by Tim Brulia
When we say there's no off-season at the Gridiron Uniform Database, we really mean it!!
As many of you know from our Facebook page, we post a random daily uniform matchup and - as of yet - haven't missed a beat. The feature has proven popular and at least lets everyone know that we still have a healthy pulse. We certainly appreciate the positive feedback.
However back in February, the GUD crew and some devoted helpers, decided to go full bore on finding photographs from as many games as possible to determine what uniforms were worn in the preseason games. Our aim is to find at least one good shot from each preseason game going all the way back to 1950. Why? Who cares? It's the preseason!! The main reasons for this project are:
1) To have as definitive a list as possible.
2) To (hopefully) dispel as many urban legends as possible.
3) To settle as many uniform disputes as possible.
4) To discover as many hidden/unknown gems as possible.
5) To be as accurate with what the GUD displays on gridiron-uniforms.com as possible.
As of the writing of this blog, our sole tool for research has been the various newspaper archives and pictorial archives that can be found on the web. So far, we have been quite fortunate to uncover all but a handful of games for each season going back to 1960. As for the missing games? Here is a listing of what games we have yet to find a good photograph from:
1999:
9/3 - Oakland Raiders at Arizona Cardinals
1996:
8/2 - New Orleans Saints at Detroit Lions
1993:
8/21 - Phoenix Cardinals at San Diego Chargers
1992:
8/1 - Washington Redskins at Miami Dolphins (Orlando)
8/8 - San Diego Chargers at Phoenix Cardinals
8/22 - New England Patriots at Detroit Lions
1991:
8/10 - Miami Dolphins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
8/17 - Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs
8/17 - New England Patriots at Phoenix Cardinals
8/23 - Los Angeles Raiders at San Diego Changers
8/23 - Denver Broncos at Phoenix Cardinals
1990:
8/11 - Dallas Cowboys at San Diego Chargers
8/11 - Seattle Seahawks at Phoenix Cardinals
8/24 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks
8/25 - San Francisco 49ers at San Diego Chargers
8/31 - Phoenix Cardinals at Denver Broncos
1989:
8/19 - Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions
8/26 - Dallas Cowboys at Denver Broncos
1988:
8/13 - San Diego Chargers at Los Angeles Rams
8/26 - Los Angeles Rams at San Diego Chargers
1987:
8/22 - Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions
8/29 - Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs
9/4 - San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
9/5 - Houston Oilers at Dallas Cowboys
1986:
8/16 - Buffalo Bills at Houston Oilers
1985:
8/24 - Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos
8/31 - St. Louis Cardinals at Kansas City Chiefs
1984:
8/4 - Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions
8/11 - New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills
8/24 - Denver Broncos at Atlanta Falcons
1983:
8/13 - Atlanta Falcons at Denver Broncos
8/27 - Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions
1982:
8/21 - Atlanta Falcons vs. Baltimore Colts (Tempe, AZ)
9/4 - Detroit Lions at Buffalo Bills
1981:
8/8 - Detroit Lions at Buffalo Bills
8/22 - Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers
8/29 - Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals
1980:
8/16 - Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions
8/23 - Los Angeles Rams at Denver Broncos
1979:
8/4 - Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions
8/11 - San Francisco 49ers at Oakland Raiders
1978:
8/5 - Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions
1976:
7/31 - Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos
1974:
9/7 - Cleveland Browns at Detroit Lions
1973:
8/18 - Baltimore Colts vs. Detroit Lions (Memphis)
1972:
8/5 - Atlanta Falcons at San Diego Chargers
1971:
8/14 - Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions
8/21 - Denver Broncos vs. Atlanta Falcons (Memphis)
1969:
8/9 - Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs
9/6 - Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals
1967:
7/29 - Denver Broncos vs. Miami Dolphins (Akron, OH)
8/12 - Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Tulsa, OK)
8/19 - New York Jets vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Cincinnati)
9/9 - Chicago Bears vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Memphis)
9/9 - Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Washington Redskins (Norfolk, VA)
1966 (NFL):
8/6 - Chicago Bears vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Memphis)
9/3 - Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns (Birmingham)
1966 (AFL):
8/6 - Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos
8/20 - Buffalo Bills vs. Houston Oilers (Little Rock, AR)
8/27 - Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets (Allentown, PA)
9/1 - Boston Patriots vs. New York Jets (Mobile, AL)
1965 (AFL):
8/7 - Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos
8/28 - New York Jets vs. Boston Patriots (Norfolk, VA)
9/4 - Boston Patriots at Kansas City Chiefs
1964 (AFL):
8/8 - Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets (Tampa)
8/14 - Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills
9/5 - Boston Patriots at Denver Broncos
9/5 - Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets (Kingston, PA*)
*Kingston, PA is located in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area of PA.
