A Head To Head History: The Atlanta Falcons and the San Diego Chargers

Although the Steelers-Raiders, Vikings-49ers and Eagles-Cardinals matchups may have had more history and even series such as the Buccaneers-Cowboys, Packers-Seahawks and Patriots-Ravens may have had more memorable moments, at The Gridiron Uniform Database we are first and foremost concerned with the visual impact of a series history, so have decided to go with the Falcons-Chargers this week for our weekly series "A Head To Head History."  With the rich and vibrant reds and blacks of the Falcons and the blues and golds of the Chargers, this was a matchup history that has visually impressed.

(Plus, did you know that the Eagles and Cardinals have played each other well over a hundred times?  I just didn't have the time this week to do that many matchups! I suspect this series may be leaning toward non-conference matches whenever possible.)

Rookie Dan Fouts looked for his first win against Atlanta, but the Chargers failed 41-0

[1973 meeting]

For a few years after the 1970 AFC-NFC merger teams were continually meeting various non-conference opponents for the first time.  While we continue to debate the usefulness and desirability of interleague baseball as it becomes a season-long proposition for the first time in 2013, in the 1970s the excitement for new rivals meeting in the new NFL was a positive thing.  Of course the NFL and AFL had only played as separate leagues for a decade since the AFL's founding and were attempting to merge into one cohesive league, while baseball had established nine decades of two-separate-league traditions, meeting only for All-Star Games and the World Series and had threatened to upset that tradition with the creation of interleague play in the 1990s that would let AL and NL teams meet in-season yet still maintain distinct leagues with
differing rules.

[1979 meeting]

So none of that interleague cynicism that now grips baseball was around in San Diego on October 21, 1973 when the NFC's Atlanta Falcons came to town for these two teams' first ever meeting.  Over 40,000 people showed up at San Diego Stadium for this game, the Chargers were 1-4 and rookie Dan Fouts was making his second career start.  Two weeks earlier he had relieved the aging John Unitas and rallied the Chargers from being down 38-0 at halftime in Pittsburgh with 21 fourth quarter points to make the final score 38-21 at Three Rivers and had been handed the reigns of the Chargers for good.  The Falcons, on the other hand, were 2-3, but things looked up as those two wins were a 46-6 defeat of the Bears the previous week and a 62-7 opening day drubbing of the Saints.  Those two wins were sandwiched around three losses in which the Falcons offense looked anemic, but head coach Norm Van Brocklin was optimistic as they faced a rebuilding Chargers club that the offense would continue to roll.  The Chargers were in the final year of their white helmet with powder blue and yellow pants years and they faced a mono-white with red helmet Atlanta team.  The Falcons offense did continue to roll, and they defeated the Chargers 41-0 and continued to win, eventually getting to 8-3 with two late-season losses keeping them out of the playoffs, but at 9-5, the 1973 season was the high point of Van Brocklin tenure as Falcons head coach.

[1988 meeting]

When they met the second time, again in San Diego in 1979, the fortunes of the two franchises would be reversed.  The heyday of "Air Coryell" -- the high powered offense of Head Coach Don Coryell and Fouts would be in full swing.  The Chargers would 10-3 and a top the AFC West while the Falcons, although they had made the playoffs in 1978 were struggling at 4-9 and two years away from the best year of the Leeman Bennett-Steve Bartkowski era when they would go 12-4 in 1981.  From 1978 through 1983 the Chargers were a White At Home team, so the Falcons wore red-over-gray this time, and Atlanta prevailed in an upset, 28 to 26 at Bartkowski threw a touchdown pass to William Francis with 21 seconds left in the game.  Chargers would go on to win the AFC West, but would be knocked out of the playoffs by Houston a month later.

The next time the two teams met, in 1988, would be the first time they faced each other in Atlanta.  The Falcons wore red at home, with a jersey patch honoring #30 David Crudup.  The two teams would be struggling, however, as the Chargers were 2-8 and the Falcons 3-7.  The Chargers would win a forgettable game 10-7, but it would be the only time the Chargers have defeated the Falcons so far.  Chargers head coach Al Saunders, in his second full season, would be fired at the end of the year, while third-year Falcons' head coach Marion Campbell would be fired the following season after a 3-9 start.

Even though the Falcons won in San Diego in 1991,
Jerry Glanville wasn't happy about something

Write-up of the 1991 game

In 1991, the teams met back in San Diego in September and the Chargers' John Carney missed a possible game tying field goal and the Falcons prevailed 13 to 10.  It would be Atlanta's first win in twenty road games, and they were again wearing their home colors in San Diego, although now they had black helmets and jersey instead of red, as the Chargers were mono-white in all sixteen games of the 1991 season.  Even with the Falcons win, Jerry Glanville apparently had a problem with the officiating, as you can see in this picture where he is being restrained by Jamie Dukes.  This was also the during the Deion Sanders primetime era in Atlanta.

