Colorado Rapids Unveil Throwback-Themed Original Green Kit

Commerce City, CO – The Colorado Rapids have officially unveiled their new third kit for the 2025 season. The Original Green Kit celebrates the club’s 30th season in MLS. Is it drippin’ or trippin’? The kit, which was teased a month ago, is following a league-wide drop of third kits that follow the same theme, throwback. This kit delivers on that theme with a look very similar to the 2001 home kit for the Rapids.

The kit is riddled with easter eggs and a throwback look. The easiest ones to spot are the two logos on the front of the shirt that are the two previous logos for the Colorado Rapids. The jersey shares a similar design to the 1996 home kit by having the usual logo and a second one across the chest. The kit also features the original MLS logo on the back of the neck. Balboa’s bicycle kick from back in the day and the number 96 also appear on the lower left of the front. The club officially calls the shade of green “Noble Green” and is not an exact match to the MLS 1.0 Rapids green.

One of my favorite parts of this jersey has to be the font on the numbers and names on the back of the jersey. This third shirt did well in providing the throwback vibe to the jersey, and a central component of that success is the font. Despite the current MLS logo appearing on the numbers, it screams late 1990s to early 2000s.

These changes from the usual branding of the Rapids and MLS as a whole are essential for this jersey specifically. That is because, unfortunately, it is just a green shirt with a collar that has some old branding on it. It is far from the look that was teased just a month ago.

Rapids Third Kit Drippin’ or Trippin’?

Is it a little bit boring to have the shirt be an all-green shirt with some throwback easter eggs here and there? Maybe. Does this make the kit drop a little disappointing? For some, that might be the case. Does this make the kit ugly or just straight up bad? Definitely not. The kit does its job. It provides a look for the Rapids that they haven’t had since 2002. By definition, Adidas did the job that was given to them.

Now, this is just my opinion. And I may be too harsh on the kit. I do think that it is a clean look, and will look better in person and on game days. But this kit doesn’t blow me away. It doesn’t try to do anything too crazy or bold, and that is what holds it back for me. There’s a chance that a kit that more closely resembles the 1997 look could have been more effective, but it might be challenging to reinvent that look without it feeling like a copy-and-paste.

Despite all of the maybes, it is a very clean kit that is appealing to, at least, my eye. The Rapids have not returned to this style of green since 2002, unless you count the green shorts that accompanied the mint green away kits of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. There was a consensus that the kit didn’t lean heavily enough into the dark green look. That is not a problem here. It has the modern take on a classic that makes throwback jerseys good.

When I had initially seen it, I would have given it a five or six out of ten. But the more I look at it, it grows on me more and more. My final score is seven out of ten for the kit, and that may go higher once I get my hands on the jersey. The Rapids’ second-ever third kit has dropped, and it is drippin’.

The Original Green kit is available on the MLS store, starting at $160 for the authentic, almost $200 for customization, and $100 for the replica. At time of publishing, the KSE store only has the authentic available.

Photo Credit: Matt Pollard

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