Why the REDBLACKS resident jersey expert approves of the new look

A.J. Allen likes to consider himself a connoisseur of sports jerseys; his closet provides any evidence you might need.

The Ottawa REDBLACKS linebacker has collected more than 25 jerseys. Not just any jerseys, they need to have a special look or relevance, something that speaks to him.

So, he talks with a level of authority on the subject when asked about the brand-spanking-new white jersey the REDBLACKS will be introducing this week, then wearing for their Whiteout game June 20 against Toronto at TD Place. Yes, it will become the team’s away jersey, but the REDBLACKS are bumping up the timeline and unveiling it in front of their home-field audience.

“I like the jersey, it looks great,” said Allen. “I really like the way the red pops, I love the shoulders, the stripes. It matches the pants really well. I love the red accent, instead of the black accent. You know what they say, ‘Look good, play good.’ ”

A picture is, as they say, worth a thousand words. But, in a nutshell, here is what the white uniforms look like: On the shoulder, there is an R that pays tribute to the roots of football in the nation’s capital, plus red and black striping. The numbers and the word “Ottawa” are in red with a black outline. The pants have the signature red and black striping.

The new “away” uniform has been a work in progress for nearly two years. The black look remains the “home” go-to, while the red is the third jersey. Depending on what the home team has planned, the REDBLACKS will occasionally wear black on the road as well.

“I love (the white look), it feeds off the success of the black jersey,” said REDBLACKS president Adrian Sciarra. “That was always our plan. We haven’t done a true reverse home and away in a number of years. This is going back to that tradition. When we launched the black two seasons ago and saw the success of that, it reinforced our confidence around the strategy with the white.”

Sciarra explained how it came together.

“Like the black uniform, we were really trying to strike a balance, reinforcing the history of Ottawa football and some of the looks of the past, but still being contemporary and progressive and a fit for current times,” he said. “We struck a really good balance with the R and the striping, which links the different generations of Ottawa football. It’s certainly a look that is contemporary and new – the positioning of the stripes over the shoulder, the R on the arms – and it blends well with the historical relevance.”

The process to come up with a finished product goes through design reviews, changes, approvals, into production samples and seeing how they look when it’s transformed from a picture into a real jersey design – on the field and a retail version.

Allen, a very good free-agent signing by the REDBLACKS in February, tends to favour colour splashes. When buying a jersey, he takes into consideration both the player whose name is on the back, plus the way it looks.

“Red, black and white, it’s a great colour combination (for the REDBLACKS),” he said. “They’ve got a lot to work with; you can be really creative with that. The (colour) palette is pretty wide. If you make a cool jersey, people are going to wear it.

“It can be simple. I like uniqueness; that’s something I always look for. But traditional is always really good and nice to have.”

Allen’s collection includes jerseys of friends and former teammates, but also goes heavily into his favourites in both the NFL and NBA.
During training camp, he wore a different jersey from his collection each day.

Among his favourites, the Victor Wembanyama city edition, a Cam Ward throwback Houston Oilers, the Kobe Bryant Mamba, Damian Lillard Portland city edition, the LeMelo Ball city edition (No. 2), Charles Woodson (college), Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs), traditional Steph Curry and LeBron James.

“I’m a huge jersey guy; it’s a big part of my journey,” said Allen.

What’s next on his wish list?

“I have a long jersey list; it’ll take me years to finish it,” he said. “I’ve been looking for a Khalil Mack Chicago Bears orange alternate jersey; it’s tough to find. I want a Michael Jordan pinstriped black and red, a Derrick Rose Chicago Bulls black jersey, a John Wall Washington jersey – I don’t know which one yet. I want a Chris Paul yellow NOLA jersey, a Luke Kuechly blue jersey, an Aaron Donald colour rush, Ed Reed Miami, Kam Chancellor, Myles Garrett Browns, Chris Johnson baby blue, and I need Lawrence Taylor in my collection.”

How important is it that a jersey clicks with the players and with their team’s fanbase?

“First and foremost, we’re a football team, and the focus is on winning football games,” said Sciarra. “ But these things matter. They matter to our brand. It matters to our perception in the market. The uniform needs to be visually appealing. You want your fans to look at it and go, ‘Hey, that’s pretty cool. I like that.’

“The thing that you’ll see more of is our ability with our three uniforms to start switching it up – pants, socks, jerseys in different colour combinations.”

“Our marketing team works really hard on developing promotions, developing uniforms, and developing campaigns that our fan base can get behind.”

And, how about the simplicity of the look?

“Football uniforms, for the most part, are simpler than those of some other sports,” said Sciarra. “These aren’t sublimated like a soccer uniform, where you can kind of do anything on a jersey. These are stitched and built in a certain way to withstand the physical part of the game. You’re dealing with different parameters, seams and cuts that you need to take into consideration.

“I’m excited about this, I’m excited to see the team wear it. I’m excited to see the team on the field on Saturday, playing the Argos in a big game. We didn’t get off to the start we wanted last week, but there’s lots of excitement going forward.”