A nice looking 1994 HOF Game

The teams would meet again in a colorful Hall Of Fame Game in Canton in 1994, where they would both wear their throwbacks, plus again in the 1994 regular season in San Diego, with the Chargers again White at Home, this time with blue pants, and the Falcons again in black.  Both teams, of course wore the NFL's 75th Anniversary patch in the Hall Of Fame Game, but by the regular season matchup the Falcons had added a jersey patch honoring longtime team equipment manager Whitey `Zeke' Zimmerman, who died on November 3, 1994.  Under first-year head coach June Jones, the Falcons won this matchup as well, 10 to 9, in the teams first meeting at the Georgia Dome.  Even though they beat the Chargers, they struggled to a 7-9 finish, while San Diego would go 11-5 and reach their only Super Bowl, losing to San Francisco.

In 1997 the Falcons again had a rookie head coach, as it was former Broncos and Giants head coach Dan Reeves first year at the helm of Atlanta.  The team would improve upon a 3-13 '96 campaign to go 7-9 in '97, but they would be on the ascension as the met the Chargers on the way down in '97.  The Falcons were in the midst of a five game winning streak, while the Chargers were losing their last eight of the 1997 season that would lead to a 4-12 finish and cost Head Coach Bobby Ross his job.  The Chargers were no longer a all-season 'White At Home' team, wearing navy for this matchup in San Diego.  The Falcons won this game 14-3, and Atlanta would go 14-2 and make it to their only Super Bowl the following year, losing to Denver.

[1994 meeting]

[1997 meeting]

[2004 meeting]

2004 meeting in Atlanta

These two teams wouldn't meet again until 2004 when they would meet in Atlanta, and the Falcons would again win 21-20.  The Falcons were now wearing their current uniform set, and wearing a red jersey at home.  Both teams were having good seasons and the Chargers, with Drew Brees at quarteback, went 12-4 and would fall in the Wild Card round to the Jets, while the Falcons, in Jim Mora Jr.'s first season and with Michael Vick at quarterback, went 11-5 and all of the way to the NFC Championship Game, losing to Philadelphia.

[2008 meeting]

The most recent time these two teams met was in San Diego on Thanksgiving Weekend in 2008, and the Falcons wore their black pants with the white-and-red-trimmed jersey, a look I've always liked.  In my opinion, the Falcons look better in black pants with their current uniform set than the white pants, in fact I think they would look best with a red helmet and red jersey over black pants for their primary home set and red helmet, white jersey, black pants on the road.  The Chargers had switched to their current set, with the white helmet, in 2007, and were no longer predominately going white at home, wearing their navy uniforms.  Atlanta won this game as well, 22 to 16, and they would go 11-5 in Mike Smith's first season as head coach and lose to Arizona in the playoffs.  San Diego, under second year head coach Norv Turner, would be 4-8 after this game, but would win the next four games to amazingly win the AFC West at 8-8 and defeat the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round (in OT, Tony Dungy's final game) before losing to Pittsburgh in the Divisional Round.

Matt Ryan throws a pass in 2008 victory over Chargers in San Diego

Mike Smith and Norv Turner are still the head coaches for the 2012 meeting, the first time that the same coaches have met twice in this series.  The Chargers opened the home schedule with a mono-white look last week, but will they go white at home again for their ninth regular season meeting on Sunday?  The Falcons have owned this series, with a 7-1 mark, the only Charger win coming in Atlanta in 1998.  Even though these teams have had some pretty good seasons, some at the same time, these teams have never played in primetime.  Every game in this series in Atlanta has been at 1:00 PM Eastern, and every game in San Diego has been in the 4:00 PM hour (1:00 PM local).

The Falcons continue their run through the AFC West, opening 2-0 with big wins over the Chiefs and Broncos, while the Chargers are also undefeated with wins over Oakland and Tennessee.  Should be a good game in San Diego, but the Falcons look unstoppable, look for them to continue their dominance over the Chargers.

The only "Prime Time" in this series was Deion returning a punt in 1991

Week 2 Uniform Matchup Rankings (and R.I.P. Steve Sabol)

Week 2 already?

Yep, and now we get into the flow of the season. Here's my ranking from bottom to top:

#16. Texans-Jaguars: Texans in dark blue/white and the Jaguars in white/white. Yet another WAH team in Jax. This one does not do much for me. The Texans do have a nice outfit and all, but with the Jags seeming to want to distance themselves from their unique teal jerseys and I find this matchup...meh...

#15. Saints-Panthers: Saints in black/washed out vegas gold combo against the Panthers in their early season white at home (WAH) combo. The Saints gold 3/4 collar works better here than on the white jerseys. Not a thrilling matchup due to the heavy dose of black, but the hints of carolina blue helps this...some.

#14. Broncos-Falcons: Broncos in all white and Falcons in red/white. I know the striping wouldn't match, but just once, I'd like to see the Broncos wear their navy pants with the white jersey. This isn't the worst matchup, but it doesn't excite me much.

#13. Cardinals-Patriots: Cardinals in white/white and the Patriots in dark blue/silver. In recent years, the Patriots started the season going WAH. Not this season. And, I kinda like that. A bit of a bland matchup, truthfully.

#12. Raiders-Dolphins: Oakland in black/silver and the Dolphins in white/white. If you read last year's weekly rankings, you know how much I dig the Dolphs in white/aqua. But that's a look they reserve for away games. But, I can appreciate the look here. Raiders as always, looking nice in the black jerseys with the silver trim.

