The Time Has Come...For An Update.

by Bill Schaefer

Over the last three weeks Rob Holecko has begun the arduous process of updating the GUD with the largest batch of new images since the site was created.

While these updates can all be found individually on the "Updates" tab, I thought it would be beneficial to see a simple list of everything that has been entered so far.

League-wide (or at least 'mostly' League-wide): Fixed for the teams that are finished and will be fixed for the teams yet to be processed.

1. 1978-81, 1983-2015 Wild Card teams...
          For some reason, each team under this heading was credited with either 
          a "First Round Playoff" victory or loss rather than a "Wild Card" victory
          or loss.
2. Authentic patch for 1994 "75th Anniversary Season."
3. Authentic patch for 2008 "Gene Upshaw Memorial."
4. Authentic ribbon patch for 2011 Week 1 "10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks."  
          Also included was that the open center of the ribbons were filled in white
          rather than letting the jersey color show through the center of the 
          ribbon. This has been fixed for all teams that wore colored jerseys for 
          Week 1. Six teams did not wear the ribbon at all due to playing on either 
          Opening Night (Thursday, September 8) or in one of the two Monday 
          Night games played on September 12.
5. Authentic patch for 2012 "50th Anniversary of the Pro Football Hall of Fame."
6. Authentic patch for 1969 "NFL's 50th anniversary" for NFL teams only.
7. Authentic patch for 2009 "AFL 50th Anniversary" for eight original AFL teams.
8. Improved the 1991-2011 collar and pants "NFL" shields and "NFL Equipment" patches.
9. Improved images of all 'high-white' socks and extended their inclusion up through 1987 for all teams.

Arizona Cardinals:

1. 1976 - added combo worn in preseason with patches on both shoulders.
2. 1990 - added a monowhite 'preseason only' combo.
3. 1998 - added authentic '100 years of Cardinals football' patch.
4. 2003 - added a 'white-over-red with striped white socks' preseason-only 
              combo.
5. 2005 - added authentic patch for regular season game played in Mexico City. 
              (Also will be added to the 2005 49ers.)
6. 2006 - a) added authentic 'Cardinals Stadium' patch and...
               b) added monowhite combo with the same patch as that combo was
                   additionally worn during the preseason only.
7. 2008 - added authentic 'Super Bowl XLIII' patch. (Also will be added to the
              2008 Steelers.)

Atlanta Falcons:

1. 1968-74...

Changes to number font styles.

   - 1968-70: Slant-topped chest with box-topped TVs and backs.

   - 1971-74: New red jerseys. Slant-topped on front and back. Box-topped on 
     TV numbers.

2. 1971-77...

Adjusted sock and sleeve stripes for 1971-74 and 1975-77.
   - 1971-74 sleeves and socks: middle black is as thick as 2 outer stripes 
     combined.
   - 1975-77 sleeves: all stripes are equal thickness.
   - 1975-77 socks: middle black stripe is thicker than 2 outer stripes combined.

3. 1988 - added authentic "David Crudip" patch.

4. 1994 - added authentic Whitey Zimmerman "ZEKE" patches (2).

5. 1997 - added authentic "Rankin Smith" patches (2).

6. 1998 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXIII" patch. (Also will be added to the
              1998 Broncos.)

Baltimore Ravens:

1. 2000 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXV" patch (Also will be added to the 
               2000 Giants.)

2. 2005 - added authentic "10th Anniversary" patch.

3. 2012 - added authentic "Art Modell" patch.

Buffalo Bills:

1. 1972 - changed belt color from black to blue.

2. 1976 - corrected facemask color to grey.

3. 1984 - added authentic "25th Anniversary of original AFL teams" patch.

4. 1990 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXV" patch. (Also will be added to the 
              1990 Giants.)

5. 1994 - added authentic "35th Anniversary" patch.

6. 2007 - added 'white-over-navy' preseason-only combo.

7. 2008-11 - added authentic "Toronto Series' patch.

8. 2009 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patch.

9. 2014 - added authentic "Ralph Wilson" patch.

Carolina Panthers:

1. 1995 - added authentic "Inaugural Season" patch.

2. 2003 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXVIII" patch. (Also will be added to 
               the 2003 Patriots.)

Chicago Bears:

1. 1983 - added authentic road jersey "George Halas" patch and improved the graphics for the home jersey "George Halas" patch (2 different patches).

