Happy Thankgiving & Week 11 Uniform Rankings

Here at The Gridiron Uniform Database, we hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.  In a moment, Tim's review of last week's uni-matchups.  Speaking of Thanksgiving matchups, we we're all disappointed that the Lions didn't wear their throwbacks yesterday, but the Cowboys made up for it by wearing their throwbacks, proving once and for all that the "no throwbacks or alts after Week 10" rule hasn't been adopted by the NFL (unless there is a "Thanksgiving Day exception")  As far as we know, however, the Bucs are still planning on wearing the Creamsicles on December 4 against Carolina, and we also wouldn't mind seeing "Pat the Patriot" once more this year. 

   

The Cowboys did wear the Thanksgiving throwback they have been sporting in recent years, however I personally would have rather seen this throwback featured to the left.  Also we're thankful that the Ravens went with white pants with their Black alts, choosing to eschew the "head-to-toe" black look that doesn't look good on the Saints, let alone the Ravens.
 

Our Bill Schaefer came up with a "What If..." tweak -- what if the Lions used the darker shade of Blue in their logo on their uniforms instead of the Honolulu blue?  Bill writes, "How much better would the Lions look if they used the same blue of their field logo and end zone script?  (Maybe if they were playing outdoors on grass it would even look better yet! -RH) This is a quick mock-up done on spur of the moment using dark blue like the Lions used back in late 60s and into the 70s." Here's what Bill came up with:

And one more thing, the 2010 head-to-head matchups are all on the website!  You can easily view them by going to the new 2010 past season index page in the index (linked on the front page to the right of the 2011 weeks listed below the web counter) There you will now find "Weekly Indexes", "Past Team Indexes" and the recently added "Past Season Indexes."  While we do intend on eventually having all of the 'Weekly' and 'Team' indexes completed and on the website, as we've said before, our priority is first getting all of the head-to-head matchups on the site.  So we will be adding "Past Season Index" pages in order to make it easy to find all past season matchups.  So next onto 2009...  (We plan on doing them in reverse chronological order, i.e. 2009, 2008, etc, however if there is a particular past matchup [like this, this, this or this] you would like to see the artwork for, just let us know - either in the comments below, in the forum or by email or twitter.)

Also in the next day, some major database updates, including some AAFC revamps and some other recent changes involving two of our favorite words here at The Gridiron Uniform Database: socks and durene.  

Now onto the Week 11 Uniform Rankings:

~ ~ ~

Week 11 Uniform Rankings

by Tim Brulia

It's time to review the Week 11 uni matchups. If sources are correct, we may not be seeing any more alternates or throwbacks this season. We definitely didn't see any this week. Having said that, we may still see off the cuff combos as the pants hold the key to what could be some rarely seen combos. Stay tuned.

Jets-Broncos: What I said. Jets in white/white, BUT with green socks. Something we haven't seen in four years! Broncos in the rare navy/navy combo. Score one for the unexpected! A very nice and colorful look.

Buccaneers-Packers: Bucs trot out the white/pewter garb and the Pack in the normal and effective green/yellow. Bucs go to the pewter and it works well against the Packer fare. A fine matchup.

Panthers-Lions: A battle of the felines that is also a bit of a battle of the silvers and blues. Panthers go with the white/white and the Lions rock the Honolulu blue/silver. A slightly underwhelming matchup.

Jaguars-Browns: Jags in the teal/white combo and the Browns in the ever present white/white. This nice as the Jags wearing teal, no matter how stretchy and bland the design is, always score style points when the teal is used. Browns keeping the all-white streak perfect thus far for the 2011 regular season.

Raiders-Vikings: Raider in standard white/silver with the Vikes going purple/white. Nothing exciting, but it's actually a decent looking matchup.

Bills-Dolphins: The slumping Bills in blue/white and the Dolphins in the home white/whites. Oh, how I yearn for the Fish to bust out and flash those aqua trousers at home! Too much white (helmet, pants) for my fancy.

Cowboys-Redskins: In the Joe Gibbs days, we would've seen the Cowboys in their blue jerseys and it would have been one of the nicer looking games. But this is 2011 and the Skins wear burgundy for the home games. And they also wore the white pants, too. Cowboys in white/silver blue green. It does remind me of those old Cowboy-Redskin shootouts...in Irving. I would've preferred the Skins in yellow pants (or possibly burgundy?), but this is a nice one anyway.

Bengals-Ravens: Aha! Bengals go with the white over black and the Ravens go with purple/white. Nice! Loads better than had Cincy broke out the white/white look. Kudos to the Bengals for making this one better.

Cardinals-49ers: And again the Big Red fail us with the white/white look. Niners in the usual red/gold. Might have been a lot of red if the Cardinals had indeed wore red pants, but it would have a bold and better move.

Seahawks-Rams: Seattle in white/white, with the Rams in blue/blue, making this their most worn combo so far this season. I do like this one. But it's not grabbing me like it did when StL wore all blue last week. Too much blue, when the Seahawks are included, maybe?

Titans-Falcons: This one leaves a good taste in my mouth. Titans in white/columbia blue and the Falcs in red/white. A lot of nice and different colors in the palette here. Thumbs up!

Chargers-Bears: Bolts in white/navy and the Bears in navy/white. Another one where, for whatever reason, 2 + 2 = 5. These are nice unis worn by both teams, but when they are united, just aren't working for me. We'll see how they stand when I rank them. They might get away with it!

Eagles-Giants: Another NFC East matchup. Gotta say this about this division. They all wear quite colorful unis. Eagles in white/green and the Giants in blue/gray. Simple, yet effective.

Chiefs-Patriots: Chiefs, thankfully, resisting the temptation to go all white so far in 2011. KC keeps the very nice white/red combo intact and the Pats in their normal blue/silver combo. Nice looking matchup.

And with that, here's how I rank the above from top to bottom:

1) Titans-Falcons

2) Jets-Broncos

3) Bengals-Ravens

4) Eagles-Giants

5) Cowboys-Redskins

6) Buccaneers-Packers

7) Chiefs-Patriots

8) Seahawks-Rams

9) Jaguars-Browns

10) Chargers-Bears

11) Raiders-Vikings

12) Cardinals-49ers

13) Panthers-Lions

14) Bills-Dolphins

Week 10 Uniform Rankings

Week 10 Uniform Rankings
by Tim Brulia

(ed. note: we apologize for the delay in not getting this Uniform Rankings Post up sooner -RH)

We now enter the second half of the season, punctuated by the start-up of the Thursday Night games. If what the NFL said before the season is true, then we are likely not to see the Chargers' powder blues this season. We also had a slight surprise with white at home this week...then again, maybe not. Anyway,

Raiders-Chargers: No surprises, though as we mentioned, it is now not too likely that we'll see SD in the powder blues for 2011. Traditional matchup with the Raiders trotting out white/silver and the Chargers in navy/white.  (Yes if they can't wear powder blues for a prime-time home game, they I don't see it happening. -RH)

Cardinals-Eagles: Again, a couple of NFL old-liners and again, a missed opportunity by the Cardinals to rock red pants with the white jerseys. So they elect to go white/white and the Eagles stay true with green/white. Meh, could have been more.

Bills-Cowboys: Bills looking good in the blue/white with Big D staying true to form in white/quasi-silver. Actually a nice matchup.

Broncos-Chiefs: Another traditional one, with the Broncos going white/white against the Chiefs in the bright red/white uni. Just a little too much white for this old soul to deal with.

This combo is Rob's favorite
Bucs' combo as well.

Texans-Buccaneers: The Texans rock the white/navy while the Bucs sparkle with the red/white. My flavor today is that red/white works better than red/pewter. I think it brightens up the red.

