Steelers Now
Mike Kadlick of Sports Illustrated ranked every NFL teams uniforms — ranging from traditional jerseys to throwbacks and alternatives. The Pittsburgh Steelers were ranked surprisingly pretty low on Kadick’s list, coming in at No. 22.
“The Steelers’ uniforms have remained mostly unchanged since the early 2000s, with their primary attire featuring gold pants, black jerseys at home and white on the road. Their polarizing bumblebee throwbacks received a refreshed look in 2025, paying homage to the team’s inaugural 1933 season, but were still a bit of an eyesore. Many won’t like where they’re ranked—as Pittsburgh’s widely considered to have some of the league’s best uniforms, but to me, they’re just meh,” Kadlick wrote.
The Steelers’ black helmets with the Steelmark logo, black jerseys and gold pants are one of the most iconic looks in NFL history. It’s right there with the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and Las Vegas Raiders.
Kadlick wasn’t high on the Packers’ unis either, as he had Green Bay behind the Steelers at No. 23. The Cowboys were ranked No. 3, while the Raiders were No. 14. The top-5 was the following — No. 1 Los Angeles Chargers, No. 2 San Francisco 49ers, No. 3 Cowboys, No. 4 Baltimore Ravens and No. 5 Cincinnati Bengals.
While I disagree with Kadlick having the Steelers at No. 22, I do agree that last year’s 1933 uniforms were brutal.
Unfortunately, those uniforms will return in 2026. The gold helmets will be featured once again, as well.
“We’ll wear our throwbacks for one of the feature games,” Steelers president Art Rooney II revealed to Bob Labriola of Steelers.com. “We’re still working through the schedule, and I’m sure we’ll be announcing that in the coming weeks.”
The Steelers’ 1933 uniforms wore worn for the first time last season against the Packers on Sunday Night Football. The uniforms mostly received negative reviews.
J.J. Watt thinks they’re one of the worst throwback unis of all time.
“Maybe if the Steelers put on their regular uniforms again and they turn back into good. … I don’t know if you can play good in those,” Watt said on The Pat McAfee Show a few days after the Steelers’ 35-25 loss loss to the Packers.
Watt also ripped the uniforms on X during the game.
“They are quite easily the worst uniform put on an NFL field this season,” Watt wrote when asked by a fan if he liked the Steelers’ throwbacks.
Watt stopped short of ever, as there have been other brutal throwbacks among NFL teams.
“There’s been some bad ones. I did not want to go lifetime, but they’re in the discussion,” Watt told McAfee.
McAfee added that the Steelers’ 1933 throwbacks are “in the [Mount] Rushmore of ass unis in history.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Where Does the Steelers Uniform Rank Among NFL Teams?