1963 (NFL):
8/10 - Baltimore Colts vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Hershey, PA)
8/10 - Cleveland Browns at Detroit Lions
1963 (AFL):
8/9 - New York Jets vs. Houston Oilers (Shreveport, LA)
8/31 - Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills (Winston-Salem, NC)
8/31 - Houston Oilers vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Wichita, KS)
1962 (NFL):
8/11 - Cleveland Browns at Detroit Lions
9/8 - Green Bay Packers vs. Washington Redskins (Columbus, GA)
1962 (AFL):
8/4 - New York Titans at Houston Oilers
8/10 - Denver Broncos vs. Houston Oilers (Atlanta)
1961 (NFL):
8/12 - Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Colts (Roanoke, VA)
8/19 - Chicago Bears vs. Washington Redskins (Charleston, SC)
8/26 - Baltimore Colts vs. Washington Redskins (Norfolk, VA)
8/26 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (Jacksonville)
9/1 - Baltimore Colts vs. Dallas Cowboys (Norman, OK)
9/1 - St. Louis Cardinals at Detroit Lions
9/9 - Green Bay Packers vs. Washington Redskins (Columbus, GA)
1961 (AFL):
8/12 - Denver Broncos at Dallas Texans (Midland, TX)
8/25 - Buffalo Bills at Boston Patriots (Providence)
9/1 - Denver Broncos vs. Houston Oilers (Mobile, AL)
1960 (NFL):
8/14 - Cleveland Browns at Detroit Lions
8/20 - St. Louis Cardinals at Detroit Lions (Toledo, OH)
8/26 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Baltimore Colts (Charleston, SC)
8/27 - Dallas Cowboys vs, New York Giants (Louisville)
8/27 - Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Redskins (Norfolk, VA)
9/3 - Philadelphia Eagles vs. Detroit Lions (Norman, OK)
9/4 - Dallas Cowboys vs. Los Angeles Rams (Pendleton, OR)
9/9 - Philadelphia Eagles at St Louis Cardinals
9/10 - Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns (Akron, OH)
9/17 - Green Bay Packers vs. Washington Redskins (Winston-Salem, NC)
1960 (AFL):
8/26 - New York Titans vs. Houston Oilers (Mobile, AL)
8/27 - Denver Broncos vs. Dallas Texans (Little Rock, AR)
It is the goal of this reporter to make a trip or two to the expansive newspaper archives of the Library of Congress in due time to hopefully fill in as many gaps as possible to bring this project as close to its conclusion as possible.
Obviously, one major question asked is: Will we see weekly matchups of the preseason games like you have for the regular season and post season? As of now, we do not intend to have a visual graphic for these games. It would be very time consuming. However, we do intend to put a coded spreadsheet on the GUD of these games, linked by the "Research" tab on the GUD's main page. That way, you can see at a glance by (pre)season who wore what unis and when they wore them. For the sake of completion, the College All-Star Games will also be included in the spreadsheet for the seasons played.
A tip of the helmet goes out to co-GUD'er Bill Schaefer for his dogged determination to assist with the project, Larry Schmitt, our assistant-in-chief, "smith03" and Brad Sullivan, for plugging in as many holes as they were able. Also, a deferential bow goes to the profootballarchives.com website, from which we were able to reconstruct a viable preseason schedule for all the seasons in question.
Now, let's kickoff the 2015 preseason!
 |
The Time Has Come...For An Update.
by Bill Schaefer
Over the last three weeks Rob Holecko has begun the arduous process of updating the GUD with the largest batch of new images since the site was created.
While these updates can all be found individually on the "Updates" tab, I thought it would be beneficial to see a simple list of everything that has been entered so far.