#11. Vikings-Colts: Vikings in the white/white combo with the Colts in the blue/white. Boy, if the Vikes would have sprung some purple pants on us, I would have had a lump in my throat. But alas. A little purple, a little blue and a lot of white. Rather a fair matchup.

#10. Jets-Steelers: The Jets in all white and the Steelers in the familiar black/yellow combo. The Jets go full white in this one, while the Steelers swing one of the more familiar looks in their black and yellows. Normally I can like this matchup, but I'm just not feeling it this week. Two teams with logo patches here, which is a rarity.

#9. Browns-Bengals: Browns in brown/white and Cincy in white/white. Thanks, Bengals for going WAH. and forcing the Browns to finally wear Brown for the first time since Week 17 when they hosted the Steelers. Bengals staying away from their black pants. But still, nice to see the uniqueness of the Browns wearing their color namesake for a change.

#8. Buccaneers-Giants: Not really a bad matchup. Giants definitely put an order to their unis this year, none of that weird stretchy stuff. Unis look much more organized.  The Bucs go with the pewter pants again and that's a plus for this encounter.

#7. Lions-49ers: Nice traditional matchup. Metals (silver and gold as I channel Burl Ives), scarlets and honolulu blues. Lions in white/silver and Niners in red/gold. Nothing fancy on their own, but when paired up, this works. 

#6. Cowboys-Seahawks: Dallas in white/mint and Seattle in monochrome dark blue. The Seahawks, continue to wear the dark/dark unis, even after the uni overhaul. And to my eyes, it looks even better than before. Cowboys with the usual. I do happen to think this is a good pairing.

#5. Ravens-Eagles: Ravens in purple/white and Eagles in white/green. Philly returns to WAH for their early home games after a year's absence. The Ravens, in a rare move, move the "Art" tribune from a helmet sticker to a jersey patch. The Eagles meanwhile have NO tribute to Steve Van Buren at all, perhaps because he played 60+ years ago? Ugh! Have a little sense of history, man! Back to today. Really not a bad matchup and credit to the Eagles for wearing the green pants or this might have been a thumbs down matchup.

#4. Titans-Chargers: Titans in two tone (columbia and navy) blue and the Chargers, for the first time in a LONG time, sport an all white look. And the Chargers did well to go with this combo. I happen to like the Bolts' white/navy combo, but two reasons why their decision to go all white really works here; 1) It's different and 2) It nicely offsets the Titans and their navy pants. A goody!

#3. Chiefs-Bills: Check this out: Chiefs: red/white/red/white. Bills: white/blue/white/blue. How about that for symmetry? Certainly one of the better matchups in Week 2.

#2. Redskins-Rams: Redskins in white/yellow and the Rams in all navy blue. If the Rams blue were more of the royal variety, this would probably be #1 on the charts with a bullet. But it's still a good one. Unlike most of my peers, I happen to like the dark/dark look. And coupled with the 'Skins in the hot yellow pants, I am a friend of this pairing.

#1. Bears-Packers: Traditional rivals and as always, one of my favorite matchups. Great colors, great contrasts, just 100% pure uni goodness. Greens, yellows, oranges and dark blues. Except for the TV numbers on the Bears going from sleeve to shoulder, Nike didn't mess with these too much.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Before closing, we at the GUD would be remiss if we did not note the passing of Steve Sabol, who was the President of NFL Films.  Steve passed away on 9/18 at the age of 69 after a long bout with brain cancer. While his father Ed was the founder of NFL Films, Steve was the visionary and guiding force of NFL Films.  He and his cohorts turned the visual documentation of the National Football League into an art form.  It is no secret that much of our research at the GUD involved a lot of viewing of NFL Films programming.  It is likely that no sports league on the planet has been as thoroughly on documented on film as the NFL, and the great majority of the credit for that goes to Steve.  He leaves behind an immense legacy for which the GUD and all fans of the NFL are eternally grateful.

We'll be back tomorrow with a new look at a head-to-head series of an upcoming Sunday matchup, but first here's Rob Holecko with a few additional thoughts about Steve Sabol.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks, Tim...  I echo 100% your sentiments about Steve Sabol.  For the last day I have had playing in my iPod Sam Spence's iconic instrumental masterpieces that we all associate with NFL Films.  The classic NFL Films style -- slow-motion, tight-on-the-spiral, with the John Facenda / Harry Kalas narrations is how generations grew up enjoying the NFL.  That style is due to Steve.  He was NFL Films, and he subconsciously embedded in our collective psyche a heroic and entertaining quality to the NFL that in no small way continues to shape what we think of the sport today.  Whenever we hear that music or see an old NFL Films clip we think of how "it used to be", the good old days of football.  Whether it is that classic Sam Spence music that you hum along with with words that aren't there from an old sea shanty:  "What do you do with a drunken sailor/What do you do with a drunken sailor/What do you do with a drunken sailor/Early in the morning" or the visual image of Jackie Smith dropping a sure touchdown in Super Bowl XIII along with Verne Lundquist's radio call: "He's got to be the sickest man in America" or the visual image of Old Man Willie running for a touchdown in Super Bowl XI as we stared into his eyes, or simply John Facenda talking about the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, or Franco Harris reaching down, just out of frame to catch the ball (or not) and go down the sideline with the winning touchdown, or Joe Montana rolling to his right and throwing the ball to just the right spot where Dwight Clark could reach up to the heavens to snatch it, a moment so perfect that we can call it simply "The Catch", all of these images, these iconic moments that we recall, the way that we recall them, is due to NFL Films and Steve Sabol.