Jaguars-Colts: White/black go the Jags and blue/white go the Colts. The Jags black pants help this matchup more than had they dressed up in all white. Still, not a real eye pleaser.

Saints-Falcons: Saints going white/black and the Falcs rock the black/white throwbacks. Hmm. I think from a color viewpoint, I would have stayed with the red/white look if I were the Falcons. And normally I would have preferred NO's black pants, but I think the gold pants might have worked a little better here. Not a bad matchup, but I think less might have actually been better here.

Steelers-Bengals: Steelers working the white/yellow get up with the Bengals in black/white. Yes, this works. No black/black for Cincy and I'm glad. Would have been just a little too strong if they had.

Rams-Browns: Rams all blue and Browns all white. I actually like this matchup of extremes. Rams did the right thing with the all blue, more than offsets the Browns all white. Plus the orange helmet just adds a spike of contrast that makes this games work,

Titans-Panthers: Titans in white/columbia blue and, for the first time this season, the Panthers bring out the black/silver look. And ya know what? it works! Had the Panthers brought out carolina blue or white, it would have been a little too blue for me. Winning, in my opinion.

Redskins-Dolphins: We know the Fish like to go all white at home. But, we didn't know that the Skins would go white panted instead of yellow. Too much white and drops this matchup significant notches.

Ravens-Seahawks: Ravens go white/white (Steeler success??) as the Seahawks go with standard quasi-blue/quasi-blue. It is a plus that the Ravens went all white as I think the black pants would not have added anything here. (Muttering) Just wish the 'Hawks would show us the almost never worn navy pants here. I would've given Seattle extra credit!

Lions-Bears: Lions with standard white/silver and the Bears dress up in alternate orange/white. Bears get a lot of groans from rock hard traditionalists for the orange jerseys, but I happen to dig them. Plus you keep the navy helmet and socks, and really, what's the problem? I like it!

This didn't get higher than #8?

Giants-49ers: NY goes white/away gray and Niners of course in red/gold. Somehow, I like this one. Just a little too much red for me, maybe the G-Men in blue socks would have been the spark that would really worked for me. As it is, it is still a nice matchup.

Patriots-Jets: The Jets go white at home (white at home), a nice - er - surprise? Then again, maybe not. The Jets breakout white at home maybe once or twice a season. But, per our white at home research, this makes 4 of the last 5 years that the Patriots (blue/silver) have been the opponent for the Jets' white at home efforts. Had the Jets gone with green trousers, the bonus points would have added up. Too bad.

Vikings-Packers: Vikes go all white and the Pack in the standard green/yellow. Vikes seldom trot out the purple pants anymore and boy, this would have added some big style points. But, no. The Packers' green just adds notches no matter who they play.


So, here are the rankings from the bottom to the top for Week 10:

16) Jaguars-Colts (Boy, 0-10 and worst uniform rankings of the week, too?!)
15) Raiders-Chargers
14) Broncos-Chiefs
13) Redskins-Dolphins
12) Ravens-Seahawks
11) Cardinals-Eagles
10) Saints-Falcons
9) Patriots-Jets
8) Giants-49ers
7) Steelers-Bengals
6) Bills-Cowboys
5) Texans-Buccaneers
4) Vikings-Packers
3) Lions-Bears
2) Titans-Panthers
1) Rams-Browns

Week 9 Uniform Rankings

Before we get to Tim's rankings, we here at The Gridiron Uniform Database want to unveil a new feature that we told you about earlier this week, and that is the beginning of the addition to the database of the yearly week-by-week uniform displays.  If you'll notice on the main front page, the team names are now clickable, and you can click on them and see the teams uniforms for the year on a week-by-week basis.  You can also access this page by clicking on the "Index" link to the right of the weeks, where you'll see a new section entitled "Historical Teams Week-by-Week Index."  When looking at the 2011 teams, you'll notice that the AFC teams have a little more information than the NFC teams.  As were putting in the information, we decided to eliminate that part of it for now, as our goal is to get the information onto the website as fast as possible.  We intend on adding the 2010 weekly team schedules next week, and adding a year each week as we go forward.  We hope you enjoy this new feature of our website!

~ ~ ~

Week 9 Uniform Rankings
by Tim Brulia

Hi, all. My apologies for the tardiness of this week's installments. Without further adieu...

Falcons-Colts: Falcons in the white/white look and the (now) hapless Colts in the normal blue/white get up. Nothing unusual or really exciting about this one. I think the Falcons still have black pants in their closet. That would have helped here.

Browns-Texans: Browns continue to go white/white as the Texans whip out their dark blue/white kit. Again, nothing exciting, but it's not all that bad.

Dolphins-Chiefs: Again, no surprises. But, this is a nice one. Shows what a nice little boost a pair of dark pants provides a uni matchup. If this game were at Miami, it would have been much more dull. With the Fish in white/aqua and the Chiefs in red/white, this is a goody.

Jets-Bills: This one was a pleasant surprise. The Bills decided to go white at home for the first time since October 19, 1986. A span of 25 years. Why? Who knows and who cares? It was an interesting change for sure, and the Jets made the occasion a little better by including their green pants for a green/green combo. While it was rumored in uni circles that the Bills would show off some blue pants, they stayed with a white/white look. But the Bills put a twist on the occasion with the blue socks that are normally worn with the blue jersey. It worked well.

49ers-Redskins: Niners in the white/gold combination while the Redskins went with the yellow pants to go with the burgundy tops. Interesting variations on a burgundy/red and a yellow/gold basis. Not flashy, but I like it.

Seahawks-Cowboys: Of course, with the Cowboys at home, they go white/quasi-silver which make the Seahawks go quasi-blue/quasi-blue. Not really a bad uni match up, but it's one I can't get all that worked up over.

Buccaneers-Saints: Bucs go with white/white here, but they story is that the Saints breakout the 1967 throwbacks for aseconf time this season and the "metal" colors compliment each other. The pewter, the (various shades of) gold, the black, etc. with a hint of Buccaneer red. It works nicely.

Bengals-Titans: In the mid-2000's, these teams would mix and match so often, that this encounter could have been a whole explosion of color. But these have toned it down a little, so what was worn (Bengals in white/white, Titans in columbiablue/navy blue) was not an unexpected jolt. And actually, the Bengals going all white probably worked better than had they worn their black pants for this one.

Broncos-Raiders: Absolutely no surprises here. Broncos in white/white with the Raiders in black/silver. Not bad, but not the best, either.

Packers-Chargers: Chargers going back to dark at home (navy/white). Not a good time to do so as it forced the Packers to go with white/yellow. Always a tad disappointing when the Chargers nix the powder blues, but this is what we have and it's just OK.

Giants-Patriots: Hearkens back to that Super Bowl XLII matchup. Giants in white/gray and the Pats in dark blue/silver. Lots of silver/gray, lots of blue and lots of red. 

Rams-Cardinals: Rams with about every combo possible this season. Their 7th. In the white/gold look and the Cardinals rocking their black alternate jersey with the white pants. Would have been quite interesting and amusing if the Big Red would have trotted out their red pants for the occasion. This was still a nice little matchup here.

Ravens-Steelers: Ravens keep the black pants at home, which did surprise me, to go white/white while the Steelers pulled out their early 1960's throwbacks. I do like to see them once in a while, the yellow helmet/black jersey with 100% yellow trim and the white pants. Alas for the Steelers, the throwbacks did not faze Flacco and his crew as they pulled out a thriller.

Bears-Eagles: Nice color matchup provided by two of the NFL's old guard. Bears in white/navy and the Eagles in the green/white. Smart look by both teams without even trying.