League-wide (or at least 'mostly' League-wide): Fixed for the teams that are finished and will be fixed for the teams yet to be processed.
1. 1978-81, 1983-2015 Wild Card teams...
For some reason, each team under this heading was credited with either
a "First Round Playoff" victory or loss rather than a "Wild Card" victory
or loss.
2. Authentic patch for 1994 "75th Anniversary Season."
3. Authentic patch for 2008 "Gene Upshaw Memorial."
4. Authentic ribbon patch for 2011 Week 1 "10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks."
Also included was that the open center of the ribbons were filled in white
rather than letting the jersey color show through the center of the
ribbon. This has been fixed for all teams that wore colored jerseys for
Week 1. Six teams did not wear the ribbon at all due to playing on either
Opening Night (Thursday, September 8) or in one of the two Monday
Night games played on September 12.
5. Authentic patch for 2012 "50th Anniversary of the Pro Football Hall of Fame."
6. Authentic patch for 1969 "NFL's 50th anniversary" for NFL teams only.
7. Authentic patch for 2009 "AFL 50th Anniversary" for eight original AFL teams.
8. Improved the 1991-2011 collar and pants "NFL" shields and "NFL Equipment" patches.
9. Improved images of all 'high-white' socks and extended their inclusion up through 1987 for all teams.
Arizona Cardinals:
1. 1976 - added combo worn in preseason with patches on both shoulders.
2. 1990 - added a monowhite 'preseason only' combo.
3. 1998 - added authentic '100 years of Cardinals football' patch.
4. 2003 - added a 'white-over-red with striped white socks' preseason-only
combo.
5. 2005 - added authentic patch for regular season game played in Mexico City.
(Also will be added to the 2005 49ers.)
6. 2006 - a) added authentic 'Cardinals Stadium' patch and...
b) added monowhite combo with the same patch as that combo was
additionally worn during the preseason only.
7. 2008 - added authentic 'Super Bowl XLIII' patch. (Also will be added to the
2008 Steelers.)
Atlanta Falcons:
1. 1968-74...
Cleveland Browns:
1. 1973-74 - changed number font style.
2. 1975-76 - made pants stripes thinner.
3. 1977-83 - made pants stripes wider.
4. 1979-95 - adjusted the shade of brown.
5. 1999 - added authentic "Inaugural Season" patch.
6. 2002 - added authentic "Al Lerner" patch.
7. 2003-12 - added authentic "Al Lerner" sleeve patch.
8. 2003 - added 'monowhite with striped white socks' as a preseason-only
combo.
9. 2006 - added authentic "60th Anniversary" patches (2).
Dallas Cowboys:
1. 1967-2011 - improved 'star' logo on helmets.
2. 1974 - improved socks so that the two blue stripes appear on the 'high-whites.'
3. 1995 - a) added 'navy-over-silver' as a preseason-only combo and...
b) added 1994 'white fauxback-over-silver' as a preseason-only
combo, also.
4. 2000 - added authentic "Tom Landry" patch.
5. 2008 - added authentic "Texas Stadium" patch.
6. 2010 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patch.
7. 2014 - added authentic "poppy" patch for game in England. (Also, the black
version of the same patch will be added to the 2014 Jaguars.)
Denver Broncos:
1. 1975 - added authentic "Colorado Centennial" patch.
2. 1984 - added authentic "25th Anniversary of original AFL teams" patch and
made it smaller than those worn by the other 7 teams.
3. 1997 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXII" patch. (Also will be added to the
1997 Packers.)
4. 2009 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patch.
5. 2010 - added authentic "International Series" patch. (Also will be added to
the 2010 49ers.)
6. 2013 - removed "AFC" from "AFC Divisional Playoff" designation to maintain
consistency throughout the site.
Detroit Lions:
1. 1969-71* - changed central white stripe on pants back to grey due to Lions'
Media Guide statement that the stripe didn't change to white
until 1972.
2. 1974 - added two additional combos wearing white shoes for Week 7 through the rest of the season.
3. 1983 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patches (2).
4. 1991 - added authentic "J. Russ Thomas" patches (2).
5. 1993 - added authentic "60th Anniversary" patch.
