{"id":841899,"date":"2026-03-29T23:50:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T23:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/841899\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T23:50:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T23:50:28","slug":"lions-president-rod-wood-fans-are-going-to-like-new-rivalry-uniform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/841899\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions president Rod Wood: ‘Fans are going to like’ new rivalry uniform"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2013 The Detroit Lions<\/a> are waiting for the 2026 NFL schedule release before deciding when to wear their new rivalry uniforms this fall, but outgoing Lions president Rod Wood told the Free Press \u2013 in a wide-ranging interview Sunday, March 29, before the league’s annual spring meeting \u2013 he’s confident fans will enjoy the new look.<\/p>\n

“I know what it looks like and I think fans are going to like it,” Wood said. “It\u2019s pretty cool. It connects to our uniform but it\u2019s, like you saw some of the ones last year, it\u2019ll add little wrinkle to things.”<\/p>\n

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Wood declined to say how much the new uniforms deviate from the Lions’ current color scheme of Honolulu Blue and silver.<\/p>\n

\"Detroit<\/p>\n

Detroit Lions fan Elijah Shaw, 9 of Detroit and a fan of Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs wore his Gibbs uniform hoping he would sign it for him after practice at the Lions practice facility in Allen Park on Saturday, July 27, 2024. This was the first time during this training camp that fans were allowed to watch practice and stay afterwards to see the players up close.<\/p>\n

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He previously said in an interview with WXYT-FM (97.1) the uniforms, which the league unveiled for the eight teams in the NFC West and AFC East last fall, were “consistent with us but [with] a little bit of a modern twist to it.”<\/a><\/p>\n

“I\u2019ll probably get kicked out of the league if I said [what they look like],” Wood said Thursday. “Actually, what are they going to do to me now?”<\/p>\n

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Wood announced his retirement as Lions president<\/a> in February and sat down with the Free Press for more than an hour Sunday to discuss his legacy as team president, what comes next for him after 10\u00bd seasons in Detroit and other team business.<\/p>\n

He said the league has asked who the Lions plan to wear their new uniforms against this fall, but he added he doesn’t want to make that decision until the schedule is released in May.<\/p>\n

Teams can only wear their rivalry uniforms, Wood said, in a home game against a division rival – for the Lions, the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings or Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n

“Let’s say they put Chicago in Munich,” Wood said of the Lions’ Germany game. “I don\u2019t want to say we\u2019re wearing it against Chicago and now we\u2019re in Germany.<\/p>\n

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“It has to be a home game and it has to be against a division rival, so that limits you to a maximum of three choices. But let\u2019s say we\u2019re playing Monday night against the Packers, that might be a cool time to wear it. Or Thursday after Thanksgiving. That might be cool. I\u2019d like to see schedule so I can then say that\u2019s the time to kind of optimize the marketing benefit of it. But it\u2019s pretty cool and I think the fans are going to like it.”<\/p>\n

Germany in November?<\/p>\n

Wood said the Lions do not know who they will play in Germany<\/a> yet or when the game will be, but they won’t play either the Packers or Vikings overseas.<\/p>\n

NFL teams are allowed to protect two home games when they commit to playing internationally as a home team, and the Lions protected games against Green Bay and Minnesota.<\/p>\n

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Along with the Packers and Vikings, the Lions are scheduled to have home dates with the Bears, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, New York Giants, Tennessee Titans and the AFC champion New England Patriots.<\/p>\n

Wood acknowledged, “It could be Chicago,” who the Lions face in Germany, but said, “I have a hard time believing that.”<\/p>\n

Historically, the NFL has played its Germany games in November, making Sunday, Nov. 15, or Sunday, Nov. 8, as the most likely dates for the Lions game.<\/p>\n

The league also has saved important division games for the last two weeks of the regular season, and the Lions have played an NFC North opponent in their last three Thanksgiving games.<\/p>\n

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Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at\u00a0dbirkett@freepress.com<\/a>. Follow him on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0at @davebirkett.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions new uniforms: ‘Fans are going to like it,’ Rod Wood says<\/a><\/p>\n