And so, the countdown:

14) Falcons-Colts

13) Seahawks-Cowboys

12) Giants-Patriots

11) Broncos-Raiders

10) Browns-Texans

9) Packers-Chargers

8) Ravens-Steelers

7) Buccaneers-Saints

6) Rams-Cardinals

5) 49ers-Redskins

4) Bengals-Titans

3) Bears-Eagles

2) Dolphins-Chiefs

1) Jets-Bills

If You Hear Hooves, It May Be Zebras After All

NFL Game Officials Uniforms

by Tim Brulia

In most every single team sport (volleyball and water polo are the only exceptions I can think of), there are not two but THREE teams on the playing surface. The two competing teams, and the officials.

In every historical uniform database that I am aware of, no description or graphic portrayal exists of the uniform history of a sport's officials' uniform through the years...until now.

The Gridiron Uniform Database is pleased to present the newest addition to our research findings, a descriptive chronological history of Game Officials uniforms of the National Football League, All-America Football Conference and American Football League from the very beginning (1920) to today. You can find the chronology under the research tab at the top of the Gridiron Uniform Database's main page.

The chronology lists the years when major changes occurred to the unis as well as when any change, however minor, occurred to the uniform. We also include the details of the AFL's officials and the AAFC's officials uniforms as well.

We also include the four occurrences of memorial armbands that were worn by NFL officials.

We even include special patches and special occasion uniforms by the refs over the years.

A couple of "Did You Know's?" to whet your appetite...

1) Did you know that for the first 27 years of the NFL, a ref didn't have to wear a cap if he didn't want to?

2) Did you know that for Super Bowls I and II, the combined NFL-AFL officiating crews wore a special uniform?

There's many more little tidbits like that throughout the research. Please take a look!

And as always, please alert us at the Gridiron Uniform Database if you spot any errors or something else we may have missed, either by email or on our forum.

Enjoy!

The Monday Rob #1

The Gridiron Uniform Database Blog
The Monday Rob #1

by Rob Holecko

I have heard from many of you that you miss the articles that the Gridiron Uniform Database blog presented earlier this year, after the launch of our impressive site this summer.  While I appreciate the comments and kind words, producing a worthy blog article every day did take a lot of time, spare time which I just haven't had to devote to the website after the academic year started back up again.  Also, during the first few months of this site, there were many changes and corrections to the database that provided a lot of content for the blog, content that somewhat dried up as many of those changes have been completed, leaving daily blog updates somewhat unnecessary.

But due to popular demand, we have decided to debut here today a new Monday column that will run every week called "The Monday Rob."  It will give me a weekly opportunity to cover the type of material that I used to bring daily in the blog, such as new developments here at the Gridiron Uniform Database, and a weekly "rundown" of the NFL uniform news of the weekend.  Tim Brulia will continue to bring his weekly uniform rankings, Vilk-style, later in the week.

This new weekly format will afford us the opportunity to keep everyone up to date with what's been going on around here, without the time commitment of a daily report.  With the limited spare time that I have had to devote to the Gridiron Uniform Database, I frankly thought it was a better use of that time to devote it to working on the database itself than on daily blog entries.

While from the front page of the database you can easily view all of the yearly team images from 1933 to 2010, either by year, or by team, our next goal is for our visitors to be able to view what uniform was worn in every single matchup in NFL history.

With limited time to work on this, it has been a slow process for us.  We have begun to add the matchups to the site week-by-week, from the present going backwards, however, so far we currently have only completed the weekly pages back through Week 13 of last year.  While we will continue to do these on a week-by-week basis as time permits, we have come to realize that it is a priority of ours to get this data on the website much sooner.  To that end, on Friday of this week, November 11, we will be debuting a new feature here in the database which will greatly speed up this process that I hope everyone will enjoy.

Another new feature that we have added recently is on the research tab, you'll see a text-based breakdown of the uniforms worn in the Pro Bowls through the years prepared by our chief historian Tim Brulia.  While it was a text-based document like that of the NFL teams that eventually lead to our Bill Schaefer creating the images that now make up the Gridiron Uniform Database, and we currently have no immediate plans to add graphics of these Pro Bowl uniforms to our database, we do have more new research that we will be adding to the research tab in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Speaking of additional research, Tim also recently completed another trip to the Library of Congress in Washington and we will be adding that research, focusing on the AAFC, in the near future as well.

You also may have noticed that we have spruced up the graphics around here a few weeks ago.  We just wanted to give a little recognition for the new look, our new banners are the wonderful work of Mark Young, whom we (Bill, Tim and myself) give our wholehearted thanks to!

Without further ado, here is the weekly round-up...

~ ~ ~

Weekly Roundup
The Bills wore white at home yesterday for the first time in 25 years to "whiteout" their game against the Jets, however, we didn't realize until it was pointed out by "Wheels" in the Uni Watch comments that they were wearing their "home" blue socks that they have worn with the blue uniforms in the previous home games, and not the ones they wore with the their white unis on the road.  The Jets pleased those of us who like to see contrasting pants matchups as well as jerseys, even though it made them look like this.   Counting the unique 9-11 ribbon combo they wore in Week 1 against the Cowboys, and the throwbacks they wore Week 2 against the Jaguars, the all-green Sunday is their sixth different uniform combo this year.  They are outdone only by the Rams, who wore their seventh different uniform combo in eight games Sunday against the Cardinals when they donned their white-over-golds.  Only the blue-over-white combo which they wore in Weeks 4 and 7, have they worn more than once.  Their opponent Cardinals wore their black alts, and it must have done them good as they blocked a Rams game-winning field goal attempt at the end of regulation and won on a 99-yard punt return in overtime.  It was their first win ever in the black uniforms, they are now 1-3, with losses last year to the Bucs and 49ers and earlier this year to the Giants.  

We are now in November and the cooler weather means it is the time of the year when the warm weather teams like the Bucs and Chargers that traditionally wear white in the heat of summer transition to the colors.  While last week, the primary white at home teams the Browns and Cowboys, were both on the road, it gave us for the first time this year, a week with no teams wearing white at home at all, as Tim pointed out.  With the Bills white-out and the Cowboys back at home, the early season WAH Chargers wore their blue uniforms for the first time this year against the Packers.   The Steelers and the Saints both wore their throwbacks yesterday against mono-white opponents, and the Saints won, however it may be good karma for the Bucs, as the last time the Bucs lost to the Saints in the their throwbacks, on Dec. 2, 2002, they went on to win the Super Bowl.  This was the second time the Saints wore their throwbacks this year.

~ ~ ~

 
We'll see you in a few days with Tim's Weekly Rankings, and don't forget Thursday Night Football starts this week!

Week 8 Uniform Rankings

Week 8 Uniform Rankings

by Tim Brulia

 

For the first time this season, we saw all home teams wearing dark at home. In my opinion, this was the best week of uni matchups so far this season. And here we go:

 

Cardinals-Ravens: The all white of the Cardinals against the purple/white of the "angry birds." Not a bad matchup, really, but I think it would have neat to see at least one of these guys in dark pants, preferrably the Cardinals.

 

Colts-Titans: This AFC South tilt featured no real surprises, Colts in all white and the Titans int their now customary cool/cold weather home design of columbia blue/dark blue combo. At least the Titans kept the white to just the helmet. Average matchup.

 

Jaguars-Texans: Another AFC South game with the Jags in the now familiar white/black combo. And it seems like when the Texans host the Jags, it's in the "battle red" combo (red/red). Er, not quite. Tex is going with the white pants this year. But the battle red socks make an appearance. Used to be the Texans would wear their red socks with the deep blue pants. Nice to see them here, but wish they'd bring them back for more than "battle red". But this is a nice change of pace for Tex.