For a certain generation of us when we were twelve years old, and depending on exactly what year we were born or what part of the country we were in, in the back yard we imagined we were Montana or Roger Staubach or John Elway or Terry Bradshaw, or Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Bart Starr or even Vinny Testaverde, we dropped back to throw the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl.  In this imaginary fantasy, in our mind's eye we were the heroic champion snatching that moment of victory.  And it all played out in slow motion, because that was how we had seen it done -- John Elway backpeddaling on a cold winter's day in Cleveland and throwing a quick slant pass low to the ground to culminate "The Drive" or a million other moments like that -- in our mind those moments all occurred in slow motion, with Spence providing the soundtrack and Facenda the words.  That world, that emotional connection that so many of us have with football is largely due to the work of Steve Sabol.

Yesterday in Uni Watch, someone linked to an article that was written last summer for the Philadelphia Inquirer about how NFL Films is being dismantled due to the league's creation of and investment in the NFL Network.  Here is a link to that story, it is a good read, and it is sad to see what has become of the organization that for millions of us created how the NFL looked.

http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-29/sports/29829579_1_nfl-films-nfl-films-nfl-network

We leave you with a clip from NFL Films, and RIP Steve:

If Now Was Then...(Part 1)

I was watching a bit of a Tennessee Titans game early in the Preseason and a thought occurred to me. If the Titans were playing back in the 1940s era, what would the jerseys look like? The colored shoulder area likely would have extended all the way to the wrists, I imagined.  

Having recently completed graphical images for the 1920-1932 era over the summer, I decided to broaden my scope and have a bit of fun.  All work and no play, etc, etc. What would EACH current team look like if they were playing back in the times of the leather helmets and long sleeves? I made my first attempts at re-envisioning current uniforms of the Dolphins and Jaguars last year. But this was a horse of a different color.

Intrigued by the prospects, I started to lay some ground rules. But, in the words of Captain Barbossa, these rules are “more what you’d call guidelines than rules.”

White jerseys were not overly frequent so I tried to keep them to a minimum. (In fact, I was able to make due without white jerseys for more than half of all current teams.)

No logos (other than very early Redskins and Pirates/Steelers) ever appeared on jerseys.

Stripes around socks and sleeves tended to be without thin little border stripes and either had no separation or a large amount of separation between them.

One pair of pants allowed per team.

Stripes on pants are located on the backs of the legs…’butt-stripes’ if you will.  I used the model of the 1936 Giants who had 3 color strips in each stripe.

I only used 3 models of helmets – the basic leather, the flying wing with stripes, and the flying wing without stripes.

If the team already existed back in the 30s, 40s, and/or 50s, its design then could be used as a model but I was not putting any limitation on myself saying I HAD to use that exact design.

Unless black is one of the teams’ main ‘colors,’ it does not get used (i.e. Detroit, Philadelphia, & Arizona).

No chromatic limitations. Back in the day, could a manufacturer have made golden jerseys (not yellow – real gold) for a team? Hard to say.

No TV numbers or nameplates.

It’s important to keep in mind that ‘color vs. color’ match-ups were frequent at the time including Green Bay in navy playing Chicago in navy. When teams had secondary uniforms at the time, they saw little action, sometimes never more the two or three Sundays per season. Other teams, like Philadelphia, wore both jerseys interchangeably throughout the season both home and away.

That said, for the next 8 weeks, I will be bringing you these constructs division by division.  The first division to be presented is the ‘grandfather’ of them all, the NFC North…

The NFC North

CHICAGO – Boy, was this difficult! <sarcasm included> Aside from changing the numbers on the navy jersey to orange (as they were back then) and adding a reverse orange secondary combo that was routinely worn throughout the 30s, this IS the Bears.

DETROIT – As with Chicago (and later with Cleveland), I had little choice with Detroit. This is who they are. I removed the highlighting outlines from the northwestern stripes and the numbers and all is good. A grey jersey was not an option.

 GREEN BAY – With the Packers I had a little leeway. Their current design wasn’t established until the 1960s. I decided on using their current stripe pattern as opposed to that of the 60s with the 5 stripes. I eliminated the separation stripes. I opted for their secondary jersey to be yellow. Green Bay actually utilized a mono-yellow look in the late-40s and 1950.

 MINNESOTA – As a Bears fan, it pains me to say this but, for some reason, the Vikings models I put together are my favorites when you compare them to the current versions. I used the original darker purple for the base as opposed to the current "Barney" purple. When they were founded, they featured northwestern stripes on their sleeves and added them to the socks in subsequent years. Removing the yellow outlines and sticking with straight purple and white made for one BAD combination. I went with a white flying wing on a purple helmet that resembles their current design bearing the Viking horns.

Next week, I will continue with the NFC East.  Stay Tuned...