2. 1984 - a) added monowhite preseason only combo and...

               b) added preseason-only combos without "GHS" memorial on left 
                   sleeves.

3. 1990-92 - adjusted sleeve lengths.

4. 2001 - a) added authentic "Soldier Field" patch and...

               b) added white-over-navy preseason-only combo.

5. 2006 - added authentic "Super Bowl XLI" patch. (Also will be added to the
               2006 Colts.)

6. 2011 - added authentic "International Series" patch (Also will be added to the
               2011 Buccaneers.)

Cincinnati Bengals:

1. 1981-2003 - adjusted the shade of orange.

2. 1988 - added monowhite combo with authentic "Cincinnati Bicentennial" patch on left sleeve for preseason Hall of Fame Game only.

3. 1988-90 & 1992-93 - added "BENGALS" wordmark to socks.

4. 1997 - different variation of pants stripes (reverted to '1996 version' for
               1998)

6. 1998 - added black to ends of sleeves of white jerseys.

7. 1999 - another different variation of pants stripes.

8. 2004-13 - adjusted shade of orange.

9. 2005 - added 'black-over-black with orange socks' as a preseason-only combo.

10. 2006 - added 'black-over-black with orange socks' as a preseason-only combo.

Cleveland Browns:

1. 1973-74 - changed number font style.
2. 1975-76 - made pants stripes thinner.
3. 1977-83 - made pants stripes wider.
4. 1979-95 - adjusted the shade of brown.
5. 1999 - added authentic "Inaugural Season" patch.
6. 2002 - added authentic "Al Lerner" patch.
7. 2003-12 - added authentic "Al Lerner" sleeve patch.
8. 2003 - added 'monowhite with striped white socks' as a preseason-only
               combo.
9. 2006 - added authentic "60th Anniversary" patches (2).

Dallas Cowboys:

1. 1967-2011 - improved 'star' logo on helmets.
2. 1974 - improved socks so that the two blue stripes appear on the 'high-whites.'
3. 1995 - a) added 'navy-over-silver' as a preseason-only combo and...
               b) added 1994 'white fauxback-over-silver' as a preseason-only 
                   combo, also.
4. 2000 - added authentic "Tom Landry" patch.
5. 2008 - added authentic "Texas Stadium" patch.
6. 2010 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patch.
7. 2014 - added authentic "poppy" patch for game in England. (Also, the black
               version of the same patch will be added to the 2014 Jaguars.)

Denver Broncos:

1. 1975 - added authentic "Colorado Centennial" patch.
2. 1984 - added authentic "25th Anniversary of original AFL teams" patch and
               made it smaller than those worn by the other 7 teams.
3. 1997 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXII" patch. (Also will be added to the
               1997 Packers.)
4. 2009 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patch.
5. 2010 - added authentic "International Series" patch. (Also will be added to
               the 2010 49ers.)
6. 2013 - removed "AFC" from "AFC Divisional Playoff" designation to maintain
               consistency throughout the site.

Detroit Lions:

1. 1969-71* - changed central white stripe on pants back to grey due to Lions' 
                      Media Guide statement that the stripe didn't change to white
                      until 1972.
2. 1974 - added two additional combos wearing white shoes for Week 7                            through the rest of the season.
3. 1983 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patches (2).
4. 1991 - added authentic "J. Russ Thomas" patches (2).
5. 1993 - added authentic "60th Anniversary" patch.
6. 2001-04, 2008, & 2010 - changed the shade of blue for throwback uniforms.
7. 2002 - added authentic "Ford Field" patch.
8. 2008 - added authentic "75th Anniversary" patch.
(* - due to photographic evidence to the contrary, this update will be altered further by changing the central pants stripe to neither white nor to a shade of grey that matches the pants but rather to a light grey somewhere in between. Stay tuned.)

We will be continuing to add additional large 'team' updates as well as isolated smaller updates over the next few weeks. 

By the way, during the last few weeks, some of our viewers have been bringing changes they believe need to be made to our attention. In some cases, we have already caught these errors and made the necessary changes, however, the updated images may still be residing in line for installment. Our advice, if you find something, continue as always and notify us. There is still the possibility that we are unaware of your discovery.

Eleven teams are done. More will follow.

Bill Schaefer