The Cardinals last had a uniform overhaul in 2005. At that unveiling, among the models were a just-signed free agent quarterback named Kurt Warner, and Larry Fitzgerald, Darnell Dockett and Karlos Dansby, all of whom had just finished their rookie season.
After current quarterback Kyler Murray had finished his rookie season, he mentioned over his Twitch feed in March of 2020 he too wouldn’t mind a new uniform.
Eighteen years to the day the Cardinals unveiled their last new look, they did it again Thursday night.
The process, Bidwill said, started a few years ago.
“We had been looking at this, our fans had been talking about it, our players had talked about it, and it was something I had wanted to do,” he said. “It was important to me that we honor the history of the team and some of the tradition, but also evolve this uniform into something that will be embraced by our fans, by our players, by everyone.”
On the home red jersey, “ARIZONA” is emblazoned across the front for the first time, above the number. Perforated twill numbers are outlined in silver. “Protect The Nest” is embroidered inside the collar. On the away white uniform, silver and red stripes appear on the shoulder of the jersey and the pants, with the numbers outlined in black and “Bird Gang” stitched inside the collar. The white helmet for both outfits features a silver facemask, a larger birdhead logo enhanced in 3D, and silver flakes to give it a sparkle, much like the black alternate helmet previously received with red flakes.
On the black alternate uniform, there is silver and red striping on the shoulder and pants, with silver outlining the twill numbers and “Bird Gang” inside the collar. The black alternate helmet, introduced last season, also gets the larger logo.
Nike had representatives go to State Farm Stadium and the Dignity Health Training Center, walk around and take photos and use that information as an anchor for the idea process. The details go all as deep as the perforated numbers representing the corrugated metal seen around the stadium, or the one-color logo echoing the palate of the brand, or the silver much like the exterior of the stadium.
In the quest to modernize the uniform yet speak to tradition, the Cardinals used multiple voices internally, including members of the Bidwill family and senior leadership. Murray was asked to give some input. But Bidwill specifically noted the work of senior vice president of marketing Lisa Manning – “The person I have really looked to for a long time to help us stay consistent to our brand” – as well as equipment manager Jeff Schwimmer.
Schwimmer helped evaluate the jerseys from a tangible football perspective. He was the one who noticed, on an earlier version, that the fabric being used for the silver portions had a tackiness that could allow defenders to have an easier time holding on for a tackle. That was fixed for the end product. Those are the small details that matter.
Now the Cardinals have a new jersey for the players – and the fans who asked for it for so long – as their symbol.
