via Mike McClure
Daryle Mike McClure and Nike uniform designer Daryle Hawkins
Every sports fan knows this cycle all too well: A team announces a highly anticipated uniform rebrand. Excitement and nervous anticipation ensues while the internet holds its collective breath. Then the big reveal ends up being… completely forgettable. It’s too minimalist. It’s safe. All too often, it’s plain old boring.
If you’ve ever wondered how multi-billion-dollar franchises continually sign off on such uninspired on-field gear, former Oregon wide receiver and Nike uniform designer Daryle Hawkins has the answer.
Hawkins, who masterminded the universally praised San Diego Padres City Connect uniforms, recently sat down with Mike McClure to pull back the curtain on the sports apparel industry.
The full conversation is now live on the BroBible YouTube channel…. go watch it!
It turns out, underwhelming jerseys are just an inevitable byproduct of bureaucratic gridlock within big companies, sports leagues, and teams.
“You have the league, you have the franchise, you have the administration. Maybe sometimes they’ll bring in some key players… Everybody has to duke it out over what’s important. And often times what traditionally happens when you get into those type of rooms is the most conservative idea will anchor the bottom. … They’re like, ‘Okay, can we just make it so people don’t get upset with what we’re doing?’ And usually that just ends up turning into the opposite, which is like, ‘Ah, this is boring.'”
That conservative baseline leads to franchises prioritizing safety over style. Instead of leaning into their history or culture to create something iconic, front offices try to tiptoe around the fanbase to avoid criticism.
“Sometimes you get folks who are like, ‘All right, our franchise is pretty clean, simple. We don’t want anything super new… How do we do this without ruffling any feathers?'” Hawkins says. “They’re like, ‘Okay, can we just make it so people don’t get upset with what we’re doing?’ And usually that just ends up turning into the opposite, which is like, ‘Ah, this is boring.’ It’s a throwaway and then not a ton of people buy into it.”
Hawkins explains that the best designs, like his vibrant, Tijuana-inspired Padres City Connects or the legendary Oregon jerseys he wore during his playing days, happen when a franchise leans into a team’s unapologetic identity.
To accomplish this, navigating the design principle of “most advanced yet acceptable” requires a team willing to risk a little initial backlash to create an enduring classic, rather than designing purely out of fear.
Outside the design room, Hawkins’ path gives him a uniquely raw view of the sports world outside cut-and-sew aesthetics.
He detailed the mechanical perfection of catching passes from Marcus Mariota. McClure and Hawkins also discuss the absolute terror of a quarterback setting you up for a brutal “hospital ball” over the middle, and the cold financial reality of getting cut by the Chicago Bears in training camp simply because the front office couldn’t afford to keep another receiver.
Anyway, go check out the full conversation over on the BroBible YouTube!