The United States Football League is set to begin its inaugural season in April, using the same names as the original version in the 1980s. The league chose eight franchises that were also in the original USFL, which ran from 1983 to 1986, and retained rights to key original team names.
These are the eight teams that will play in 2022. Four will be in the North Division and four will be in the South Division:
NORTH DIVISION
Michigan Panthers
New Jersey Generals
Philadelphia Stars
Pittsburgh Maulers
SOUTH DIVISION
Birmingham Stallions
Houston Gamblers
New Orleans Breakers
Tampa Bay Bandits
The league updated the logos for the original teams, which included new uniforms that will make their debut come April. The USFL revealed all eight home and road uniforms for the eight franchises last week, so which one was the best?
Let’s rank the uniforms for all eight USFL franchises from worst to first:
8. Pittsburgh Maulers
The Maulers had a clean purple jersey and grey pants look in the 1980s, one they should have kept for 2022. Instead, they decided to have a look similar to the Alliance of American Football — a combination of the Orlando Apollos uniforms with the colors of the Georgia Force.
Pittsburgh could have done much better with its unique color design.
7. Michigan Panthers
The Panthers deserve credit for bringing back the classic look Bobby Hebert donned in the 1980s. Here’s the issue — the original uniforms weren’t that great to begin with.
The road pants are a different shade of yellow than the home pants and the light blue stripe doesn’t work well with the maroon and gold on the road uniforms. Michigan’s home uniforms should be used on a permanent basis, as the look is one of the cleanest in the league.
6. Birmingham Stallions
There wasn’t much the Stallions could do with these, as the 1980s versions were very generic. These look like the San Francisco 49ers throwback uniforms they wore from the 1994 season with the gold helmet, red jersey and white pants with one stripe.
This version is better than the original, but the plain look works for Birmingham.
5. Tampa Bay Bandits
Tampa Bay should have stayed with the plain red jerseys and gray pants template from the 1980s, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going pewter in 1997 may have forced the Bandits to create a fresh look.
The silver helmet goes well with the silver pants, and the red jersey with the black stripes is a good look for the home uniform. Having black numbers instead of red numbers on the road uniforms would put the Bandits much higher on the list.
4. Houston Gamblers
The black and gray on the home uniforms is a nice touch to the 1980s version, even though Houston ditched the red stripe on the home pants. The home uniforms could have done without the gray stripe on the jerseys, which would have been a cleaner look.
Houston’s road uniforms rival among the best in the league, with the red more prevalent on the silver pants. These uniforms will look nice on the field.
3. New Jersey Generals
The Generals have solid threads for the USFL, modernizing the 1980s look with a black outline on the number and outside of the red stripe of the pants. Keeping the same pants for the road uniforms was a nice touch.
Sometimes less is more — and the Generals made it work.
2. Philadelphia Stars
Modernizing a USFL classic uniform always works, and the Stars have done that with the rebrand of these classics. The Stars kept the legendary red jerseys and gold pants, but eliminated the stripe on the sleeves in favor of a unique stripe design on the side and pants.
The ode to the past with the stripe design on the side works well on the road white uniforms, and is a modern twist on the classic red stripe on the gold pants. The Stars had one of the best uniforms in the original USFL — and will continue the tradition in the new one.
1. New Orleans Breakers
The Breakers have the most unique uniforms in the league, and the best looking. How can anyone hate a dark blue uniform with a baby blue outline on the white numbers for the home uniform? The white pants with a dark and baby blue stripe complete the home uniform.
The white road jerseys with the dark blue numbers and baby blue outline is a perfect look with the silver pants and a triple stripe of white, baby blue, and dark blue. The Breakers clearly put a lot of effort into looking fresh.
Let’s not forget the excellent white helmets with the Breakers logo and the logo on the sleeves of the jerseys. The Breakers have the clear No. 1 uniform in the USFL.
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