The best example, really, is the Giants. Yes, those 1980s uniforms are great, but here's two things I know to be true, that do a good job undermining this entire throwback exercise. First, no one was all that annoyed when they changed away from these uniforms in 2000. Second, the current Giants uniforms are throwbacks - namely to the uniforms that preceded the 1980s set. This same current Giants uniform, that some call boring, that people complain has too little blue on the road set, is all a further throwback.
And that about sets it, every old uniform, when it reaches its 20-25 year death anniversary, suddenly becomes retro, chic, nostalgic and beloved. This happens without fail, to be honest, including in cases I truly think are nonsense. The Seahawks one is a great example. Yes, it is a pretty sharp set, but again I don't think anyone considered it a classic back in 2001 when they switched it. Like no one. Maybe the foggy, dingy Kingdome haze hurt it, but outside of maybe people in Seattle, this was not a beloved uniform. The idea of anyone clamoring for its return (again, outside Seattle) is nonsense. Yes, the 2001-2011 set was pretty bad, but all things considered, the 2012 onwards set is just fine.
I will say, a lot of the modern takes have been terrible from the start, but teams cycle away from them quick enough (a good thing) that I can't think of anyone clamoring for say the Bucs digital clock font, or the awful Browns and Jags sets from the early-00's, or the Jets disaster taht they undid a couple years back. But the Bucs pewter one is a great example of this too - that was never a beloved uniform, but it is perfectly fine to where people were pretty damn happy when they returned to it.
More to a point, where I think the hypocrisy shows up is when people seem to have no ability to state that any modern uniform is good. Yes, many suck, but there are a lot of generally good ones as well. There are a handful of teams that I think have their best uniform ever today. I'm excluding the Steelers, Cowboys, Packers, Raiders, Chiefs, Colts, Bears (teams that have basically not changed them in decades), but I truly think the following have their best ever set:
= Chargers - and yes I realize this is largely because they brought back the powder blue, but the current font styling I find better than the old Chargers. Too many combinations, but when they go with something normal, it is great.
= Broncos - yes, I think the current set is a true modern classic, a great blend of modernity and orange crush orange. I think over time people will be able to see these as excellent.
= Rams - maybe my most controversial one, but I do find the current version an improvement over the old school blue and yellow, and way better than the metallic nonsense from 2000-2015. This is assuming they never wear dishwasher grey again.
= Texans - granted, they've only worn one other set, but this is where I think people don't give proper credit for teams having good new designs - this is such an improvement over the old one (i'm excluding their weird alternate).
= Bills - yes this is also a semi-throwback but this current Bills set is a true modern classic, and is way, way better than their Kelly-era uniforms. I'll die on that hill (though I think secretly I won't get too much pushback - it's meaningful their 'throwback' is the OJ era, not the Kelly era).
= Bengals - yes, this is better than both the Palmer era uniforms (no real shock there) and the Esiason/Anderson ones, which to be fair the current ones are modeled heavily after
= Lions - granted, their history is pretty spotty uniform wise, but these current ones are quite excellent.
There's also a couple that have been around now for a while that I truly believe are better than their more infamous throwbacks - this would be the Giants (as covered above) and the Eagles - and yes, I mean I prefer their current darker shade of green to Kelly green. Screw Kelly green. The current Eagles set is way better.
In the end, I think we give too little credit to modern designs when they work. Now that the NFL seems to be past their Nike-inspired nuttiness of the early-10s, most of the recent redesigns have worked really well in my mind (Atlanta excepted, but even with the Falcons, their best uniform to me is the Matt Ryan era ones, not the dirty-bird era).
Even more than giving too little credit to the current, we give way too much credit to the old, and more pointedly these things from 30-40 years ago, that were never all that popular in their time, not really mourned when they were taken away, but have somehow gotten this new life as the fans that grew up with them start running sports media. Just remember this when we're clamoring for the 2000s-2010s Jets uniforms, or the weird groundswell of people wanting a Flying Elvis throwback. The test should always be "did people get upset when these were changed?". More often than not, the answer is "no", especially if we remove the "did people like the new ones?" question. Uniforms today are just better than people think.
