The Alliance Of American Football officially starts their inaugural season on February 9th. The league is looking to fill the offseason void that is left after the NFL season ends with the semi-annual Patriots championship. For football addicts like myself, this league has the potential to fill in the five months or so between the NFL and the start of the CFL. For normal humans this will fill the empty winter months before baseball and NBA and NHL playoffs start. Either way, it remains to be seen if the latest in start-up football league will be around long-term or even be watchable. It is said that the quality of games will be about the same as back-up level NFL football. So, think 4th preseason game. Not necessarily the most exciting football, but with the league rules, it could be an exciting league with the potential for success.

With all that said, let’s take a look at what is really important. The uniforms and logos. One of the issues some of the recent start-up leagues had was incredibly generic and boring uniforms. Most of the uniforms in the UFL and the other short lived leagues were based on the same templates and really had nothing aesthetically interesting to speak of. Looking back, the wFL of the 70s, the USFL and in some ways the original XFL all had memorable to great uniforms and logos. The Houston Gamblers of the USFL is still one of my favorite football logos, ever. So, the AAF has a lot to live up to with their uniforms. let’s see how they rank.

How I ranked Them:

Looking at the league as a whole, the first thing you will notice is a very “modern” set of uniforms. Some have compared them to Arena Football. It is true, that they utilize modern cuts, striping and helmet logo placement. as many who follow me in Twitter would know, I prefer classic style uniforms. None of the teams have that, so I won’t deduct points for not looking like they were designed in 1975. I just look at the colors, helmet and overall uniforms in the context of the league, not the history of football.

8. San Antonio Commanders

I’m not a huge fan of the colors. It is cool how they incorporated the Alamo in the logo, but overall I think they have the least impressive uniform of the league.

7. Birmingham Iron

Yes, the team colors make a lot of sense, considering their name. The also probably have the most “classic” looking uniforms of the bunch, but I still think they could have been slightly more creative with this one.

6. Orlando Apollos

Well, this happens to be the team I decided to root for before any uniforms were released. At the time of my decision they had a bunch of Miami Hurricanes (my favorite college team) and a cool logo. Unfortunately, when the uniforms were released, I was underwhelmed. Specifically the colors. I am just not a fan of Navy blue and don’t think it looks looks on HD television. The orange helps a bit, but I was disappointed in “my team’s” uniforms.

5. San Diego Fleet

Things are getting better with the colors. I like the bright yellow and although gray is not a great choice, it does make sense and looks good. Not so sure about the weird helmet stripe. Can’t a team be modern without some goofy stripe with a complex back story?

4. Memphis Express

Again with the navy blue, but overall I like the logo and uniform overall. I don’t think the two-tone helmet is necessary, but overall the Express look good.

3. Salt Lake Stallions

Love the colors of the Stallions. It was also an interesting choice for helmet logo, which I believe is the mane of the stallion. Logos like this and others in the league may be the future, which modern helmet shell designs that traditional helmet logo decals can’t easily adapt to.

2. Atlanta Legends

I hate the nickname, which is just not a good name for a team. I would have went with a bird to go with the falcons and Hawks, but that is just me. With that said, I really love the colors and logo.

1. Arizona Hot Shots

This may not be the favorite of many, but I really like the color scheme of the Hotshots. Green and yellow is a great color combination. The uniforms are a little busy, and that stripe is something else, but I think this is the uniform I am most excited to see on television.

Well there you go. I may have to adjust my rankings once I actually see them on TV. There are some good ideas and bad ideas, but overall the league has a pretty nice modern look overall. Not sure how these will age or if I will be talking about them a year, five years or a decade from now, but hey, we have February football!