Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers co-captain Cameron Heyward this week invoked the word “mustard” when describing the team’s new throwback uniforms.

Teammate Juan Thornhill described them as “like a highlighter.”

The best fellow defensive back Jalen Ramsey could say about them? “They’re different.”

“It is what it is, though,” Ramsey said.

Coach Mike Tomlin — five days prior to his team wearing them — said he wasn’t even aware they existed.

On whole, most associated with the Steelers didn’t exactly give ringing endorsements of the newest alternate uniform that they wore for a national television audience during Sunday night’s home game against the Green Bay Packers.

The jerseys are yellow-based along with yellow helmets, yellow socks and beige pants. The fronts of the jerseys have the crest of the city of Pittsburgh on the breast with white numbers on top of black stripes. The backs have black lettering for names and black block numbers.

The vertical black striping on the front compelled veteran Steelers cornerback Darius Slay to say during an appearance on The Richard Sherman Podcast early last week: “It makes us look like we’re incarcerated. Like we’re in a jailhouse. If I don’t feel good, I don’t play good, so I’m going have to figure it out, because that might be a little bit too much yellow. But we’re going to do what we do, though.”

That the Steelers debuted the look for a night game surely isn’t a coincidence — from a marketing perspective, at least. “Sunday Night Football” on NBC is routinely the most-watched game of any given NFL weekend, and that means more fans eager to buy more jerseys.

The Steelers in the recent past have worn an alternate “Color Rush” jersey — often during primetime games — that featured more black with yellow block numbers. They also have periodically donned a 1970s throwback. It doesn’t differ much from the modern jerseys other than in the lettering font, facemask color and blocked numbers.

The Steelers famously (infamously?) wore what even the team refers to as “Bumble Bee Throwbacks” for six games over a five-season span 2012-16. They had a “75th anniversary throwback” worn at times from 2007-11, and in the 1990s wore a uniform that in some ways resembled the ones they donned Sunday — except that the Pittsburgh city crest dominated the front of the chest.

Plenty of fans were spotted in the seating Sunday wearing the newest jerseys, which were announced over the summer and had been available for purchase soon thereafter.

Not all of the feedback from Steelers players was negative. Right tackle Troy Fautanu and tight end Pat Freiermuth, for example, remarked that they liked the helmets.

“The yellow helmet is sweet,” Freiermuth said. “We’ve worn black helmets since I’ve been here, and well before that, and just switching it up to a new helmet I love. It gets players excited. It gets the fans excited. It’s something cool to showcase. After we wear them, I want to keep that helmet forever. It’s super cool.”

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) October 26, 2025

The helmets have gray facemasks and a sharp matte finish that differs from the usual glossy black the team wears. For years, the NFL prohibited teams using alternate helmets — a rule made out of safety concerns that approved helmets were best at protecting players.

Headed into Sunday’s game, the Steelers were 24-8 while wearing alternate jerseys since Tomlin was hired in 2007. That included 16 wins in 21 games while wearing a “throwback.”

Sunday, the Packers also wore alternate uniforms that featured plenty of white: white helmets, jerseys and pants with some green and yellow striping.

An irony is that while the Steelers eschewed their normal black helmets for yellow headgear, the Packers — who usually wear yellow helmets — instead were in white.

It was all enough to make some fans lament that neither team wore its classic, iconic uniform that each franchise has donned (with slight variations) for decades. After all, the Packers and Steelers are two of the league’s eight oldest active franchises and have accounted for 10 of the 59 Super Bowl wins.

Whether Slay warmed to the jerseys or not, the Steelers took to the field Sunday in front of a raucous sellout crowd for a game matching two first-place teams — no matter how they were dressed.

“If you look good,” Ramsey said, “you feel good. You feel good, you play good.”

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