Bill Schaefer

A Head-To-Head History: The Giants and The Buccaneers

Larry Schmitt, who wrote for us this past summer a great series looking at matching rivals, returns with a new weekly series called "A Head-To-Head History" where each Friday we will take an in-depth look at the head-to-head history of two of the teams scheduled to meet each week.  While the most prolific head to head series, the Bears and the Packers, met last night for the 183rd time, we will begin this series today with a look back at the history of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (my favorite team) and the New York Giants (his).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Infrequent meeting these days, there was a time when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Giants, although never in the same division, knew each other as well as their regular division foes.

Tampa Bay joined the NFL in 1976 as a member of the AFC West. A slight course correction in geography moved them a little closer to home in 1977 as they relocated to the NFC Central. In the days of the 28-team NFL, each conference had two five-team divisions and one four-team division. To balance out each teams 16-game schedule, the last place teams from the five-team divisions would face one another twice the following season.

The upstart 5-0 1979 Bucs lost
to an 0-5 Giants team in
Phil Simms' first career start

Being an expansion team prior to free agency, it was expected for Tampa Bay to struggle for wins for some time as they built their team patiently though the draft. The Giants were mired in a decade of despair in the 70's, regularly finishing with records tallying losses in double-digits. Hence, following their initial meeting in 1977 (the Buccaneers 23rd consecutive loss since joining the league), they would meet four times over the next two seasons.

After having spent their inaugural season wearing their white jerseys, Tampa Bay broke out their Florida Orange jerseys in '77 and kept them as their home choice into the mid '80's. When the 3-5 Giants arrived in Week 9 they were sporting the most atypical uniform set of their mostly conservative and traditional history. Whoever designed New York's 1975 - 79 uniforms sure did like stripes! The tone of royal blue was also brighter than in past years, which really stood out on the blue pants they wore with their white jerseys.

These non-divisional rivals
played home-and-home
series in 1978, 79, and 84
thanks to how the NFL
scheduled 5th place finishing
teams from 1978-2001

The combination of the white-helmeted Buccaneers with their Florida Orange jerseys and the Giants royal blue helmets and pants proved complimentary and works quite well. Unfortunately, both teams finish at the bottom of their divisions and would have a rematch on opening day in Tampa Stadium in 1978. In October the Buccaneers made their first trip to The Meadowlands. The red numbers on the Buccaneers nearly all white uniforms stood out in their predominantly blue surroundings. Both teams had dismal years, but things began to turn upward for Tamp Bay. The next meeting in 1979 featured the surprising 5-0 Buccaneers visiting the 0-5 Giants. This was New York QB Phil Simms first start and he would manage the Giants to a 17-14 upset victory {Simms finished the game 6-12 for 37 yards, but no turnovers}. The rematch in Tampa saw the Bucs first win over New York come in convincing fashion with a 31-3 win on their way to a 10-6 NFC Central crown and playoff birth. By this time, the Giants had mothballed their blue pants, but seemingly quadrupled their sock stripes.

The 1980 rematch saw the Giants turn the clock back as they removed the white stripes from the helmets. The blue-red-blue pants stripes and sleeve trim and solid blue socks were identical to New York's pre 1975 uniform. The on field results did not change however as Tampa Bay romped again. 1984 saw a home-and-home square off between the teams for a final time. The first meeting in New York featured Lawrence Taylor terrorizing Tampa Bay QB Steve DeBerg with four sacks, but James Wilder helped exact revenge with a 99-yard effort in Tampa Stadium.

This 1999 opening day Bucs'
loss featured Trent Dilfer
throwing a key late INT that
sealed the game for the G-Men

Since 1985 the Giants and Buccaneers have met 10 times. Nine of those meetings have featured the Giants in blue and the Bucs in white, even though only five of those games were in The Meadowlands.  They met three consecutive years beginning in 1997, the first year of the pewter and red Buccaneers. There were all defensively dominated games. Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch had the upper hand as they did not allow the Giants offense to score a single TD over 12 quarters of play! The Giants managed to win the third game of the series with two defensive returns in a 17-13 opening day win in 1999 (helped by a horrible performance by Trent Dilfer which saw him booed off the field), as the Giants wore a 75th anniversary patch on their royal blue jerseys.

This Sunday will be the eighth
meeting since the Bucs changed
colors in 1997, yet this 2003
MNF game was the only time
they've worn Red against the
Giants, going WAH in 4 day games
in Tampa.

When they met again on a Monday night in 2003, the Giants wore their white jerseys in Tampa Stadium for the first time in 19 years. Of course, the Giants had a very different by then, with the "ny" logo on the helmet, grey pants and blue-trimmed red numbers on the stripe-less white jerseys. The defending Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers handed the Giants a loss again without surrendering a touchdown defensively. The Giants lone touchdown in the 19-13 game was a 4th quarter INT return.

The 2006 meeting in Giants Stadium was hyped as the final on-field meeting between the Barber brothers as Giants HB Tiki had declared the remainder of the season would be his personal farewell tour just a week earlier. Defenses ruled yet again on this cold and blustery day - the teams combined for just 148 yards passing - but the Giants came out ahead 17-3 as their offense found the endzone twice.