 

Dolphins-Giants: The Fish in the white/aqua combo with the Giants in customary blue/gray. Interesting matchup, though nothing unusual, really.

 

Vikings-Panthers: Vikes in the all white combo, with the Panthers - 2 weeks in a row! - in the alternate Carolina blue/silver combo. If the Vikes would have done the right thing and wore purple pants for this one, I think it may have been the game of the year (uni-wise). But alas,...

 

Saints-Rams: Saints avoid the black pants again, but it is still a bit early. Rams trot out - I believe - their sixth combo of the year with the retro 1973-1999 classic, still a popular combo with many of you. And of course, the Rams pull off their first win of 2011. Hmm. Nice matchup.

 

Lions-Broncos: Lions in a look that has stood the test of time with the white/silver combo and the Broncs in the orange/white. While the orange jersey is likely to be worn for the last time this season, it will return as THE home jersey for the Broncos next season. And that IS a good thing.

 

Redskins-Bills: Boy is this a nice looking game! 'Skins in the white/yellow get up with the Bills rocking the crisp blue/wjite combo, with the "Toronto" patch for effect as this game was played at Rogers Centre. But everything works well here. The colors just seem to pop here. A dandy look!

 

Bengals-Seahawks: Bengals get out the white/black combo and the Seahawks were in the all-blue at home. Thankfully the Bengals wear the black pants. It does add up a bit to what could have been a blah game had Cincy gone with a white/white combo.

 

Browns-49ers: Very classic look for these two. Something you might have seen 40+ years ago. It's nice, but just a little dry for my mouth.

 

Patriots-Steelers: I guess when these AFC powers clash, the unis look as strong as these two teams play. Again,l a nice range of colors between these two gets a nice thumbs up.

 

Cowboys-Eagles: Not much flash, but again, nice colors bring out some uni goodness. Cowboys in the usual white/quasi-silver and the Eagles in the green/white combo. Is it me or does it seem like the Eagles' green is just a pinch lighter this year?

 

Chargers-Chiefs: Classic AFC matchup with the Chargers in the standard white/dark blue and the Chiefs in red/white. No surprises, but then none needed.

 

So once again, here's how I rank them, top to bottom:

 

1) Redskins-Bills

2) Saints-Rams

3) Lions-Broncos

4) Patriots-Steelers

5) Bengals-Seahawks

6) Jaguars-Texans

7) Vikings-Panthers

8) Dolphins-Giants 

9) Cowboys-Eagles

10) Chargers-Chiefs

11) Cardinals-Ravens

12) Colts-Titans

13) Browns-49ers

Week 7 Uniform Rankings

Week 7 Uniform Rankings

by Tim Brulia

 

Chargers-Jets: Lots of good ol' AFC white. But I happen to think this isn't too bad. Chargers white/navy going against the Jets green/white. Not that bad a matchup, really.

 

Bears-Buccaneers: This game was played at Wembley Stadium in London and to celebrate, both teams wore the very generic "International Series" patch on the left collarbone. Fortunately, the unis had more spark than the patch. Bears in the white/navy combo, which I have also been fond of, and the Bucs in the red/pewter combo. It's a nice mix of colors and not over the top. Cheers, blokes!

 

Redskins-Panthers: Skins rocking the white/burgundy combo and the Panthers wearing what most people think should be their main combo, carolina blue and silver. The Panthers alternate are just about my favorite uniform. Couple with the Redskins colors and this is winning.

 

Falcons-Lions: Falcons in white/white and the Lions in the honolulu blue/silver combo. Falcons with a bit too much white for me, but a nice palette of blue, black, red, silver and white. Not bad.

 

Seahawks-Browns: Seahawks in the full seahawk blue effect and the Browns continue the all white all the time set. I;m glad the Browns wear orange helmets or else this would have taken monochrome to new heights in 2011.

 

Broncos-Dolphins: The Broncs in the dark blue/white combo and the Dolphins, when they play day games at home, ditch the aqua pants for the all white effect. Sorta sad because either the aqua/white combo or the road outfit of white/aqua would have worked so much better here.

 

Texans-Titans: In the not too distant past, the texans would have worn red socks with the white/navy combo. But alas, somewhere along the way, Tex decided to go with the blue socks with the blue pants. Meanwhile, the Titans wore what has become the standard for home with the columbia blue top and the navy pants. It does create a triple layer effect (white helmet/columbia jersey/navy pants) that I like, but there's just a little too much blue at work here for me.

 

Chiefs-Raiders: Classic rivalry with a classic uni matchup (Chiefs white/red, Raiders black/silver). Except for the occasional Chiefs white/white, this is one uniform game that has stood the test of time. It looks just like the days of Dawson, Taylor, Buchanan, Lamonica, Biletnikoff, Connors days. Sweet.

 

Steelers-Cardinals: Teams reprising their Super Bowl XLIII matchup. And it still looks nice. Steelers in the black and yellow and the Big Red in the red/white combo. Not flashy, but certainly not a boring uni matchup.

 

Packers-Vikings: Packers in standard road attire, white and yellow with the Vikes busting out the throwbacks, classic purple jersey with white normal striped pants. I may be strange, but I actually would have preferred the Vikes in the modern kit. But Minny has a tendency to wear the throwbacks against their fellow NFC North bretheren. Still, this one loked real nice.

 

Rams-Cowboys: Rams wearing blue/white at Dallas with the as always white/silvery greenish blue pants. Rams in gold pants would have worked better here, but the pants have enough of a decent stripe combo to off-set that a little bit.

 

Colts-Saints: Forget about the slaughter, this wasn't a bad look. Saints still sticking to white at home in the - er - Mercedes-Benz Superdome in black pants to boot. Colts then adjusting to the blue/white combo. I think the black pants add a bit of spark to the matchup.

 

Ravens-Jaguars: Ravens in white black (a good look for them) with the Jags rocking teal/white. The teal under the lights does add a bit of brightness to an otherwise black and white affair. Nice touch, Jags...and Ravens.

 

 

So here we go with the ranking from 1 to 13 in order this week for week 7:

 

1) Redskins-Panthers 

2) Bears-Buccaneers

3) Chiefs-Raiders

4) Packers-Vikings

5) Steelers-Cardinals

6) Colts-Saints

7) Ravens-Jaguars

8) Seahawks-Browns

9) Jets-Chargers

10) Texans-Titans

11) Rams-Cowboys

12) Falcons-Lions

13) Broncos-Dolphins

Week 6 Uniform Rankings

 

 

Week 6 Uniform Rankings
by Tim Brullia

 

Here's my take and rankings of the week 6 uniform matchups, in the order you see them on the site:

 

49ers-Lions: Forgetting about how well Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz get along, This is a fairly traditional matchup that just doesn't get me excited. Gold and silver, white, red, honolulu blue with a touch of black. I am still a fan of the Lions look, but it's just not sparking it for me.

 

Rams-Packers: Rams breakout their fifth different combo in five games, the most of any team so far. This week it's the white/blue. It's a look I like. Packers bust out their 1929 throwbacks. And this TB is a meh in my book. The lack of sanitary socks is a look I'm not too thrilled with either. If the Pack really want to do throwbacks right, oh please bring us the 1937-1948 yellow shouldered navy jerseys. That is a look I love and it has glory behind it, too (1939 and 1944 championships).

 

Panthers-Falcons: Pathers in their only combo worn this season so far, while the Falcons churn out their popular 1966 thowbacks. This is a beauty because of all the color involved, But I actually prefer the 1967 Falcons jersey for a throwback, as the falcons on the sleeves were white instead of black. It definitely spices up this matchup.

