Falcons apparently dumping their unconventional gradient jersey for 2023, just three years after unveiling it

When the Atlanta Falcons released their new uniforms back in 2020, the new look included a gradient jersey that instantly became a lightning rod among fans. Some of them hated it, but other fans thought it looked great. 

After wearing the gradient jersey as their alternate uniform over the past three years, it appears that Atlanta might be ready to move on from it. 

During a recent interview on “The Green Light” podcast with Chris Long, Falcons coach Arthur Smith revealed that his team won’t be wearing the gradient jersey this year. That’s right, the Falcons are dumping the jersey just three years after unveiling it. The gradient uniform might make a return down the road, but for the 2023 season, they’ll be staying in the closet. 

Smith said the team will be turning in its uniform schedule soon and instead of the gradient jersey, the Falcons will be wearing their black throwback with a red helmet as their alternate uniform combination this year. 

“We got to turn those in about this time of the year, about what jersey to wear,” Smith said. “Now, they’ll let you wear the throwbacks three times with the red helmets, so we’ll do that. Obviously, you can control the home jersey, but you can’t control the away one. I know this will be unfortunate, and people will be upset about this, but we won’t wear those red gradient jerseys this year.”

Although some people will likely be upset, there’s a good chance that most fans won’t mind. When it comes to the uniforms, the fan base has been split down the middle about the gradient jerseys. 

If you need a quick refresher on what the gradient uniforms look like, you can see them below. The Falcons only wore them for one game last season, a 27-24 win over the Bears in Week 11. 

Although fans seem split on the gradient, Smith doesn’t seem to like them. During the interview, Smith was actually asked if he liked Atlanta’s uniforms and his face said it all.

“Which one, are you talking about the gradient red,” Smith asked, before trailing off and going silent. 

The good news for the Falcons is that no one seems to be split on their throwback uniforms. The Falcons’ throwback look is one of the best in the NFL with the red helmet and black jersey. The Falcons wore their red helmet for one game last season — a 28-14 win over the 49ers — and as Smith said, they’ll be wearing it three times in 2023. 

Last season marked the first time since 2012 that the Falcons were able to wear their red helmets. The team used to wear them annually, but that stopped in 2013 due to the NFL’s one-helmet rule. However, that rule was recently rescinded in 2021, which opened the door for the Falcons to bring their red helmets back.