Beginning in 2015, the NFL and Nike collaborated on a new uniform concept known as “Color Rush.” The concept was to have teams play each other wearing largely monochrome jerseys. Although the promotion was discontinued in 2018, most teams have continued wearing their color rush jerseys a few times per year. Notably, the New England Patriots adopted their color rush jerseys as their primary uniforms.  

The color rush jerseys are certainly eye-popping. However, they’re not all attractive. While some of the jerseys are among the greatest uniform designs in NFL history, others were so bad that people literally could not bear to look at the uniforms. No, seriously:

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/look-bills-jets-game-is-complete-torture-for-color-blind-people/

For the purpose of this article, I’ll be reviewing and ranking all Nike Color Rush uniforms from #32 down to #1. (Side note: some teams haven’t worn their jerseys since 2018, so players in several photos may be outdated)

32. Jacksonville Jaguars

Across the NFL community, these were widely regarded as the worst uniforms to come out of color rush. In society, they’re widely regarded as the worst uniforms of all time. They look like the color of mustard. Worse, the material of the uniforms makes the line of sweat stain under his armpit strikingly precise. 

31. Miami Dolphins

Creamsicle uniforms never work, and the Dolphins are no exception. Coincidentally, the Dolphins have been trash ever since they unveiled these eye sores.

30. Washington Football Team

To be fair, they were *technically* the Redskins when these jerseys came out. However, the team’s color scheme hasn’t changed, so we’re sticking with it. I can’t tell if the jerseys are orange or yellow, but I don’t even want to look at them anymore so it’s going to remain a mystery. 

29. Detroit Lions

I give the Lions props for trying to be unique by using gray…but boy are these atrocious. These jerseys reflect the vibe I imagine from Detroit—depressing and a gray sky. 

28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers had the worst regular jerseys in the league at the time, so Nike creators had little to work with. Safe to say the color rush jerseys followed suit. 

27. Denver Broncos

The jerseys aren’t great. The helmets are a disaster. But the saddest part about this photo is the fact that Philip Lindsay and Case Keenum were the starting running back and quarterback for the Broncos.

26. Green Bay Packers

The Packers are notorious for terrible alternate uniforms. In all honesty, these look nicer than some of the teams ranked ahead of them. However, they’re simply so boring and show a total lack of creativity by Nike. 

25. Dallas Cowboys

The star logo on the shoulder looks awkward because it’s split between two colors. Also, the gray helmet doesn’t match the white or the blue on the jerseys. This is less of a color rush and more of a color mash. 

24. Tennessee Titans

The baby blue color isn’t a bad shade. However, it doesn’t work with the navy blue secondary color. Tennessee needs to take some notes from Ole Miss.

23. Carolina Panthers

The uniform isn’t awful, but it is boring. The blue color is generally not attractive so an entire uniform of it just isn’t exciting.

22. Kansas City Chiefs

Another uniform that is basically just boring. In fact, I’m not even sure what was changed about these uniforms in the color rush; they’re basically the same as the Chiefs home alternates.

21. New York Jets

The Jets color rush was just a green overload. It’s not awful, but it is one of two culprits behind the color-blindness fiasco mentioned in the introduction of this article. 

20. New York Giants

Following the Jets is their Metlife Stadium brothers, the Giants. The biggest knock against the uniforms is simple; the helmets are trash. While they bring out nostalgia in the old Manhattan fans, they look mid. 

19. San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers color rush uniforms are oh-so-close to being a top-tier fit. However, it falls short in one area. Like the Giants, the helmets are trash. It’s a bit unfair to knock teams for the helmets considering the NFL only allows teams 1 helmet style and thus they can’t wear a different helmet alongside the color rush jerseys. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that the gold helmets look out of place in the uniform. 

18. Chicago Bears

A bit boring, but not terrible. The navy blue from head to toe is nice.

17. Houston Texans

Same analysis as the Bears before them; not all that exciting but a visually pleasing jersey with the full navy blue fit. 

16. Atlanta Falcons

The bright red-out is a nice change of pace for the Falcons. Also, I love that they matched the jersey number color to the helmet color. Way to problem-solve Atlanta!

15. Buffalo Bills

The second color-blindness culprit, the Bills’ color rush is far superior to the Jets. The red is quite bright and takes some getting used to, but once your eyes adjust you see a solid uniform combo. 