 

Colts-Bengals: Colts in the all whites while the Bengals tote the orange alternates. This should be the Bengals' main dark jersey. Brighter and gets out of the black rut, althought the Bengals have worn black jerseys as their main dark jersey since they started in 1968. But I like the blue and the orange and the black. It's a nice look.

 

Bills-Giants: A (too?) stark contrast between the all white Bills and the steady as she goes Giants blue-gray mix. The Bills old red helmet would have really perked up this match.  

 

Jaguars-Steelers: The Jags seem to be using the Dolphins M.O. of white/dark away and white/white so far this season. And so it is with this matchup with the Steelers. Steelers - almost as always - in their normal black/yellow home combo. That hint of teal in the Jags' black helmets offset all the black a bit.

 

Eagles-Redskins: There's lots of color to be had here. Both teams could have sprung dull white pants on us here, but instead the Eagles show off their green trousers and the Redskins return the bright yellow pants to go along with the burgundy jerseys. Excellent move, boys!

 

Texans-Ravens: Nicely played here as well. Texans in the white/dark blues, with the Ravens nicely offsetting that with the purple/white look. I am a fan.

 

Browns-Raiders: Both squads wearing no nonsense time tested unis that go back forever. Surprised that the Raiders are using the "AL" memorial as a helmet sticker instead of a jersey patch. Then again, even with Davis gone, the Raiders do it their own way.

 

Cowboys-Patriots: This came as a surprise as the Pats decided to go white at home, forcing the 'Boys to wear their "normal" blues for the first time in 2 years. It is a very nice jersey that simply doesn't get used as often as it should. With it, the 'Boys also wear the silver pants as opposed to the greenish silver pants worn with the standard whites. Pats with the whites. Different. Better? Not necessarily.

 

Saints-Buccaneers: Saints again go black on the road with the Bucs staying white at home with white pants to boot and the white/white for once, works. Had the Bucs gone to the pewter pants, which I normally prefer, it would have been too much metal for me. So this one goes in the "W" column.

 

Vikings-Bears: Vikings in all white with the Bears in standard navy blue jersey form. Not a bad matchup, but the Vikes purple pants, especially under the Solider Field lights would made this one awesome.

 

Dolphins-Jets: Dolphins, when away and wearing white jerseys, go with the aqua pants. I dig it. Jets with the grenn jersey/white pants combo, decided to sit out the green pants. Still a nice matchup, even if both like the white helmets.

 

 

So ranking the week 6 games as I see them:

 

13) Rams-Packers

12) Browns-Raiders

11) Bills-Giants

10) 49ers-Lions

9) Vikings-Bears

8) Jaguars-Steelers

7) Dolphins-Jets

6) Saints-Buccaneers

5) Cowboys-Patriots

4) Colts-Bengals

3) Texans-Ravens

2) Panthers-Falcons

1) Eagles-Redskins

 

Check with ya next week, till then take care!!

Week 5 Uniform Rankings

Week 5 Uniform Rankings
by Tim Brulia

Here's my ranking of the Week 5 uni combos worn.

 

Strictly my opinion on a rainy morning in Central PA (reviews in the order they appear on the main page).

 

Cardinals-Vikings: Teams with a similar mid-00's template re-do. Separately, not a bad look. In the same game, they look very similar. Side jersey panels, curl and point pant stripes, nape of the neck logos. I do like the color contrasts, though.

 

Bengals-Jaguars: Jags going a month deep into the season with WAH (white at home), and white pants, too. Bengals with the black jerseys and white pants. A little too black and white for me. Not enough Jags teal or Bengal orange.

 

Chiefs-Colts: Cut and dried traditional look from both squads. Thankfully, the Chiefs are wearing the red pants with the white jerseys. Colts in blue. Just the right mix of red, white and blue, with a hint of yellow thrown in.

 

Saints-Panthers: No real surprises here. Saints in black jersey/gold pants combo. Understood as the N.O. doesn't seem to break out the black pants until a little later in the season. Panthers also no surprise in the all white combo, as the black jersey at home doesn't come until later. But, might have been an interesting match-up had the Panthers worn Carolina blue.

 

Raiders-Texans: With Oakland patriarch Al Davis' passing just days before, The Raiders were able to muster up a commemorative decal on their helmets. Whether this will translate into a jersey patch in the coming weeks remains to be seen. The Raiders in their standard whites while the Texans wear their deep blue jerseys with the white pants. This combo works.

 

Eagles-Bills: Eagles in their sparkling white jersey and forest green pants combo, while the Bills wear the combo of blue/white. Green, black, white, blue with some red. A very nice color palette here.

 

Seahawks-Giants: Seahawks in mono white and the Giants in the home blues with the gray pants. I think it's time for the 'Hawks to starting mixing the jerseys and pants. Iy would have helped this matchup a lot.

 

Titans-Steelers: Titans in white jersey/columbia blue pants with the Steelers in the usual black jersey/yellow pants get-up. Not fancy stuff here, but this is a uni matchup that I like. Sorry if my Steeler bias is showing.

 

Buccaneers-49ers: Lots of metallica here. Buc pewter and Niner gold. Helmet and pants. I normally like the Bucs' pewter pants, but I think the white pants would have worked better in this match-up. That scarlet Niner jersey perked this uni clash.

 

Jets-Patriots: Jets break out the green pants for this encounter and it's a big help. Their all white look would have killed this matchup as the Pats rock the Super Bowl XX throwback; white Pat Patriot helmet, red jersey, white pants with white socks. I always thought a dark jersey/white pants/white socks combo looked weird. Still do. But I think the Jets in the green pants is smart.

 

Chargers-Broncos: Bolts in white and dark blue, Broncos in dark blue and white. Boy, would the Broncos orange jerseys have made a difference here. The yellow (Chargers) and orange (Broncos) trim helps some, but just a lot of dark blue and white here.

 

Packers-Falcons: Packers in white with the mostly yellow trim. Falcons in red and white. Some folks have issues with a team in tri-color look (helmet/jersey/pants), but this is a great look for the Falcons. Add the Packer yellow and green, and you have a lot of color, which is what I like best in a uni matchup.

 

Bears-Lions: Classic rivalry. Classic unis (well, recent Lion tweaks notwithstanding) and you have a very nice set of shades of blue and silver and orange. Works well for me.

 

 

Now, here's this week's ranking of the games from 13-1. Remember, six teams had a bye this week.

 

13) Bengals-Jaguars

12) Buccaneers-49ers

11) Saints-Panthers

10) Chargers-Broncos

9) Seahawks-Giants

8) Cardinals-Vikings

7) Raiders-Texans

6) Chiefs-Colts

5) Jets-Patriots

4) Steelers-Titans

3) Eagles-Bills

2) Bears-Lions

1) Packers-Falcons

Week 4 Uniform Rankings

Week 4 Uniform Rankings

by Tim Brulia

 

Week 4 ushers in the NFL campaign for "Breast Cancer Awareness Month." As like last year, the NFL is busting out October with pink accessories. Everywhere. Pink ribbons, pink sweatbands, pink do-rags, pink trimmed sideline gear, pink goal post pads, etc.  But as mentioned before, these are accessories, and not part of the uniforms. So with that, you won't see pink on the Gridiron Uniform Database. Please take note that the Gridiron Uniform Database supports the fight against breast cancer and ALL cancers. We encourage you to contribute to the American Cancer Society (or, if you're not in the US, your country's cancer fund).

OK, now to what we know best, football uniforms. Here's my take on Week 4's uni matchups, in order as they appear on the Gridiron Uniform Database:

Lions-Cowboys: No major stories here, but there's a lot of blue and silver at play here, in various shades. If you like these two colors, you'd have loved this match up of the two perennial Turkey Day hosts.

