Harbaugh explains Ravens' new pants

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Even after the Ravens had suffered a 34-14 defeat to Kansas City on Sunday, many fans were still discussing it on social media.
What the heck was with the new gold-yellow-mustard pants John Harbaugh’s team was wearing?
“That was a nod to the tradition a little bit,” Harbaugh said. “The players like it. They like something different. I don’t know. I didn’t take a vote to see who liked them or who didn’t like them, but they were excited to be out there in a little different look.”
A simple search on Twitter shows that the new looked was panned by virtually all fans and observers. It was the first time in franchise history that the Ravens had worn uniform pants that weren’t white or black.
Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders always liked to say, “If you look good, you feel good; if you feel good, you play good.” If that’s the case, the Ravens may have never stood a chance against the Chiefs.
Many had speculated that the look make have been mandated by the NFL and Nike, but Harbaugh said the new pants were in the works since last season and likely would have been worn earlier in the year had the Ravens gotten off to a better start.
“Maybe we should do a contest for our third pant-color combination with the fans, so we can have them weigh in and we could wear them,” Harbaugh said. “I think it’s fun. Uniforms are fun. They should be fun. We want to be traditional. We have a look that we’re proud of in Baltimore. It stands out, and we want to build on that. But if we can be creative in there somewhere, hey, I’m all for it.
“I want to play well. It doesn’t really matter what color the pants are to me. If the players like it, I like it.”
If I were to make my own uniform suggestions, I would adjust the Ravens’ black uniform pants by adding a white and purple stripe on the sides, which would be similar to what the team wore in 1997. Some say the Ravens look like they’re wearing tights or pajamas when sporting the solid-black pants, and this change would help remedy that.
As for a third set of pants — to ensure that Sunday’s pants never again see the light of day — I’d suggest purple ones to be worn with the black alternate jerseys to replace the tired “blackout” look that many teams now have. College programs such as TCU and Northwestern have pulled off this look quite effectively in recent years.
Have no fear, I’ll go back to the occasional #FashionTweets hashtag on Twitter and stick to football now.