May the Seahawks ‘Action Green’ uniforms never resurface again

It’s NFL uniforms and jerseys week here at SB Nation, and from where I stand, I find the Seattle Seahawks’ current design to be pretty cool. The best ones are undeniably the alternate “wolf grey” for select road games. Who doesn’t remember seeing this unveiled in the 50-17 thrashing of the Buffalo Bills?

Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images

The previous “blue uniforms with white numerals” for home games and “white uniforms with blue numerals” worn from 2002-2011 were pretty damn boring, to be honest. It sort of matched the reputation the Seahawks had for not being a typically exciting, must-see team. Sure, Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, and the Legion of Boom helped the Seahawks become a mainstream attraction from 2012 onwards... but don’t you think the uniform change also made things a little fresher and livelier?

There is however one particular, seldom-used alternate uniform combo I wish to never see again.

Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

I don’t care if it’s called “Action Green” or “Lime Green,” these monstrosities shouldn’t see the light of day for even one more game. It’s like someone raided an Office Depot and vandalized all the good jerseys, forcing the Seahawks to play in something so loud that it’s visible from outer space.

The origins of Seattle’s green machine actually dates back to September 2009, when the Seahawks hosted the Chicago Bears in a Week 3 meeting. Unlike the “Action Green” uniforms, “Lime Green” was combined with dark blue pants.

Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

The Seahawks lost this game 25-19, in part due to Olindo Mare missing a couple of short field goals. Head coach Jim Mora proceeded to toss him under the nearest King County Metro Bus. A few months later, Mora retired “Lime Green” on the basis that “we didn’t win in them.”

Well the retirement lasted for a good while, then in 2015 the NFL created the dreadful “Color Rush” scheme to feature on Thursday Night Football, which proved to be a nightmare for color blind fans in one game. The Rams in particular seemed to douse themselves in mustard before taking the field. All 32 teams were on board by 2016, and “Action Green” was on full display in both the home win against the Los Angeles Rams and road win at the Arizona Cardinals last season. The defining picture of the Action Green era has to be this photo, representing the final play of Richard Sherman’s Seahawks career.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

With Thursday Night Football moved to FOX, Color Rush is no longer mandatory for those games. However, the NFL now permits teams to wear special unis — whether throwback, alternates like Wolf Grey, or Color Rush — three times per season. This means that Action Green may not be finished just yet, even though it ought to be.

As for why the Seahawks don’t wear their old school uniforms from 1976-2001, there is a reason for that.

From Seahawks.com:

Fans for a long time have been clamoring for a throwback Seahawks uniform—and for good reason, it’s a great look—but there are two things currently preventing that from happening. For starters, teams are only allowed one alternate (other than color rush) to their regular home and away uniforms, and the Seahawks have used the Wolf Grey uniforms as their alternate since 2012. Secondly, teams are only allowed one helmet under the current rules, so unless the Seahawks wanted to repaint all of their helmets for a throwback game, they couldn’t sport the old silver-helmet look.

Secondly, teams are only allowed one helmet under the current rules, so unless the Seahawks wanted to repaint all of their helmets for a throwback game, they couldn’t sport the old silver-helmet look.

It doesn’t look like the NFL’s relax uniform policy has relaxed the helmet rules, so sadly for us anti-Action Green folk, we might still be subjected to seeing them in 2018 and beyond.