6. 2001-04, 2008, & 2010 - changed the shade of blue for throwback uniforms.
7. 2002 - added authentic "Ford Field" patch.
8. 2008 - added authentic "75th Anniversary" patch.
(* - due to photographic evidence to the contrary, this update will be altered further by changing the central pants stripe to neither white nor to a shade of grey that matches the pants but rather to a light grey somewhere in between. Stay tuned.)
We will be continuing to add additional large 'team' updates as well as isolated smaller updates over the next few weeks.
By the way, during the last few weeks, some of our viewers have been bringing changes they believe need to be made to our attention. In some cases, we have already caught these errors and made the necessary changes, however, the updated images may still be residing in line for installment. Our advice, if you find something, continue as always and notify us. There is still the possibility that we are unaware of your discovery.
Eleven teams are done. More will follow.
Bill Schaefer
Over the last three weeks Rob Holecko has begun the arduous process of updating the GUD with the largest batch of new images since the site was created.
While these updates can all be found individually on the "Updates" tab, I thought it would be beneficial to see a simple list of everything that has been entered so far.
League-wide (or at least 'mostly' League-wide): Fixed for the teams that are finished and will be fixed for the teams yet to be processed.
1. 1978-81, 1983-2015 Wild Card teams...
For some reason, each team under this heading was credited with either
a "First Round Playoff" victory or loss rather than a "Wild Card" victory
or loss.
2. Authentic patch for 1994 "75th Anniversary Season."
3. Authentic patch for 2008 "Gene Upshaw Memorial."
4. Authentic ribbon patch for 2011 Week 1 "10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks."
Also included was that the open center of the ribbons were filled in white
rather than letting the jersey color show through the center of the
ribbon. This has been fixed for all teams that wore colored jerseys for
Week 1. Six teams did not wear the ribbon at all due to playing on either
Opening Night (Thursday, September 8) or in one of the two Monday
Night games played on September 12.
5. Authentic patch for 2012 "50th Anniversary of the Pro Football Hall of Fame."
6. Authentic patch for 1969 "NFL's 50th anniversary" for NFL teams only.
7. Authentic patch for 2009 "AFL 50th Anniversary" for eight original AFL teams.
8. Improved the 1991-2011 collar and pants "NFL" shields and "NFL Equipment" patches.
9. Improved images of all 'high-white' socks and extended their inclusion up through 1987 for all teams.
Arizona Cardinals:
1. 1976 - added combo worn in preseason with patches on both shoulders.
2. 1990 - added a monowhite 'preseason only' combo.
3. 1998 - added authentic '100 years of Cardinals football' patch.
4. 2003 - added a 'white-over-red with striped white socks' preseason-only
combo.
5. 2005 - added authentic patch for regular season game played in Mexico City.
(Also will be added to the 2005 49ers.)
6. 2006 - a) added authentic 'Cardinals Stadium' patch and...
b) added monowhite combo with the same patch as that combo was
additionally worn during the preseason only.
7. 2008 - added authentic 'Super Bowl XLIII' patch. (Also will be added to the
2008 Steelers.)
Atlanta Falcons:
1. 1968-74...
Changes to number font styles.
- 1968-70: Slant-topped chest with box-topped TVs and backs.
- 1971-74: New red jerseys. Slant-topped on front and back. Box-topped on
TV numbers.
TV numbers.
2. 1971-77...
Adjusted sock and sleeve stripes for 1971-74 and 1975-77.
- 1971-74 sleeves and socks: middle black is as thick as 2 outer stripes
combined.
- 1975-77 sleeves: all stripes are equal thickness.
- 1975-77 socks: middle black stripe is thicker than 2 outer stripes combined.
- 1971-74 sleeves and socks: middle black is as thick as 2 outer stripes
combined.
- 1975-77 sleeves: all stripes are equal thickness.
- 1975-77 socks: middle black stripe is thicker than 2 outer stripes combined.
3. 1988 - added authentic "David Crudip" patch.
4. 1994 - added authentic Whitey Zimmerman "ZEKE" patches (2).
5. 1997 - added authentic "Rankin Smith" patches (2).