The only postseason meeting in
this series was the beginning of
the Giants' run to Super Bowl XLII

The first, and so far only, post season meeting between New York and Tampa Bay occurred in the 2007 Wild Card game at Raymond James Stadium. As has been their trend since the early 90's, the Buccaneers chose white jerseys for the afternoon contest. Eli Manning, supported by the Giants ferocious pass rush, lead the Giants to their 8th consecutive road victory on their way to Super Bowl XLII.

When the teams met on a rainy day in September 2009, Tampa Bay again went white at home, but both teams changed up their pants. The Buccaneers wore their white alternates, and the Giants wore their "five-stripe" pants that had previously been worn only with their white jerseys.

This Sunday at Met Life Stadium we can be assured more of the same. The Giants will undoubtedly have on their home blues (the "five-stripe" pants are now their only set) with the Buccaneers wearing white, and defensive stars like Justin Tuck and Rhonde Barber will wreak havoc on the opposing offenses.

Week 1 Uniform Matchup Rankings

Welcome back to the 2012 edition of the GUD's weekly uniform rankings.

Last year, I did a weekly ranking of uniform matchups that were based on one thing, how pleasing they were to my eyes. As I stated last year, these are my rankings and mine alone, and these are the way I feel about them as I type them. My opinions could easily change from week to week. So how lousy I feel about a particular matchup in Week 1 might be how great I feel about the exact same matchup in Week 14.

#16. Falcons-Chiefs: Lotta red here, but most of it is KC red. ATL red is but a trim color. Chiefs, like the Bears, are giving the sleeve stripes more notice by moving the TV numbers from the sleeve to the shoulder. I'm not seeing a lot of cool colors here, an OK matchup.

#15. Patriots-Titans: The Titans are one of many teams that like to go white at home (WAH) early in the season before switching to the darks, mostly for "hot weather" reasons. This forces the Patriots to go dark blue. Titans chose to wear their columbia blue pants. This isn't a bad matchup, just not one that gives me color sensations.

#14. Jaguars-Vikings: Again, little change from the Reeboks to the Nikes, but honestly, not a very exciting matchup. Jags should have opened up the teal more with this set, but alas. The Vikes purple does work for me. The matchup is average.

Even a nice classic matchup
unaffected by the new Nike Collars
could do no better than #11

#13. Bengals-Ravens: Purple and black against orange and black, plus a lot of white. A pair of black pants on one of these teams, and I think it would have been in my Top 5. But alas, it's an early season gig, so the likely reason both are in white pants.

#12. 49ers-Packers: "America's Game of the Week," or so Fox shamelessly says (although they apparently say that about all 4:25 games.)  This one just wasn't quite "America's Uniform Matchup of the Week." Still, a lot of the traditional look. Bright red and gold trim on the Niners away unis and the Pack strutting the familiar green and gold look.

#11.  Colts-Bears: The Colts with no change from 2011, while the Bears place the TV numbers from the sleeves to the shoulders, creating much needed space for the sleeve stripes. Works well, and while a tad dry, a ton of traditional for these two long time NFL squads.

#10.  Cowboys-Giants: The season lidlifter features the defending NFL Champions against a worthy opponent. The Giants are now wearing the gray separated striped pants full time. The Cowboys have the same basic look. The Cowboys continue the "fifty shades of grey" look with the bluish helmets and the greenish (my wife calls them "minty") pants. A traditional look. The Giants, staying modest, did not have a "Super Bowl Champions" patch. Nice, but not eye popping.

#9. Eagles-Browns: There was some buzz that the Browns were going to wear brown for this encounter, but not to be. The Eagles went with green (which - at least to me - seems not quite as dark as in previous years) and the Browns went with the full white treatment. Not a bad matchup. Guess we'll have to wait later in the season for the Browns to wear their namesake.

Maybe if the Jets had worn
green pants (or green jerseys &
the Bills had worn Blue pants)
this matchup could have
been higher than #6

#8. Rams-Lions: The Rams decided to ditch the gold pants, which has some in despair. And perhaps it would have been nice to see them here. But, for a weird reason, I like this all white look for STL. And with the Lions in traditional honolulu blue and the silver fixin's, this matchup happens to agree with me.

#7. Chargers-Raiders: Chargers in white/navy with the Raiders in black/silver. Rather predictable, but in this case, it's a good match. Good colors and they mix decently.

#6. Bills-Jets: Bills in year two of the uniform reform. The Jets, going all white at home, socks included. Love how the Bills blue really sparkle, it's a perfect shade. The Jets all whites somehow works here in a matchup that hearkens back to the 1965-72 era. It does work.

#5. Seahawks-Cardinals:  Still unsure where I fit into the Seahawks new look. This combo is a nice one. Just a little uncomfortable with the Nike gang making the swoosh the focal point of the sleeve. The Cardinals rock the red. On a color scale, one of the better uni matchups for Week 1.

#4. Dolphins-Texans: The Texans have traditonally opened their home seasons with an all-white look. This means that the Dolphins have to wear their aqua jerseys and the unusual combo for the both teams is a pleasant change. What could have made this matchup possibly the best for Week 1 is if the Texans would have worn the rare red pants, or even red socks. Still, a nice change for me.

This nice looking WAH matchup
just missed the top spot

#3. Panthers-Buccaneers: Whenever Carolina rocks the carolina blue jerseys, it's just plain magic. Paired up with the Bucs in white/pewter, it's a great matchup. I just like this setup a lot.

