The Cincinnati Bengals unexpectedly unveiled their new orange alternate pants on Monday evening following a leak on EA Sports’ Madden NFL 25 video game.
The Bengals have never worn orange pants, as they only had white pants as an option from their inaugural season in 1968 to 2002 before adding black pants to the rotation in 2003.
They then introduced the first orange jersey in franchise history as part of a redesign in 2004, pairing them with either black or white pants ever since, including after they underwent another redesign in 2021.
As mentioned, the orange pants were an option in the team selection screen of Madden, which allowed those who preordered the Deluxe and MVP editions to access the game a few days early.
The Bengals wasted no time in confirming the leak on Monday, sharing a photo of the pants on a white clothes hanger against a wall – poking fun at how their current jerseys leaked on eBay in 2021.
Cincinnati has since announced plans to wear the orange pants with black jerseys and socks for its “Stripe the Jungle” game against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 19, though it could also choose to wear them with white or orange jerseys in another game.
The Bengals previously announced they’ll wear their all-white alternate uniforms on Oct. 27 against the Philadelphia Eagles, leaving two potential opportunities to see the latter, as teams are permitted to wear alternate or throwback uniforms up to three times per season.
