The NFL released its “Rivalries” jerseys on Thursday, with the Arizona Cardinals one of eight teams receiving a new look. The uniforms will be used for one home game, against a division rival.
The Cardinals will be the first team to debut their new look across the league. The special occasion is coming in the team’s Week 4 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 5:15 p.m. PST.
NFL x Nike Rivalries | #BirdGang
Teams in the NFC West and AFC East will be participating in the new experience. After this season, they will be in the team’s uniform rotation for three more years alongside existing alternate looks.
Arizona’s jersey has been well-received by the general public, with some even claiming it’s the best of the bunch. The players and coaches are big fans, hoping it leads to a victory.
“I love them,” running back James Conner said. “When I first [saw] them, I didn’t know what to expect… You want to look good in uniform out there, and we’re [going to] have a lot of help with these. That’s definitely a mindset thing.”
Specialty Uniforms Have Burned the Cardinals in the Past
The new, light-colored alternates are very different than the all-black alternates that Arizona has worn in recent memory. During the color rush era, the Cardinals began supplementing the red and whites with a black variant.
Black jerseys have been somewhat “cursed” for Arizona for the last decade. The variations with black tops and bottoms hold a combined record of 2-9 dating back to 2017.
The Rivalries jersey is lightly colored, potentially switching up how lucky the team can be in them. Head coach Jonathan Gannon is hoping that if his team likes the different look, it’ll make them more confident in turn.
“I thought they did a really good job,” Gannon said. “[The game] will be really cool. Our guys will be juiced up… Look good, feel good, play good.”
The Jersey Represents Arizona as a Whole
A haboob (dust storm) hit the Arizona area just a few days before the uniform release, truly highlighting the overall design.
“I wish I would’ve had [the jersey],” linebacker Zaven Collins said. “I would’ve worn it in my backyard.”
The uniform is supposed to “mirror the harshness of the desert heat, the shards of sand in a storm, the tan, red and copper that echo both the Desert Cardinal and the commerce that helped built the state,” according to the team’s press release.
Each jersey designed by the eight teams was built with designs Nike said were “brought to life by pulling inspiration from the history of each market and the aspects of the community that only that team’s city embodies.”
The Cardinals learned about the jerseys in June, doing a promotional photo shoot. The players weren’t allowed to take any of their own pictures, and had to keep all the information to themselves.
Other divisions will have their own “Rivalries” uniforms released in the coming years. Teams from the AFC South and NFC North will debut their uniforms in 2026, the NFC East and AFC West teams in 2027, and teams from the AFC North and NFC South in 2028.
The Cardinals’ New Uniforms Are Getting Rave Reviews