The Washington Valor Uniform Announcement
By Alex Zeese
A cool thing happened to The Hog Sty on December 10th: we were given media credentials to attend the uniform unveiling of DC’s newest AFL team, the Washington Valor.
I will be the first to admit that I am probably the biggest sucker for an announcement like this of anyone. Anyone who has listened to The Hog Sty probably knows three things about me. First, I am a fan of non-NFL football leagues like the AFL. Second, I have what some would call a weird obsession with sports uniforms. Finally I am relentlessly pro all things District of Columbia. I’m a native, and it’s my home so I am fiercely loyal.
So let’s just say that this event is tailor made for yours truly.
I was nervous about how this was going to go. If these uniforms (along with the event as a whole) ended up as a monstrosity, then I’d be stuck trying to lie to people about them. If you haven’t noticed, new football uniforms we see in the NFL and college football these days have been a mess. Between an obsession with neon colors and a tendency to go overboard on designs, you have to prepare for the worst.
As I arrived, I observed a good sign right from the start. The apparel that Valor staff and employees were wearing had an Under Armor logo, which was a relief. Under Armor tends to make some of the better college uniforms out there these days. I took the association with Under Armor to mean that we would likely see a decent, non-monstrous product.
The crowd at the event didn’t seem to be media heavy. The 70 people or so in the room were a mix of employees, season ticket holders and as I later found out, a few free agents who head coach Dean Cokinos was apparently courting to come play in the District. The newly announced play by play man for the Valor, 106.7’s Grant Paulsen, MC’d the event, moving things along quickly knowing that what we really wanted was some sweet uniform action and not a lot of jibber jabber.
Finally the big reveal.
This was a great effort for a new team trying to create an identity in a city with three other major professional sports teams. We already knew the color scheme was going to be red, white and blue, which is shared by the Nationals, Wizards, and Caps. It promotes a great cross-league city identity for the fans. Even the Redskins and United share red as a primary color (okay, fine, the Redskins are actually burgundy, but you get my point).
The helmet is more or less what I was expecting, which is the team’s V logo on a red helmet with a triple stripe down the middle. The AFL has done some wild things in the past when it comes to helmets. Go google the Iowa Barnstormers and LA Kiss to get an idea for two of the most unusual football helmets in the history of the sport. Thankfully, the Valor’s helmet is better than both of those.
I was surprised that they went with a blue jersey as their home jersey over red given that every team in DC tends to go with a red jersey now. Maybe this was an effort to stand apart from our NFL team. The red sleeves are a nice touch and give the uniform some pop. I’m not crazy about the number font but it’s expected given everything else we have seen from the teams branding. I really like the white and blue color scheme of the away jersey.
The thing I dig most about this uniform is the pants. Those are some nice pants. They have 3 stars going down one side of the leg, which is an homage to the city’s flag. I dig it and I hope they go white on white from time to time because that could become a sharp look.
I’ve always thought the key to a good new uniform is to keep things fairly simple but make one or two unique style choices that let your team stand out in the sport, and from this perspective, the Valor have succeeded. If you do too much, people will end up make fun of it, especially if the team is bad. Just look at the NFL’s Buccaneers or Jaguars for a perfect example. I think this first effort by our new team here in D.C. is something fans can be happy with.
Let’s all hope we see a winning Valor team on the field this spring.