Sometimes when something is classic, genuine, and just plain good, it can still get overlooked. That's definitely the case for the Cleveland Browns when one considers their uniforms and look on the football field.
Despite having one of the classiest looks in the game according to many fans of the team, there are others on the outside who don't see the jersey that way and instead chastise it just for the color scheme.
Such is the case for writer Mike Kadlick of Sports Illustrated, who recently ranked all 32 NFL teams' uniforms. He gave the Browns the No. 27 ranking, saying that one can't do much with the colors of orange and brown.
In this same ranking, he put the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens in the top five. He gave the Los Angeles Chargers the No. 1 distinction. The classic powder blue uniforms of the Chargers are sweet, but ranking them first and placing the Browns uniforms near the bottom of the pile doesn't add up.
We could all make a ranking of our favorite uniforms, and I'm sure we'd all have different lists. Kadlick is welcome to his opinion, but his takes on the list are just all over the place.
Here's what Kadlick said about the Browns uniforms:
"If the Browns hadn’t ditched the so-called “cutting-edge” uniforms they wore from 2015 to ’20, they’d likely be sitting dead last on this list. Cleveland’s return to its classic roots has certainly helped its case in the NFL’s style hierarchy, but you can only shoot so high up the list while having brown and orange as your primary colors."
Cleveland's classic uniforms are being punished for the wrong reasons
Kadlick's take that the Browns' uniform ranking would be dead last if it weren't for the uniforms they wore between 2015 and 2020 shows just how out of step he is. I'm not sure of his reasoning for ranking Cleveland so poorly. Maybe the writer's ideas are tied to the NFL teams' successes as a whole.
The classic colors of the Browns come from legendary coach Paul Brown, who founded the franchise in 1946. Brown was already a legend in Ohio by then, having won several high school titles with the Massillon Tigers. He also led the Ohio State Buckeyes to the first national championship in school history in 1942 before taking over the Browns.
Brown's Massillon teams wore orange uniforms. When he was considering colors for his new NFL franchise, he reportedly fell for Bowling Green's seal brown and bright orange color combination and adopted it for the Cleveland Browns.
Sports Illustrated laughably ranked the Browns' uniforms last among AFC North teams
It's too bad Kadlick didn't check the history books before dismissing the Browns' classic look. In the same list, the Dallas Cowboys were ranked No. 3, and Kadlick describes the iconic look of the uniform as being the reason for the high ranking. But he rips the Browns' classic look because of their colors? Make it make sense!
To add insult to injury, he ranked the Bengals and Ravens at No. 4 and No. 5. Just to be clear, Paul Brown also founded the Bengals after leaving Cleveland years later. Cincinnati has a lot of orange in its uniforms, too. So maybe Kadlick just doesn't like the color brown.
Maybe because of the age we live in, fans, especially young ones, prefer the new and "cutting-edge" look, as referred to earlier about the 2015-2020 Cleveland uniforms. The classic Browns uniform is just too boring.
I mean, Cleveland is the only team in the NFL without a team logo on its helmets. Just plain old orange-colored helmets. So I get the stubbornness of these NFL enthusiasts to overlook Cleveland once again.
Browns fans are used to the critiques. But it won't stop them from bleeding orange and brown on Sundays. Hopefully the team continues with its nostalgic look for many years to come.
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