The NFL is America’s most popular sport – and the Super Bowl is its grandest stage. The two best teams in the league meet and, expectedly, they want to put forth their best effort to win the game.
But putting on a good “show” is also important—as the Super Bowl is a top of the line marketing and branding opportunity. So it’s crucial that the teams rock fire jerseys for the big game.
Some teams, however, miss the mark in a big way.
Let’s take a look back at the five BEST and the five WORST jersey ever worn in the Super Bowl!
Best – Super Bowl XX: Patriots
Super Bowl 20 did not go exactly as the New England Patriots hoped, as they got their teeth kicked in by the infamous ’85 Bears.
But considering they went up against a 15 and 1 Chicago team that many believe to be one of the greatest of all-time – I don’t know how much “hope” the 11 and five Patriots really had going into the game. After all, they were the first road wild card team to advance to a Super Bowl…
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It’s a good thing they didn’t get their hopes up too high—because this one was a blowout through and through—to the tune of 46 to 10.
On the bright side, they did manage to sport some epic jerseys—way better than the ones that they rocked in the 2000s when they were actually winning Super Bowls.
Between that strong red shade on the uni, the Pat the Patriot logo on the helmet—and the three stripes running down the side of the pants—this look was flawless.
If only their play was able to match how good they looked on the field!
Worst – Super Bowl XXXV: Giants
The 2000 Giants were, in my estimation, one of the most boring teams we have ever seen play in a Super Bowl.
Jim Fassel was a good head coach, but didn’t bring much in the way of innovation or excitement to the game.
Kerry Collins had a good season, one that really revived his career—but let’s face it, he was slightly above average at best.
Between Ron Dayne and Tiki Barber, they had a great rushing attack, but it was nothing flashy—which, is exactly the vibe that their Super Bowl jerseys brought.
That blue-on-gray was about as meh as it gets—and it made the Giants look EVEN MORE boring, as they got steamrolled by the Ravens 34 to seven, putting up under 115 yards passing and only 66 yards on the ground.
Rather fitting to wear those stinkers of a jersey in this one, if you ask me!
Best – Super Bowl LIII: Rams
The 2019 LA Rams, led by Sean McVay, Jared Goff, and Aaron Donald—didn’t have the showing they want in Super Bowl 53 against Brady, Belichick and co.
One of the most exciting offenses in the league all year long put up just three points—in a snooze fest of a game that New England took by a final of 13 to three.
To their credit though—the Rams did look extremely fresh under the bright lights of the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium down in Atlanta.
Those bright blue and yellow jersey just popped in a way that is pretty rare for NFL uniforms, which are generally pretty conservative in their design.
Especially contrasted against the Patriots’ white unis.
I’m sure McVay would’ve rather actually won the game, than just the fashion show… But sometimes you’ve got to take your morale victories where you can get ‘em.
Besides, now that he has a Super Bowl win under his belt, that loss probably doesn’t sting as bad… So just take the compliment, Sean.
Worst – Super Bowl LI: Patriots
Speaking of boring Patriots uniforms—I know they had to wear white, which is inherently somewhat bland, but man, does New England ever have some underwhelming white jerseys.
This was the legendary 28 to three Super Bowl, so, credit to the Patriots for that… But think of how much cooler that comeback would’ve been if they were rocking the old “Pat The Patriot” uniforms, instead of this heaping scoop of vanilla?!
It’s hard to poke holes in the Patriots dynasty, no matter how much the media tried to… At least according to Patriots fans! But if you ask me, having a gripe with their uniforms is more than fair. Especially the white on blue ones they wore against Atlanta!
Not to bring up a sore subject—but you’d think with all the influence he had on the franchise—and his then-wife being a fashion icon, that Tom…and Gisele, for that matter…would have been able to get some cooler jerseys for this team!
Best – Super Bowl LVI: Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals have long had one of the best uniform designs around the league!
It’s hard to compete with a team that has legitimate tiger stripes—and that dynamic contrast between black, orange and white.
And the uniforms they rocked in Super Bowl 54 against the Los Angeles Rams were no exception. Cincinnati rolled out a new design that, really, to me, was the complete package.
It featured bright orange socks, which ran into white pants that had, in my opinion, one of the best details I’ve seen on an NFL uniform in some time—with that neat orange pattern that runs down the side of the pants.
Then, to top it off, they had their black jerseys and a modern take on the striped helmets. Simply an epic combination—the Bengals hit the mark across the board.
It helped that they have guys like Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase rocking the jerseys—because… let’s face it—those guys can make damn near anything look cool!
Plus they got to wear their colored jerseys—and the black base with the orange accenting is one of their strongest combinations… But credit to them for having a uni that was ready to make the most of the opportunity.
Unfortunately for Bengals fans, the victories stopped there—because Cinci was ultimately bested by the Rams to the tune of 23 to 20.