6. 1998 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXIII" patch. (Also will be added to the
1998 Broncos.)
1998 Broncos.)
Baltimore Ravens:
1. 2000 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXV" patch (Also will be added to the
2000 Giants.)
2000 Giants.)
2. 2005 - added authentic "10th Anniversary" patch.
3. 2012 - added authentic "Art Modell" patch.
Buffalo Bills:
1. 1972 - changed belt color from black to blue.
2. 1976 - corrected facemask color to grey.
3. 1984 - added authentic "25th Anniversary of original AFL teams" patch.
4. 1990 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXV" patch. (Also will be added to the
1990 Giants.)
1990 Giants.)
5. 1994 - added authentic "35th Anniversary" patch.
6. 2007 - added 'white-over-navy' preseason-only combo.
7. 2008-11 - added authentic "Toronto Series' patch.
8. 2009 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patch.
9. 2014 - added authentic "Ralph Wilson" patch.
Carolina Panthers:
1. 1995 - added authentic "Inaugural Season" patch.
2. 2003 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXVIII" patch. (Also will be added to
the 2003 Patriots.)
the 2003 Patriots.)
Chicago Bears:
1. 1983 - added authentic road jersey "George Halas" patch and improved the graphics for the home jersey "George Halas" patch (2 different patches).
2. 1984 - a) added monowhite preseason only combo and...
b) added preseason-only combos without "GHS" memorial on left
sleeves.
sleeves.
3. 1990-92 - adjusted sleeve lengths.
4. 2001 - a) added authentic "Soldier Field" patch and...
b) added white-over-navy preseason-only combo.
5. 2006 - added authentic "Super Bowl XLI" patch. (Also will be added to the
2006 Colts.)
2006 Colts.)
6. 2011 - added authentic "International Series" patch (Also will be added to the
2011 Buccaneers.)
2011 Buccaneers.)
Cincinnati Bengals:
1. 1981-2003 - adjusted the shade of orange.
2. 1988 - added monowhite combo with authentic "Cincinnati Bicentennial" patch on left sleeve for preseason Hall of Fame Game only.
3. 1988-90 & 1992-93 - added "BENGALS" wordmark to socks.
4. 1997 - different variation of pants stripes (reverted to '1996 version' for
1998)
1998)
6. 1998 - added black to ends of sleeves of white jerseys.
7. 1999 - another different variation of pants stripes.
8. 2004-13 - adjusted shade of orange.
9. 2005 - added 'black-over-black with orange socks' as a preseason-only combo.
10. 2006 - added 'black-over-black with orange socks' as a preseason-only combo.
1. 1973-74 - changed number font style.
2. 1975-76 - made pants stripes thinner.
3. 1977-83 - made pants stripes wider.
4. 1979-95 - adjusted the shade of brown.
5. 1999 - added authentic "Inaugural Season" patch.
6. 2002 - added authentic "Al Lerner" patch.
7. 2003-12 - added authentic "Al Lerner" sleeve patch.
8. 2003 - added 'monowhite with striped white socks' as a preseason-only
combo.
9. 2006 - added authentic "60th Anniversary" patches (2).
Dallas Cowboys:
1. 1967-2011 - improved 'star' logo on helmets.
2. 1974 - improved socks so that the two blue stripes appear on the 'high-whites.'
3. 1995 - a) added 'navy-over-silver' as a preseason-only combo and...
b) added 1994 'white fauxback-over-silver' as a preseason-only
combo, also.
4. 2000 - added authentic "Tom Landry" patch.
5. 2008 - added authentic "Texas Stadium" patch.
6. 2010 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patch.
7. 2014 - added authentic "poppy" patch for game in England. (Also, the black
version of the same patch will be added to the 2014 Jaguars.)
Denver Broncos:
1. 1975 - added authentic "Colorado Centennial" patch.
2. 1984 - added authentic "25th Anniversary of original AFL teams" patch and
made it smaller than those worn by the other 7 teams.
3. 1997 - added authentic "Super Bowl XXXII" patch. (Also will be added to the
1997 Packers.)
4. 2009 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patch.
5. 2010 - added authentic "International Series" patch. (Also will be added to
the 2010 49ers.)
6. 2013 - removed "AFC" from "AFC Divisional Playoff" designation to maintain
consistency throughout the site.