Panthers-Bears: This is the first of an amazing 9 matchups this week which feature a team in white jersey/white pants. The Bears return to their traditional home navys for their look. It's not a bad look for these two, but it doesn't exactly get me pumped either.

Bills-Bengals: Bills in all white is becoming a little duller look the more I see it...from a distance. Close up though, the Bills whites look more appealing to me. The Bengals, in the black jersey and white pants combo, look more, um "traditional." This works, as red, blue, black and orange are all here. And LOTS of white.

Titans-Browns: Browns keeping the White at Home (WAH) going. The Titans wear one of my favorite combos, the light (or columbia) blue jersey with navy pants. I really liked how this match up plays out. Better than even I expected.

Vikings-Chiefs: Shoot me if you must, but I happen to like the Vikes unis. I like how the purple matches up. I like the funky purple sides with a dash of yellow trim. I like the norseman logo on the nape of the neck. And the Chiefs in the ripe red jerseys. This is a matchup that works for me.

Redskins-Rams: The 'Skins decide to pull out the Gibbs-era (though I think Jack Pardee was actually coach when these duds debuted) burgundy pants with the white jersey and the white socks after wearing the yellow pants the first three weeks. Meanwhile the Rams wear their fourth combo in four weeks (blue/blue, white/white, blue/gold) with a blue/white look. The gold pants might have made this one of the better uni matchups this week, but this combo sorta sends me back to the Rams' blue and white days of my youth. I like this one.

Saints-Jaguars: Saints back to normal and the Jags again breaking out the all white for a home game. Too much white for the Jags? Oh, how their teal jerseys would have made this one so much better, regardless of what color pants the Saints would have worn. Disappointing matchup from my eyes.

Steelers-Texans: A better than average matchup, with the Steelers in their underrated (my opinion) whites against the Texans in the deep blue. A decent amount of color variance, not too much white. I like that.

49ers-Eagles: Eagles, I guess, going dark at home (DAH) for the entire season, which - according to our records - hasn't happened since 2002 and that was the only time since the early 80's! Going against the white, gold and red trimmed 49ers, makes for a pretty good matchup.

Giants-Cardinals: First off, a rant (Rant on): When the Big Red introduced a black alternate jersey, there were howls of black for black's sake (BFBS in the uni geek cult) on the Cardinals part. Fact is, I don't buy it. Black has been a part of the Cardinals palette since 1964, (excluding 1996-2004), so I have not a problem with it (Rant off). And in fact, with the red trimmed Giants as the enemy, I actually prefer the black jersey to the red for this encounter. More colors, makes the Giants red trim a little more vibrant. It works.

Falcons-Seahawks: Meh. Falcons in white/white, Seahawks in blue/blue. Would kinda like to see the Seahawks break out those dark blue pants they wore in 2009. Dull.

Dolphins-Chargers: Couple of oddities at play here. Dolphins wearing the aqua tops for the third time in four games and the Chargers, playing their third home game out of four games, have worn white jerseys for all four games so far. In spite of all the white helmets, the colors sorta work. It's the first time the Bolts have gone WAH for at least three home games since 2002.

Patriots-Raiders: The Patriots add a little pizzaz to this matchup. A fair amount of silver, but the Pats navy pants make this game work. Something about last week's matchup with the Jets didn't seem to make the Raiders get-up appealing. But this one with the Pats does. Don't ask why!

Broncos-Packers: The Pack in green just gives me warm and fuzzies. Can't explain it. The Broncos in all white would normally not do much for me, but the greens, yellows, blues and oranges are a nice color combination.

Jets-Ravens: "The ink is black, the page is white..." Three Dog Night, 1972. Sorry for the Chris Berman moment folks, but I don't think you can get much more 180 degrees than this matchup. Jets in the w/w/w/w look and the Ravens in the b/b/b/b look. Breaking this head to toe black out for the night game is perfect for the Ravens. Because of the extremes, this works rather nicely from my perspective.

Colts-Buccaneers: With the white helmet/white jersey/white pants and solid blue socks, the Colts are the NFL's version of Penn State's ueber generic uniforms. The Bucs decided to go with the red jerseys for their prime time appearance and it is a great look. The night game gives the pewter pants a rather charcoal-like look that rocks. The Bucs carry this matchup to a high level.

So as of this moment, this is how we rank the Week 4 uniform matchups head to head:

16) Falcons-Seahawks
15) Saints-Jaguars
14) Lions-Cowboys
13) Dolphins-Chargers
12) Patriots-Raiders
11) Panthers-Bears
10) Redskins-Rams
9) Giants-Cardinals
8) Bills-Bengals
7) 49ers-Eagles
6) Vikings-Chiefs
5) Jets-Ravens
4) Steelers-Texans
3) Colts-Buccaneers
2) Titans-Browns
1) Broncos-Packers

Week 3 Uniform Rankings

Now that we are getting into the swing of the new season, we wanted to take some time to start a new feature here at the Gridiron Uniform Blog

Week 3 Uniform Rankings

by Tim Brulia

This is the first installment of what we hope will be a weekly feature for the 2011 season. Sorry about the late start, but what this blog will be about is my humble take on this week's uniform matchups and then I - along with my cohorts Bill and Rob - will rank them from "worst" to "best" as we see them.

So, starting in the order as they are depicted on the Gridiron Uniform Database, we'll get started:

Texans-Saints: The Texans in their somewhat standard white/navy/navy combo. It's a good look, but I would to see the texans bring back the red socks with this combo. Just adds a bit more color. The Saints broke out a throwback look, hearkening back to their origins with the larger logo on the helmet, and the gold munbers with the old gold (that I like to call "brass" gold) pants and black socks with the white and gold stripes. This game made for a pleasing look of modern and throwback.

Giants-Eagles: A bit of a surprise to see the Eagles wearing dark at home so early in the season. But it made for a nice, colorful game; Giants in the white with red trim and the Eagles in the green jersey-white pants look. Nothing new here, but a good uni matchup.

Jaguars-Panthers: Panthers - as usual - with the white at home as is their custom for early season games. Not a very colorful matchup as far as I'm concerned, but it does allow the Jags to sport their teal jerseys and the Panthers in their customary all white combo.

Patriots-Bills: The Patriots in their cunstomary white jersey-navy pants, while the Bills continue to sparkle with in their new get-up. The blue jersey of the Bills looked very vibrant on my rather new HDTV. The Bills are one team that for the most part, got it right when making a uniform change. For two team with blue and red in their uni package, this one works quite well.

Dolphins-Browns: Had the Browns continued to wear brown at home, the Dolphins would have broken out their white jersey-aqua pants scheme, which I would have loved. But alas, the Browns are apparently going all white home this season and it forces the Dolphins to go with aqua-white-aqua. While nice, it could actually been better the pther way around.

49ers-Bengals: Bengals deciding to make like New Zealand rugby and go all black in this one, The Niners meanwhile go with the white/gold/red look. I think if the Bengals would made one little teeny change and had elected to wear orange socks with the black/black, I would have loved it. But no, and this matchup gets knocked down a few pegs because of it,

Broncos-Titans: This game was called a "code blue" by the Titans, but instead, TEN went with a white/columbia combo. And the Broncos, stayed safe with navy. The potential here was tremendous, but a little too blue for me.

Lions-Vikings: The Vikings went with the throwbacks for this one, which includes the mis-matched purple helmet/purple jersey color scheme. The Lions in their unis that continue to grow on me. Traditional, yet colorful.

