Jeffrey Lurie is finally getting his wish to bring back the Eagles’ kelly green uniforms that the team used up until the 1990s.
But Lurie, the Eagles chairman and CEO, will have to wait until 2023 before the Eagles can unveil them as an alternate uniform.
“If you all remember the (19)90s and the ’80s with Randall (Cunningham) and Reggie (White) and Jerome (Brown) and Seth (Joyner) and Clyde (Simmons) and everybody,” Lurie said Tuesday at the NFL owners’ meetings in West Palm Beach, Florida. “It’s going to be that uniform, and it’s going to be identical to what that existed as possible.
“I can’t wait.”
NOT IMRPESSED?:Has Howie Roseman backed Eagles into a corner after missing out on star players?
EAGLES MOCK DRAFT:Could Eagles really take another injured player with a top pick?
Lurie said the last roadblock to allowing teams to use second helmets was cleared in June 2021. The NFL ruled then that teams will be allowed to wear alternate uniforms with second helmets in 2022.
But Lurie said it will end up taking two years to make the kelly green helmets to match the kelly green jerseys. That process began last year.
“We wanted to do it the right way,” Lurie said. “And the right way was to have a matching helmet. And for whatever the different reasons that existed, it wasn’t until June of 2021 that the NFL has allowed us to come up with a second helmet.
“We’re working with Nike to make it happen. We wish we could deliver it right away, but it takes about a two-year process with the material. They don’t have that (right now).”
But Lurie said the Eagles will use a second helmet this season, too.
It will be black to go with the black jersey and pants that the Eagles wore in two games last season.
The first time was against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 14. In that game, the Eagles wore white jerseys, black pants and the midnight green helmet, and beat the Broncos 30-13.
After that game, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said he convinced Lurie to allow the uniform combination.
“I know there’s a big deal about the black pants we wore,” Hurts said after the game. “I take full credit for it. I worked really hard to get Mr. Lurie to try to switch it up a little bit. I appreciate him letting us wear the black pants.
“I hope the fans liked it. I know they liked the win.”
The Eagles wore the all-black uniform, with green helmet, in a Dec. 26 win over the New York Giants.
“Our players love wearing black,” Lurie said. “They love all black. We’re going to match a black jersey with a black helmet.”
In 2023, the kelly green style will be the alternate jersey, meaning the black helmets won’t be used.
But Lurie left open that possibility.
“We’re going to try to convince the league (to allow) a third helmet,” he said. “And a third matching jersey-to-helmet is to the benefit of us, our fans, and everybody else because we love that too.”
But Lurie was most excited about the kelly green uniforms. He had petitioned the NFL for years to allow teams to use a second helmet. The NFL demurred, allowing only one helmet fitted for each player for safety reasons.
In 2018, the NFL expanded the uniform policy to allow for more jersey options per club, but kept the one helmet rule in place.
The new rule, adopted in 2021, loosens those restrictions, but teams still must meet the following parameters. This is from the NFL:
- Clubs must obtain an entire new set of alternate color helmets for all players.
- Alternate color helmets must be the same make, model and size as the applicable player’s primary helmet.
- Alternate color helmets must be made available to all players at the start of training camp and should be fit at the same time as the primary helmet.
- Alternate color helmets must be worn in practice at a minimum during the week leading up to the game in which they will be used.
That’s good enough with Lurie.
“I just wanted our fans to know that we listened to you and we wanted this from the beginning,” he said.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