Detroit Lions:
1. 1969-71* - changed central white stripe on pants back to grey due to Lions'
Media Guide statement that the stripe didn't change to white
until 1972.
2. 1974 - added two additional combos wearing white shoes for Week 7 through the rest of the season.
3. 1983 - added authentic "50th Anniversary" patches (2).
4. 1991 - added authentic "J. Russ Thomas" patches (2).
5. 1993 - added authentic "60th Anniversary" patch.
6. 2001-04, 2008, & 2010 - changed the shade of blue for throwback uniforms.
7. 2002 - added authentic "Ford Field" patch.
8. 2008 - added authentic "75th Anniversary" patch.
(* - due to photographic evidence to the contrary, this update will be altered further by changing the central pants stripe to neither white nor to a shade of grey that matches the pants but rather to a light grey somewhere in between. Stay tuned.)
We will be continuing to add additional large 'team' updates as well as isolated smaller updates over the next few weeks.
By the way, during the last few weeks, some of our viewers have been bringing changes they believe need to be made to our attention. In some cases, we have already caught these errors and made the necessary changes, however, the updated images may still be residing in line for installment. Our advice, if you find something, continue as always and notify us. There is still the possibility that we are unaware of your discovery.
Eleven teams are done. More will follow.
Bill Schaefer
The Time Has Come...by Bill Schaefer
Last year, I penned this blog.
One of the things that we've encountered in this massive undertaking that is the GUD is that when we research one thing, we often discover something else completely unrelated. Within the last few days, our own Rob Holecko began the Herculean task of catching us up on many of the updates both we here, and you, the loyal viewers and contributors, have uncovered over the past year.
While researching cold weather gear worn by officials during the 'candy-striper' era of the 1940s, we noticed that the Cleveland Rams wore pants with the dreaded PABs - an acronym for what we have referred to as 'peek-a-boo' belts. This was the topic of a large-scale overhaul back in 2013.
How does all of this relate to our current undertaking, you ask? Well, as documented in the "Butterfly Effect" blog, we began by trying to improve some pretty horribly done socks that were original versions of 'high-whites' for the most part of the 1960s and 1970s. A contributor notified us that his own research found that the 'high-whites' phase continued past our current ending of 1982 (or so) up until around 1987.
At this point, the chore of cleaning up the 1960s and 1970s grew to include adding 'high-whites' up through 1987 for all teams.
Amidst doing that, I began to notice little things that bugged me. For instance, I could not see the primary white outline between the navy star on a Cowboys helmet and the outer navy outline. I knew it should be there, but it wasn't. So I fixed the helmet stars for all of the Cowboys' helmets from 1967-87. As soon as I finished I realized the monster I had created. While 1967-87 looked perfect and exactly the way I had envisioned, now every Cowboys helmet from 1988 on looked like garbage by comparison. The only solution would be to fix them all up until our newest templates - the Nike uniforms and Revolution style helmets - began for 2012. In other words, correcting 20 years of socks had turned into nearly 50 years of revisions for almost every team except the expansion teams. For them, I'd just have to fix their entire histories.
As I continued team-by-team from the end of the high-top cleats era (around the late 1950s), normal updates that both we, here, and you out in Internet-land were finding and posting in our Forum, the truth became clear.
How can I go through and improve what currently exists while at the same time working in all of the normal updates?
The answer: I can't.
Only one option existed. I would have to complete the improvements for every team and hold off on the regular updates until a teams improvements were finished. I could then go back to the improved images and make the changes required of the updates. In other words, these updates that Rob is going to be installing have been changed once, twice, and in some cases 3 times over the past year before a single change had been posted to the site.
Around Thanksgiving of 2014, I finished the improvements and set to work on the updates.
Both Tim and Rob have sat by patiently waiting for me to get to this point. That time has arrived.
Over the past 2 weeks, Rob has gotten us completely caught up on updates to 'old' NFL teams (1920 to the 1950s), the AAFC, the USFL, and game officials.
Now begins the largest single roll-out of 'refreshed' images and updates since the birth of the GUD. Rob will slowly begin these grandiose updates with the Arizona Cardinals for 1961-2012 and continue to add the improvements team-by-team for however long it takes.