Ravens-Rams: The Rams trot out their third pair of pants in as many weeks (blue week 1, white week 2) with the plain gold pair. It's the more familiar look for the Rams, and I think, the best one. The Ravens in the white top/black pants look, with I think fits this team the best. This was the best available uni combo matchup between these these two, and it works.

Jets-Raiders: The Jets went with the all white look and for this matchup with the rather plain Raiders, I don't think that works here. Had the Jets gone with the green pants and/or green socks, I would have approved. The Raiders in the traditional silver and black. Not one of my favorite uni matchups.

Chiefs-Chargers: Chargers wearing with white at home in the early going. Meaning the Chiefs are in the brilliant red tops. No surprises, but a nice uni matchup.

Cardinals-Seahawks: No surprises, but had the Cardinals decided to go with the red pants, this would have been one of the better matchups. Seattle - as always - in dark at home - with the "unique" blue monochrome look

Falcons-Buccaneers: Bucs going white at home in the warm/hot early season weather. And the pewter pants. Falcons in their best combo. This is the best color matchup available for these two and I liked it.

Packers-Bears: This ancient rivalry has seen many different color palettes through the years, but this might be a first; Packers in traditional road white, the Bears in alternate orange. While some bemoaned the uni matchup, I thought it was great. A lot of color and staying in the bounds of good taste. Yay!

Steelers-Colts: A very traditional matchup and yet, with the Colts in home blue, a very colorful head to head look. Colts pant stripes seem to be very wide on a lot of players. Like many, I really wish something could be done about the "captain bars"  Colts super stretchy jerseys that should be full shoulder loops.

Redskins-Cowboys: Lots of the old-timers are loving the Skins yellow pants  and striped burgundy socks that Mike Shanahan broke out year. I like them, too, but the mismatched striping from head to toe bothers me more than the Cowboys green-tinted pants. Still, these rivals make for a great uni matchup. As usual Cowboys, in White-At-Home.

So now, from 16 to 1, my matchup rankings:

16. Broncos-Titans

15. Dolphins-Browns

14. Jets-Raiders

13. Jaguars-Panthers

12. Cardinals-Seahawks

11. 49ers-Bengals

10. Chiefs-Chargers

9. Falcons-Buccaneers

8. Ravens-Rams

7. Patriots-Bills

6. Lions-Vikings

5. Giants-Eagles

4. Steelers-Colts

3. Redskins-Cowboys

2. Texans-Saints

1. Packers-Bears

Now remember, if I were to do this ranking twenty minutes from now, it might be altogether different.

Here is Bill's rankings, and some comments by him.

~ ~ ~

Thanks, Tim.    Here are my rankings, I did mine the opposite of yours, I listed them from best to worst:

1. NYG @ PHIL - Classic all the way; the dark green has grown on me!

2. PITT @ IND - Two classic uniforms

3. DET @ MINN - Only because Minny was in the throwbacks! Otherwise, bottom half.

4. NE @ BUF - Higher if I didn't hate the Pats' unis.

5. HOU @ NO - Could have been higher but for the navy pants/socks - see number 7.

6. ATL @ TB - Only up here because of no road mono-whites for Atlanta.

7. KC @ SD - San Diego needs some non-navy socks.

8. DEN @ TENN - At least no one was in mono-white!

9. GB @ CHI - 3 words...yellow and orange? Could've been #1, but still escapes bottom 5.

10. WASH @ DAL - Dallas's white jersey combo automatically goes to bottom half!

11. BALT @ STL - Baltimore needs to keep the black pants for the black alt jersey ONLY!

12. SF @ CIN - Mono-black is not a good look for Cincy. Could've been Super Bowl XVI all over again, just without Montana, Anderson, and anything resembling two good teams.

13. NYJ @ OAK - Would be higher if the Jets would go green socks with the mono-white.

14. MIA @ CLE - Cleveland going mono-white keeps us from seeing Miami's version of thame! YEAAAAHH!

15. JAX @ CAR - Mono-white AND teal/sky blue overload? Double yuck-yuck!

16. ARZ @ SEA - Two bad designs in need of a mulligan.

~ ~ ~

Good job, guys, now let me give you my rankings:  (I'll go "countdown" format like Tim did.)

16. Baltimore-St. Louis - just a drab look in a drab dome.  The Rams have different pants and I can't decide which I like with which uniforms.  I get it could've been worse.  The Ravens could have been all white (or all-black)

15. Jacksonville-Carolina -  with rain in the forecast, why did Carolina have to go White At Home.  It wasn't like it was going to be 100 degrees out there.

14. Arizona-Seattle -  meh.

13. San Francisco-Cincinnati - mono-black?  Double meh.

12. Miami-Cleveland - I guess we're gonna see a lot of "no color" in Browns games this year with them going white at home.

11. Denver-Tennessee - Would be a lot higher if Broncos would go ahead and predominantly wear orange at home.

10. Atlanta-Tampa Bay - Kind of a let down with last year's creamsicles in this matchup.  Would rather have seen Bucs in Red-over-White and make the Falcons wear white.  But nooooooo, more white at home.

9. Houston-New Orleans - Would have been higher if the Saints paints weren't so yellow.  (And if they were playing a team whose traditions didn't start in 2002.)

8. New England-Buffalo - A great look for the dominant AFC East team.  Oh and the Patriots played in this game, too.

7. Detroit-Minnesota -  Would have been lower except the Vikings were wearing their normal uniforms, not their throwaheads.

6. Washington-Dallas -  Classic look all around, really like the Redskins wearing the yellow pants all the time these days.

5. NY Giants-Philadelphia - The Giants are a blue team, why does their road jersey have so much red?  

4. San Diego-Kansas City - Another white-at-home in the sun.  Maybe the Chargers should try mono-white?  Nah.

3. Pittsburgh-Indianapolis - This game would have looked better if the Steelers still have normal numbers like in the pre-1997 days.  (Oh, and if Peyton Manning was playing, too.)

2. Green Bay-Chicago -  I didn't really mind the orange uniforms.  Seriously.

1. NY Jets-Oakland - Just a classic looking matchup.  If only the Jets had worn green pants, it might have looked better, but then again anything would have looked better if they had decided to tackle Darren McFadden.

Check back next week and see what we think about week four.

Till then, be safe and enjoy the football!

1962 Broncos Helmet Resolved (Probably)

Major database breakthrough...but first, this:

Those of you who are regular readers of the Gridiron Uniform Database Blog have probably noticed we have taken a break from regular blog updates over the past few weeks.

Frankly we have had to set the blog on the back-burner as real world issues have led to a greater demand on our time.

Anyway, the primary focus of The Gridiron Uniform Database is, and should continue to be, the database of images that truly make this site the one-of-a-kind reference tool that it is, on a par with other great internet sports uniform themed databases like baseball's Dressed To The Nines and, uh, what's that other great sports uniform site?  You know the one with all the soccer unis?  Yeah, that one.

So we have decided to "retool" our efforts around here, and place a greater emphasis on simply maintaining the database.  The new season kicks off a week from tomorrow, and I think you'll like how we will be displaying the current uniforms of the NFL on our front page as the season progresses.

This is not to say that we won't still have a blog, it just won't be the front page and main focus of the website -- that will from now on be the database.  We will still bring you articles relating to football uniforms whenever we have something worth blogging about.  It just won't be every day or on a specific schedule.

In the upcoming weeks we will be bringing you coverage of, and database updates from, Tim Brulia's second trip to the Library of Congress.

For those of you who do crave a daily dose of sports uniform blogness (and you know who you are) we urge you to continue to visit Uni Watch daily, which I'm sure you do already.

Also, those of you who have followed with great interest the Best NFL Uniform of All-Time Contest/Tournament, rest assured it too will still have a place on the website.  Look for it to return soon with all-new first round match-ups to vote on.

