New Miami Dolphins Logo Leaked?

Since their inception in 1966, the Miami Dolphins have kept the same style of logo pretty much through the NFL (timeline above). Aside from their incredibly successful history loaded with hall of famers and many playoff appearances (before hitting their rough times in 2004), having a popular mascot has probably helped bring in a lot of fans who don't even live in Miami. They've had one of the more anticipated and much debated upon logo updates, and the team announced that on April 18, they will finally be unveiling their new logo and jerseys to the masses.

Is this the new Dolphins Logo?

UniWatch has potentially leaked the new Miami Dolphins logo early. Some like it, some don't. I'm in the "like it" category, though I like the current one as well and really could care less what the logo is as long as they start winning and making the playoffs again. The original versions of the logo had the dolphin look like it was jumping over a pole at Sea World. This new version looks a bit more realistic. When dolphins are swimming and darting out of the ocean, they're in more of a horizontal position instead of a vertical one, like this new logo shows. I also like the way the lines look, and the new sunburst is an improvement over the current one.

Another positive is the Aqua color has been lightened to look more like it was during the 1970s-early 1990s. And rumor has it the new jerseys will look more like the original jerseys. Gone will be that ugly navy blue drop shadow behind the numbers. Hopefully the giant stripes return to the sleeves as well. I guess we'll find out if this really is the new logo on April 18th. I think at the end of the day though, all fans want is for the franchise to return to the glory days of the Perfect Season, No Name Defense, and Dan Marino, and it wouldn't matter if they had a shrimp or crusty old clam for the logo. The Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys will open up the NFL pre-season in the annual Hall of Fame game in Primetime on Sunday August 4th. Or as I'm calling it, the "Shit, we never should've signed Bill Parcells Bowl".

As a side note, this leaked logo is about 50 times better than last year's updated Miami Marlins MLB logo.