.

“I started to kind of ask the questions around, how can we make this work?” Wright said. “Once we formulated the plan, putting it into action certainly it took a while, you know, making sure that at the end of the day (that) player health and safety still led the charge. But knowing that the teams really wanted this back, the fans certainly want it, the players certainly want it, I think it’s going to be a pretty cool readdition to the field.

New England is now the fifth team to officially announce plans to wear a second helmet in 2022, joining the Atlanta Falcons (red), New Orleans Saints (black), Philadelphia Eagles (black) and Washington Commanders (black).

“There are teams and fans that are clamouring to have something come back, and there are also markets that really try to push the boundaries,” Wright said. “For years, the Patriots fans and club have really wanted Pat to come back for a long time. I’m personally proud of being a part of making that happen.”

Meanwhile, the Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have to wait to wear their throwback uniforms until the 2023 season, as supply chain issues have slowed the production of all associated merchandise.