Lions president Rod Wood: 'Fans are going to like' new rivalry uniform
· Yahoo Sports
PHOENIX – The Detroit Lions 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 – in a wide-ranging interview Sunday, March 29, before the league's annual spring meeting – he's confident fans will enjoy the new look.
"I know what it looks like and I think fans are going to like it," Wood said. "It’s pretty cool. It connects to our uniform but it’s, like you saw some of the ones last year, it’ll add little wrinkle to things."
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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.
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."
"I’ll 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?"
Wood announced his retirement as Lions president 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 10½ seasons in Detroit and other team business.
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.
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.
"Let's say they put Chicago in Munich," Wood said of the Lions' Germany game. "I don’t want to say we’re wearing it against Chicago and now we’re in Germany.
"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’s say we’re playing Monday night against the Packers, that might be a cool time to wear it. Or Thursday after Thanksgiving. That might be cool. I’d like to see schedule so I can then say that’s the time to kind of optimize the marketing benefit of it. But it’s pretty cool and I think the fans are going to like it."
Germany in November?
Wood said the Lions do not know who they will play in Germany yet or when the game will be, but they won't play either the Packers or Vikings overseas.
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.
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.
Wood acknowledged, "It could be Chicago," who the Lions face in Germany, but said, "I have a hard time believing that."
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.
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.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions new uniforms: 'Fans are going to like it,' Rod Wood says