Please keep in mind, the weekly match-up pages will receive the updates as well. Be patient with the roll-out process and check in to our Update page regularly to see what has been done to continue our mission here at GUD...
"Just get it right."
Bill Schaefer.
One of the things that we've encountered in this massive undertaking that is the GUD is that when we research one thing, we often discover something else completely unrelated. Within the last few days, our own Rob Holecko began the Herculean task of catching us up on many of the updates both we here, and you, the loyal viewers and contributors, have uncovered over the past year.
While researching cold weather gear worn by officials during the 'candy-striper' era of the 1940s, we noticed that the Cleveland Rams wore pants with the dreaded PABs - an acronym for what we have referred to as 'peek-a-boo' belts. This was the topic of a large-scale overhaul back in 2013.
How does all of this relate to our current undertaking, you ask? Well, as documented in the "Butterfly Effect" blog, we began by trying to improve some pretty horribly done socks that were original versions of 'high-whites' for the most part of the 1960s and 1970s. A contributor notified us that his own research found that the 'high-whites' phase continued past our current ending of 1982 (or so) up until around 1987.
At this point, the chore of cleaning up the 1960s and 1970s grew to include adding 'high-whites' up through 1987 for all teams.
Amidst doing that, I began to notice little things that bugged me. For instance, I could not see the primary white outline between the navy star on a Cowboys helmet and the outer navy outline. I knew it should be there, but it wasn't. So I fixed the helmet stars for all of the Cowboys' helmets from 1967-87. As soon as I finished I realized the monster I had created. While 1967-87 looked perfect and exactly the way I had envisioned, now every Cowboys helmet from 1988 on looked like garbage by comparison. The only solution would be to fix them all up until our newest templates - the Nike uniforms and Revolution style helmets - began for 2012. In other words, correcting 20 years of socks had turned into nearly 50 years of revisions for almost every team except the expansion teams. For them, I'd just have to fix their entire histories.
As I continued team-by-team from the end of the high-top cleats era (around the late 1950s), normal updates that both we, here, and you out in Internet-land were finding and posting in our Forum, the truth became clear.
How can I go through and improve what currently exists while at the same time working in all of the normal updates?
The answer: I can't.
Only one option existed. I would have to complete the improvements for every team and hold off on the regular updates until a teams improvements were finished. I could then go back to the improved images and make the changes required of the updates. In other words, these updates that Rob is going to be installing have been changed once, twice, and in some cases 3 times over the past year before a single change had been posted to the site.
Around Thanksgiving of 2014, I finished the improvements and set to work on the updates.
Both Tim and Rob have sat by patiently waiting for me to get to this point. That time has arrived.
Over the past 2 weeks, Rob has gotten us completely caught up on updates to 'old' NFL teams (1920 to the 1950s), the AAFC, the USFL, and game officials.
Now begins the largest single roll-out of 'refreshed' images and updates since the birth of the GUD. Rob will slowly begin these grandiose updates with the Arizona Cardinals for 1961-2012 and continue to add the improvements team-by-team for however long it takes.
Please keep in mind, the weekly match-up pages will receive the updates as well. Be patient with the roll-out process and check in to our Update page regularly to see what has been done to continue our mission here at GUD...
"Just get it right."
Bill Schaefer.
Presenting the 2015 Cleveland Browns
by Tim Brulia
Last night (April 14th), at about 7:45 ET, the Cleveland Browns, as promised, debuted their long awaited new uniforms. The unveiling was webcast on the Browns website and carried live locally in Cleveland on 5ABC (WEWS-TV).
Nine Browns players took the stage at the Cleveland Convention Center sporting all nine color combinations to cheers.
Courtesy of clevelandbrowns.com, rather than make a description of each combo, here are several of the combos.
following the lead of some college football teams and numerous soccer teams in Europe.
The three pants feature an unprecedented stripe and wordmark combination that appear to be more centered to the back of the pant leg
The socks, you ask? Merely two pairs of hose; all orange and all brown. But we didn't see any players going with one orange and one brown at the unveiling.
All in all, a major change for sure. Surprising to this reporter is the use of orange numbers on the brown jerseys. Twice before in the Browns history have we seen this combination (1946 and 1984), and in each case, the team changed to white numbers as the orange numbers were considered difficult to see from afar.
