Ottawa Redblacks unveil home and away uniforms ahead of inaugural season

OTTAWA - Ottawa's new CFL franchise has unveiled its uniforms, which put a fresh twist on a familiar colour scheme.

The expansion Redblacks' home jersey is predominantly black with red trim, while the away jersey is white black strips down the sides.

Those colours have a long association with professional sports teams in the nation's capital going back to the original Rough Riders football franchise and the "barber-pole"-style jerseys of Ottawa's famed Silver Seven and original Senators hockey teams.

The players' numbers and the lettering on their names feature stylized axe notches, a nod to the city's history as a lumber town.

The uniforms were unveiled at a fashion show-type event in Ottawa where the coaching staff and cheerleaders also showed off their new duds.

Veteran quarterback Henry Burris gave the uniforms a thumb's up.

"Oh my gosh, let's play football right now," he said as he stood on the stage with some of his teammates.

He also spoke of the chemistry in the locker room that developed at the team's mini-camp in Virginia.

"It was a great opportunity for us not only to build our team on the field, but also get to know guys off the field," he said.

"I can tell you one great thing: not only did Marcel (Desjardins, the team's general manager) and the gang bring in a bunch of great players on the field, but also great people. To me, the number one characteristic of building a winning team, a great organization, is making sure you have a great relationship in the locker room.

"This is going to be a great group of guys that are going to work hard together, sacrifice, do things that it's going to take for us to have success on the field."