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Brady Henderson, ESPN
SEATTLE — After a long wait, the Seattle Seahawks‘ throwback uniforms have finally returned.
On Wednesday, the team released photos of the Kingdome-era threads that will make their return this season. It wasn’t an unveiling as much as it was a reintroduction. The old look featuring royal blue tops, apple green accents, silver pants, silver helmets and the original Seahawks logo was once worn by Hall of Famers like Steve Largent and Cortez Kennedy.
More pictures of the Seahawks’ throwbacks, via the team’s website. pic.twitter.com/Ge73cG633E
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) July 19, 2023
Other than the new Nike materials and more modern fit, it’s pretty much the same thing the Seahawks wore from 1983 until 2001, when they switched to a darker shade of blue with matching helmets. They then switched to their current uniforms in 2012, when Nike redesigned them.
One new touch in the throwbacks is a Kingdome patch inside the neckline, an homage to the Seahawks’ original stadium. They played there from their inaugural season in 1976 until 1999. The photo release was at 8:32 a.m., the same time of day the Kingdome was demolished in 2000.
“I’ve always been a big fan of these jerseys just seeing pictures around the building, so to put this on is pretty cool,” quarterback Geno Smith said, via the team’s website. “I think fans are going to love it, they really will. It’s cool that they’re bringing it back, and it’s cool that we get to be the team that brings them back. Hopefully the fans will love it, and we’re going to go out there and kick a lot of butt in these things.”
Fans had been clamoring for years for the Seahawks to bring back their classic look. The holdup was the NFL’s rule that prohibited the use of multiple helmet shells. That wasn’t an issue for teams whose current helmets have the same base color as their throwbacks, as they could simply swap out the decals and/or facemasks. The Seahawks’ current helmets are navy blue, which essentially precluded their throwbacks until the NFL did away with the one-helmet rule in 2021 (it didn’t go into effect until 2022).
Teams are still only allowed to wear four jerseys per season. That meant the Seahawks had to nix one of their alternates. They decided to keep the action green jerseys over their wolf grays, which they’d worn on occasion as an alternate since 2012. According to the Seahawks’ website, coach Pete Carroll helped break the tie in favor of keeping action green, which the team called the NFL’s best-selling color-rush jersey.
For now, at least, the throwbacks only include the home blue jerseys and not the road whites. The Seahawks previously announced they’ll wear them in Week 8, when they host the Cleveland Browns at Lumen Field.