#2. Redskins-Saints: This is a beauty. Saints going white at home and the Redskins have to wear the burgundy. Not counting the mashup of striping combos on the Skins, Washington is wearing the yellow pants with the burgundy socks loaded with striping. The Saints, trotting out the faded vegas gold pants, and this just gives me a visual joy to look at.

#1. Steelers-Broncos: For the first time since 1996, the Broncos are using orange as the base jersey color for home games, and it's long overdue. 5 different colors at play here; black. navy, white, yellow and orange. Bright and sunshiny. A great uni matchup!

The long awaited return of the "Orange Crush"
home unis (and Peyton Manning)
brought this matchup the top spot

What do you think?  Agree or disagree with these uniform matchup assessments?  Let us know in the comments.  Which game do you think will be the best looking game in Week 2?  Check back with us next week to find out in the next installment of the GUD's Weekly Uniform Rankings!

The Gridiron Uniform Database Welcomes the Pro Bowl

It is our pleasure at the Gridiron Uniform Database to bring your the graphic history of the Pro Bowl.  Ably detailed by our graphic engineer Bill Schaefer, we would like to take this time to walk you through the history of the Pro Bowl uniforms, as well as the AFL All-Star Game.

We start with the very first NFL Pro All-Star Game between the New York Giants and the NFL All-Stars (with help from some players from non-NFL west coast teams) played at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles on January 15, 1939.  The Giants wore their standard red jersey, while the All-Stars wore a rather generic uniform of white helmet, plain blue jerseys, white pants and blue socks.  For the next two Pro Star games (both played in L.A.), the NFL Champs (the Packers and Bears respectively) wore their normal garments, while the All-Stars wore outfits that featured a red jersey with a white shoulder insert with a blue star on each shoulder.  After the 1941 and 1942 seasons, the Pro Star Game was played in the colder climes of New York and then Philadelphia.  Uniform wise, these games resembled their baseball counterpart as the Champions wore their own unis against the All-Stars, who wore their normal team outfits, making for a colorful - if helter-skelter - look for the brave fans in the stands.

After an eight year hiatus, the Pro All-Star Game was resurrected by the Los Angeles Newspaper Charities Associaiton and played at the Memorial Coliseum.  The format was the best of the American Conference playing the best of the National Conference.  The uniforms were exact duplicates of each other, with one team in red helmets and jerseys, the other side in blue helmets and jerseys.  In the 1952 season game, the Pro Bowl rectified the confusing scenario by permanently outfitting the American (soon to be Eastern) Conference in red helmets and jerseys and the National (soon to be Western) Conference in blue helmets, but with white jerseys.

The East and West would retain the jersey colors right through 1969.  The only real changes to these duds would be: 1957 season when both team would apply white rounded helmet numbers, 1958 season when the helmet numbers were dropped, but TV numbers would be added to the sleeves of both jerseys, and a thick red shoulder stripe would be added to the East's red jerseys, 1965 season when the generic helmets would be repainted gold for both squads, with a red/white/red stripe pattern for the East and a blue/white/blue stripe pattern was given to the West. And for 1969 season, both sides wore the commemorative patch for the NFL's 50th season on their left shoulders.

Before we hit the Pro Bowl chronology since the 1970 merger, let's take a quick rundown of the AFL All-Star Game's uni history.  The AFL didn't start playing an All-Star Game until year 2, after the 1961 season.  The East wore a white jersey with blue shoulders bedecked in white stars while the West players wore red jerseys with white shoulders and a bevy of red stars.  The unique feature was that the players wore their regular team helmets in the fray, making the game a little more colorful.  The Divisions would switch uni colors every now and then through the years. One game (played after the 1965 season) featured the Champion vs. All-Stars format (similar to what the National Hockey League was doing with their All-Star Game at the time), with the Buffalo Bills wearing their normal white uniform against the All-Star clad in red. Changes to the unis came in the last two years the AFL ASG was played (1968 and 1969 seasons).  The East would have all players wearing a plain white helmet and the West featured the players in solid blue helmets.  The next year, the AFL, perhaps sensing history, bedecked both teams with the AFL logo on the helmets and the jerseys.  The ASG game played on January 17, 1970, was the very last the American Football League game ever played.  One twist of irony in the AFL All-Stat Game...one of the innovations of the AFL, names on the backs of the jerseys, was never worn on any of the AFL All-Star jerseys!

Now back to the post-merger NFL. The Pro Bowl was now referred to as the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, and the uniforms reflected the new NFL.  The best of the AFC would wear a red helmet with a large white "A" trimmed in blue, with a white/blue/white stripe combo, a white jersey with "AMERICAN" on the front in red with red numbers and finally, names on the back, red pants and white socks.  The NFC's finest would sport a white helmet with a medium sized blue "N" outlined in red, with a blue/red/blue stripe pattern, blue jerseys with "NATIONAL" on the front in white with white numbers also with names on the back, white pants and blue socks.  With the exception of some tweaking (or in case after the '73 season, the removal) of the stripes, these unis would be untouched through the 1977 season ending Pro Bowl.

In the 1978 season game, the NFL decided to allow the players to wear the same team logo helmets they  wore during the season.  This look would last right through the 1987 season ender.