14. Indianapolis Colts

Like the Chiefs, these Colts uniforms weren’t really anything new. However, they just look so crisp. The white stripes on the jersey contrast perfectly with the blue stripe on the helmet, and the shade of blue is excellent.

The top 13 is the point where the beauty of NFL color rush is on full display. These uniforms are both unique and attractive. 

13. Cleveland Browns

The Browns lead off the top 13 with these color rush uniforms. WHile the actual color scheme isn’t great, the Browns couldn’t have pulled it off any better. The helmets compliment the jerseys perfectly and there is an ideal amount of orange as a secondary color.

12. Minnesota Vikings

The purple-out jerseys were a great design. This is evidenced by the fact that the Vikings original color rush uniforms are still one of the most-worn in the league today. Minnesota still whips these bad boys out multiple times per season.

11. New England Patriots

Speaking of teams who have gotten great use out of their color rush jerseys is the Patriots. In fact, the color rush design was so strong that New England actually adopted them as their official uniforms—the only team to do so. They did an excellent job incorporating the gray helmet into the rest of the uniform, a task that many other gray-helmet-teams failed miserably.

10. Las Vegas Raiders

Simple, but sleek. The Raiders just barely edged the Patriots as the highest ranked gray helmet team on the list. But that wasn’t the reason. Rather, the white-out fit just looks crisp and fast. It would be nearly impossible to keep up with NFL legend Hunter Renfrow in these.

9. Los Angeles Rams

Almost everything about this photo is outdated: Todd Gurley isn’t on the team and the Rams completely redesigned their color scheme. Unfortunately, they probably want to return to the days of this photo because it was the golden age of the Rams. I still remember them wearing these jerseys in their famous Monday Night Football win over the Chiefs 54-51. The uniforms were great and so was the team.

8. New Orleans Saints

The Saints’ color rush uniforms were highly anticipated because of their unique color scheme. It’s safe to say they executed the gold beautifully. Michael Thomas’s helmet choice in this photo has zero drip, but the jerseys are super clean.

7. Cardinals

I’m a sucker for the blackout uniforms, so it’s no surprise that the Cardinals are in my top 10. In fact, they might even be top 3 if it weren’t for the helmets. Don’t get me wrong, the white helmets don’t look bad necessarily, but if the Cards had a black helmet to match their uniform they would be at or near the very top. 

6. Philadelphia Eagles

Just like the Cardinals before them, the Eagles are a black helmet away from the top (hard to tell but it’s dark green, for the record). These uniforms aren’t entirely new either, taking notes from the Eagles black jerseys of the early 2000s. However, they added black pants and an updated look to make these crisp jerseys. 

5. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals designers were left with the impossible task of making a color rush uniform that blends well with their atrocious helmets. Nevertheless, the jerseys they created were incredible. The stripes on the pants are super sleek, matching the helmet nicely. Moreover, the small hints of orange throughout the rest of the uniform is just right. Amazing job.

4. Baltimore Ravens

Similar to the Saints, the Ravens’ unique color scheme left them with great options for color rush uniforms. However, the designers still had the job of executing said uniforms successfully (see #32). The Ravens, however, have a flawless jersey. The purple looks awesome and the pronounced touches of gold are a great shade not represented in other Ravens uniforms. 

3. Seattle Seahawks

These jerseys are eye-popping in all the right ways. The Seahawks are another team with mismatched helmets who were able to incorporate them nicely by having the helmet color spread throughout the rest of the jerseys. And by the way, the green looks even better on television

2. Los Angeles Chargers

Given that they completely rebranded when they relocated to LA, I’m not sure that these are technically even the Chargers’ color rush uniforms. However, they are the alternate uniforms for the Chargers, they are monochrome, and they are gorgeous. It doesn’t even matter that the helmet is a different color since the navy blue logo on the helmet matches the blue on the jerseys. These look new, fast, and fye. Their new regular jerseys are among the best in the league as well. Respect to the franchise for rebranding nicely. 

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

No surprise here, a blackout uniform takes the top slot. The Steelers clearly agree that these uniforms were a masterpiece considering they still wear them several times per season. What makes this uniform so unique is that it’s a color rush of two colors, yet neither one dominates the outfit. They look super intimidating and the designers deserve a statue for these. They’re easily among the best uniforms in NFL history.