But at least they looked good getting their hearts broken by Matt Stafford and Cooper Kupp down the stretch of that game!
Worst – Super Bowl VII: Washington
Super Bowl 7, between the Miami Dolphins and Washington then-Redskins, is one of the most famous games in NFL history. By edging out Washington 14 to 7 – the Dolphins completed the unthinkable—a perfect season.
But 19 and 0 isn’t the only reason that this game was memorable… The Washington jerseys were so bad that—to me—they are pretty much unforgettable.
Even if I’d like to pretend that they didn’t exist!
And before anybody gets all fired up—this isn’t just about the logo that they’ve since parted ways with. The color scheme of those uniforms was horrendous.
It looks like they were designed as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign for Heinz… Mustard yellow is somehow the nicest thing you can say about those pants—which don’t pair with the jersey AT ALL.
The only redeeming quality to this design, which saved it from being an utter abomination, was the striped pattern on the socks, which somehow tie the colors together a little bit… But man—all things considered these are easily one of the worst uniforms ever worn in a Super Bowl!
Best – Super Bowl VI: Dolphins
Super Bowl 6 was the Miami Dolphins’ coming out party—in which the team first inserted itself into the public consciousness of the time. It was their first of three straight Super Bowl appearances—two of which they’d win.
Unfortunately, in this one—which they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24 to 3—just about the only thing they did right was pick out their uniforms.
Miami wore what I’d describe as an aqua-colored jersey with white numbers that had a pencil-thin orange outline around them, and white pants with a two-toned stripe that split down the side of them.
At the time, this was considered to be a very ‘modern’ almost bordering on edgy color scheme—so they really had to nail the design, and they did just that.
And of course—you can’t talk about the Dolphins uniforms without paying homage to their legendary logo: the Dolphin with a football helmet backed up by the orange representing the beautiful climate of Miami.
While it isn’t exactly a menacing logo—it’s hard to get much cooler than that.
Worst – Super Bowl XXXVII: Raiders
While the Raiders have one of the most iconic logos… and really… jerseys in the NFL—they managed to completely miss the mark with their choice in Super Bowl 37 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This is partially a crime by comparison—because their white uniforms are just SO MUCH worse than the legendary silver and black that most people think of when they think Raiders football…
Obviously they had to wear white—that part of it wasn’t a choice, but they needed to do something to add to these uniforms… They are just so… plain.
White on silver with one thin black line running down the side of the pants… Literally the only thing that’s good about the design is that, by default, it has the Raiders logo on it. Which is iconic.
But other than that—these uniforms really do nothing for me.
Worst of all for the Raiders—they weren’t just asleep at the wheel when they were picking out their uniforms for this game… They also basically forgot to even show up—and got their doors blown off by their former head coach Jon Gruden and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers, by a final score of 48 to 21.
All in all a terrible showing, in some terrible jerseys for one of the NFL’s crown jewel franchises.
Best – Super Bowl LIV: Chiefs
Let’s face it… Anything that superstars like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce wear is going to look pretty epic while they dice up opposing defenses and make plays that, frankly, were previously thought to be impossible…
Which is exactly what they—and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs—did when they came from behind to win Super Bowl 54 against Kyle Shanahan, Jimmy Garoppolo, and the rest of that beastly San Francisco 49ers team.
And if the performance on the field wasn’t impressive enough—the icing on the cake was that they did it all in dramatic fashion, wearing one of the boldest uniforms ever worn in the Super Bowl.
These jerseys were somehow redder than red—but not in an obnoxious way, as they were balanced out nicely by the big white numbers and the gold accents.
I’m also always a fan of when a team adds a little pizazz to the socks to tie the whole color scheme together, which Kansas City did nicely with the white, gold, white band that wrapped around at shin height.
All things considered—this has to be one of the best jersey combinations that have ever been donned on Super Bowl Sunday!
Worst – Super Bowl XL: Seahawks
Finally… We journey back to Ford Field—in 2006—the home of Super Bowl 40 and one of the worst jersey displays that these two eyes have ever seen… courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks.
At some point during the early 2000s, Seattle rolled out one of the ugliest unis to ever grace an NFL field—and they decided to rock one of the worst iterations of that uni during this Super Bowl.
These bad boys were a horrendous shade of blue, with some green accents throughout that could barely be seen by the naked eye.
And the crazy part was—they were released as part of what was essentially an early 2000s rebrand from their super retro look of the past. Which, isn’t the worst idea after entering a new millennium, but, honestly, I’m just not sure what they were going for.
It is almost like they were trying to capture the dreariness of the Pacific Northwest and turn it into a color scheme and jersey to put it on display for the rest of the world!
Sorry Seattle, we get that it rains all the time up there and all that, but we are not interested in sharing in your misery. And neither were the Steelers, as they cruised to a 21 to 10 victory in this one!
Which Super Bowl jersey do you think was the all-time best? Which was the worst?