Starting with the 1988 season finale, the NFL began the tricking up phase of PB uniforms.  For the first time, stars became a part of the look, going down the sides of the pants, as well as the PB logo on the jerseys. Also for the first time in 1988, the maker's mark (Wilson) was affixed to the uni.  This revision lasted through the 1993 season ender.

By the 1994 season, the Pro Bowl unis entered their current phase, with uniforms changing design every two or three years.  Such zany items as fading colors, sublimated logos, team wordmarks, PB logos below the back numbers, ankle length pants (the 2010 season edition), etc. come to mind.

But two things have remained constant in spite of the free-form design era:  1) Players wearing their own teams' helmets and 2) The base color for the AFC has always been red and the NFC's has always been blue.  That goes back to the 1970 merger.

Oops! I almost forgot!  We even added the lone AAFC All-Star Game, the Shamrock Bowl that was played after the AAFC's 1949 season!

I'd like to thank the website mmbolding.com in particular for their detailed history of the Pro Bowl.  Also we courtesy the database of the Los Angeles Times, gettyimages.com, google news archive and newspaperarchive.com for much of the information that you see here.  Again, without the artistic talents of our own graphic engineer, Bill Schaefer, the GUD would not be able to make this valuable addition to the database.  Whatever you may think of the Pro Bowl today, the game has been an integral part of the NFL's history and to not include it would be a disservice to the mission of the GUD.

With the recent completion of adding the 1920-1932 uniforms and this inclusion of the Pro Bowl's uniform history, the GUD has completed its task of the complete history of Pro Football Uniforms from the beginning...or have we?  Stay with us for the coming season to find out!  

Steve Van Buren, Mr. Eagle

Steve Van Buren, arguably still the greatest Philadelphia Eagle of them all, passed away on August 24, 2012.  While his death stirred little news outside of Philadelphia and possibly Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he attended college at LSU, his impact on the annals of NFL history is immeasurable.

In his sophomore NFL season,
Van Buren scored 110 points
on 18 TDs (15 rushing,
2 receiving, 1 kick return),
astronomical numbers for his day

Born in Honduras, he played for the Eagles from 1944 through 1951, only eight seasons, but in those eight seasons he had 5,860 rushing yards, which was an NFL record that lasted until Jim Brown came along.  He also led the NFL in rushing four times; 1945, 1947, 1948 and 1949.  He, Brown (twice) and Emmitt Smith are the only rushers to lead the league three consecutive seasons.  He was a consensus All-Pro five times, and the first Eagle ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, entering in 1965,  in only the third class of enshrinees in the Hall's history.  In 1994, he was selected to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is the years of 1947, 1948 and 1949 the we will focus on here.  For in those three seasons, the Eagles truly hit their golden era.  The Eagles made the NFL Championship Game in 1947 by winning a tiebreaker game at Pittsburgh (the Steelers only playoff game in 39 years) for the Eastern Division crown.  The Birds then lost a back and forth thriller against the Cardinals at Comiskey Park in Chicago, 28-21.  Although Van Buren did get a touchdown in the game, on a one yard plunge, he was held in check by the Cardinals defense, racking up only 26 yards on 18 carries.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
  

In the 1948 Championship Game at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, commonly known nowadays as the Blizzard Bowl, Van Buren scored the lone touchdown in the game, late in the fourth quarter, a five yard romp off right tackle.  The Eagles won their first NFL title, 7-0.  In spite of the nearly white-out conditions, Steve was a workhouse, plowing for 98 yards on 26 attempts.  Van Buren almost missed the game. Thinking the game would not be played due to the weather, he remained home until Eagles coach Earle "Greasy" Neale called him and told him the game was still on. He had to catch 3 trolleys and walk 6 blocks in order to make the game on time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Early in his sixth season, on a Monday Night in Detroit (on a game that was broadcast -- at least by 1949 standards -- on ABC over 20 years before Monday Night Football began) Van Buren broke Clark Hinkle's NFL career rushing record of 3860 yards, rushing for 135 yards on 33 attempts with two touchdowns against the Lions.  

Later in the season, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, he had one of his best games of his career, rushing for 205 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Led by Van Buren the Eagles coasted to an 11-1 record and won the Eastern Division to reach their third consecutive NFL Championship Game where they would face the Los Angeles Rams. This would be the first championship game ever played on the west coast, and the Eagles won their second straight title, defeating the Rams 14-0 at the Coliseum.  The game was played in a steady flow of rain.  Though he didn't score, and though the field was quite treacherous, Van Buren was certainly the player of the game, racking up an astounding 196 yards on 31 rushes, including a long one for 49 yards.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the two Eagles championship games that were played in, to be kind, miserable conditions -- Van Buren racked up an incredible 294 yards on the ground.  He was definitely a "clutch" player to be sure!
   

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve's number 15 has been long retired by the Eagles.  While at the time of this writing it is uncertain how the Eagles will memorialize SVB on their uniforms, I would certainly hope it would be with the jersey patch as opposed to a 1" decal on the helmet.  The Gridiron Uniform Database remembers Steve Van Buren, still the highest flying Eagle of them all.

(Information courtesy of pro-foootball-reference.com and wikipedia.org)