However, before we make this transition, there is absolutely one item that we must bring to you which those of you who read Uni Watch today are already aware of, and that is there are new developments regarding the 1962 Denver Broncos "Is it blue or is it brown" helmet, and here with the Gridiron Uniform Database's response, is our historian Tim Brulia:

~ ~ ~

 

Well, it looks like the mystery of the 1962 Broncos dark horse has apparently been solved. It's blue. In his blog, Denver Broncos' Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Saccomano [no relation to this guy, with thanks to Adam R.W. in the Uni Watch comments] says he asked no less than three individuals with ties to the Broncos of the period in question; Chuck Garrity, former Denver Post sports editor, Ronnie Bill, who was the Broncos assistant equipment manager in 1962 and Al King, publicity man for the Broncs in '62. To a man, they all insist that Denver wore a blue horse on the helmets in early '62 as opposed to the brown bronco that has been surfacing on internet pages almost since the www gained public acceptance in the mid-late 1990's.

However, in the recent past, several players from that '62 Bronco team were asked the same question and they stated that the horse was brown. Personally speaking, the memory of those who directly worked for the team in the area that requires a bit more knowledge of what style of uniform was worn (publicist, equipment personnel) carries more weight than the players who wore them. Why? Players normally are more concerned with how the equipment feels and fits on them than what color they are. In other words, function-over-fashion. While men like PR guys are likely more of the fashion-over-form guys.

So, if indeed the horse was (as appears more and more likely) blue, then the question is: How did the urban legend of a brown horse gain so much acceptance? I myself have heard a couple of theories:

1) Coach Jack Faulkner was a Browns guy through and through. He wanted a little vestige of brown on the new look, NOT in tribute to the 1960-61 Broncos, but rather, to the Browns.

2) When ordering the new helmet decals from the supplier, the Broncos didn't specify the color. The supplier, unaware of the color change, printed up brown decals. The Broncos when receiving the logos, hurried up and used the decals anyway and then - to avoid confusion - simply re-ordered the exact same helmet decals, only in white.

Short of either actual written documentation from 1962, or a full color photograph or color film from one of these games or - better yet - an actual game used helmet surfacing from the early 1962 season, this is the most convincing piece of evidence available to us. So, the change for the 1962 Broncos template will be made and shortly our database will be reflecting the color of the horse as blue, as we now feel that is most likely the color they were..

And the quest for Gridiron Uniform Database perfection marches on.

~ ~ ~

Well, there you have it, you can never really consider a white whale caught, as long as it is still breathing.  Until we see that harpoon sticking out of its' gullet and Eskimos are sorting through the blubber, it is still just an assumption, as are many of our older database images.  As far as we know, all of the graphics in our database are correct.  Are there images that we are 100% sure of?  Yes.  Are there other images (many in fact) that we are 99.9999% sure of?  Yes.  Are there others that we are only 95% sure of?  Yes.  Are there images that are just an educated guess?  Yes.  

We stand by that all of the images that we present are what we believe to be the correct images.  Were we wrong to have presented the 1962 Bronco horse as being brown when others said it was blue?   No, at that time, we believed that it was most likely brown, or at least more likely to be brown than blue, and we presented that as such.  Now with this new evidence, we now believe that the horse was blue, so we will present it as such.

Perhaps next week a color photo will surface that will show that it was a brown horse, and we'll change it again.  But for the time being, we'll just have to stick to blue as being most likely.  If we only presented images that we were 100% certain are absolutely the correct images, we'd have a blank spot where the blue or brown helmet is.  We can only present the best information we can, given the research available to us.

But to follow up on Tim's theories of why (if it indeed is blue) did anyone think it was brown in the first place, I think the question to ask is:  Who was the first person to look at a black-and-white picture of the helmet and, not knowing what color it was, assume it was brown whichever color it isn't, and why would they do so?  If whoever had made that assumption, and any others that had followed, had never done so, and then the first internet pictures of the brown-horsed helmet had never existed, there possibly would never have been this controversy.  And what about the Frank Tripukas et al, who seem to remember that it was brown?  Were they just the victim of leading questions, or of their own faulty memories?  Or are they right and is this latest research erroneous in some way?  I guess like Tim says, until we see visual, incontrovertible proof either way, reliable eyewitness testimony and research is the best we can do, and now, after reviewing Saccomano's latest research, we at the Gridiron Uniform Database believe that the color of the horse on that helmet was blue.

Now, not speaking for Tim or Bill here, but my (Rob's) thoughts on the origin of the brown helmet?  I think someone just frankly didn't know what color it was, and just looked at the progression of Broncos' helmets, and this was all the information they were going off of:

Looking at this, and if I didn't know any more about it, I might have assumed that it was brown, too.  Well somebody did, and once this picture (to the right) got out on the internet, no one could be sure.

Had it really been brown, however, would there have been just as many incorrect pictures of a blue horsey?  But wait, what if it was, then there are, right?  But since it isn't, there aren't, right?  Huh?

I guess the logic could dictate that since there was much controversy over this, the picture that some of us thought it was must have been wrong, since now that we think that it is the color that we think it should be, it feels right.  Meaning, since all along we [the greater "we", not every one of us], in the back of our minds, felt it should have been blue, it was a controversy that it was being depicted as brown.  (It wasn't the helmets that were blue that were causing it to be a controversy, it was those helmets that were brown that were making it a controversy, because we thought they were wrong.  No one was making a "controversy" out of the existence of the helmets with the blue horse, were they?)

Therefore our greater sub-conscience is (and has been) telling us they must be blue.  But of course, without incontrovertible proof, our sub-conscience might be wrong, too.

While a commentor on Saccomano's blog is still unconvinced and says, "You now just have two groups of people relying on their memory," for me the segment of the blog that seals the deal is:

 "Ronnie Bill added that, “I was the one who put the decals on the helmets every week, and there was never any brown horse. Every week I had to touch up the helmets and get them ready for that week’s game. There was nothing brown in the 1962 uniform.”

If we believe that the guy who allegedly put the decals on the helmets (and his memory) is legit, then that's good enough for me.  Not incontrovertible, but in the 99.9% area, I would say.

Of course if a cynic wanted to, he could say that if perhaps the Broncos had an agenda in wanting to prove that the horse was a particular color, it wouldn't be hard for the team's PR guy to come up with three guys and make up some quotes.  Why would Ronnie Bill lie?  Well, why would Frank Tripuka lie, either?  What if Tripuka's memory is accurate and Bill's is faulty?  Well Ronnie Bill seems adamant.

Bottom line, we seem more certain now than ever that they were blue.  Have we absolutely, unequivocally proven it beyond a shadow of a doubt?  No.  The whale is still breathing, but on life support.

Saccomano says on his blog that the "mystery is solved," but he has the power to truly put it to rest once and for all.  If he truly does want to close the matter he needs to follow up in his blog and interview Gene Mingo, Frank Tripuka and Jerry Strum, those who have said that the horse was brown (Jack Faulkner died in 2008) and present them with his findings and report back in his blog their response.  If they, presented with this evidence reply something along the lines of: "Hmm. I swear, I thought they were brown, I guess I was mistaken," then that's one thing, however, if they respond: "I don't care what the equipment and PR guys say, I know, without a doubt that that horse on that helmet was brown," then the debate will continue.

Anyway, for the final word on this subject here is our graphical designer, Bill Schaefer:

Like the one poster in the comments at Uni Watch said, "Now we have one camp of really old guys saying blue and another camp of really old guys saying brown." 

Well, Bill, for us at the Gridiron Uniform Database, we'll say "blue", right?

"Oh sure, this we can find a color picture of."