But rumors abound that the orange jerseys will be the first choice of the Browns. If so, it would then appear that for the first time ever, the brown tops would be used as an alternate, meaning no more than three appearances a season, one in the preseason, and twice in the regular season.
As a reminder, if you want to see our blog on the history of the Browns prior to the coming see, here you go.
There they are, your 2015 Cleveland Browns!
Last night (April 14th), at about 7:45 ET, the Cleveland Browns, as promised, debuted their long awaited new uniforms. The unveiling was webcast on the Browns website and carried live locally in Cleveland on 5ABC (WEWS-TV).
Nine Browns players took the stage at the Cleveland Convention Center sporting all nine color combinations to cheers.
Courtesy of clevelandbrowns.com, rather than make a description of each combo, here are several of the combos.
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| Browns in all bronwn |
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| Browns in all white |
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| Browns in white/brown |
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| Browns in brown/orange |
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| Browns in all orange |
Some highlights:
One that stands out as much as anything is the large "Cleveland" wordmark across the chest of the three jerseys.
Also, the Browns follow the path of the Carolina Panthers and added an inscription to the inside of the jersey collar,
following the lead of some college football teams and numerous soccer teams in Europe.
The three pants feature an unprecedented stripe and wordmark combination that appear to be more centered to the back of the pant leg
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| Browns orange pants. |
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| Browns brown pants |
The socks, you ask? Merely two pairs of hose; all orange and all brown. But we didn't see any players going with one orange and one brown at the unveiling.
All in all, a major change for sure. Surprising to this reporter is the use of orange numbers on the brown jerseys. Twice before in the Browns history have we seen this combination (1946 and 1984), and in each case, the team changed to white numbers as the orange numbers were considered difficult to see from afar.
But rumors abound that the orange jerseys will be the first choice of the Browns. If so, it would then appear that for the first time ever, the brown tops would be used as an alternate, meaning no more than three appearances a season, one in the preseason, and twice in the regular season.
As a reminder, if you want to see our blog on the history of the Browns prior to the coming see, here you go.
There they are, your 2015 Cleveland Browns!
The Cleveland Browns Uniform History
By Tim Brulia
On April 14th, the Cleveland Browns are set to unveil brand new uniforms. We are told that there will be three sets of white, orange and brown that will be mix-and-matched during the season. We have seen some "leaks" of an orange jersey that is purported to be the new look. We won't comment about that here. But we did think it would be a good notion to have a chronological look see at the history of the uniform.
In 1946, the Browns took the field in the fledgling All-America Football Conference. They wore plain white leather helmets, brown jerseys, white jerseys (which they wore most of the time), white pants and white or brown socks, that corresponded with the jersey color. The distinguishing characteristics of the jerseys were the unique (for that time) five striped pattern on the sleeves and socks and the drop shadow numbers. They used orange over white numbers on the brown jerseys and brown over orange numbers on the white jerseys. As the season progressed however, the Browns went with straight numbers on the brown jerseys, perhaps because of the difficulty of seeing the orange numbers from afar.
In 1947, the Browns reversed the striping pattern on the brown socks and this would be the look for the rest of their days in the AAFC.
On April 14th, the Cleveland Browns are set to unveil brand new uniforms. We are told that there will be three sets of white, orange and brown that will be mix-and-matched during the season. We have seen some "leaks" of an orange jersey that is purported to be the new look. We won't comment about that here. But we did think it would be a good notion to have a chronological look see at the history of the uniform.
In 1946, the Browns took the field in the fledgling All-America Football Conference. They wore plain white leather helmets, brown jerseys, white jerseys (which they wore most of the time), white pants and white or brown socks, that corresponded with the jersey color. The distinguishing characteristics of the jerseys were the unique (for that time) five striped pattern on the sleeves and socks and the drop shadow numbers. They used orange over white numbers on the brown jerseys and brown over orange numbers on the white jerseys. As the season progressed however, the Browns went with straight numbers on the brown jerseys, perhaps because of the difficulty of seeing the orange numbers from afar.
In 1947, the Browns reversed the striping pattern on the brown socks and this would be the look for the rest of their days in the AAFC.
After the demise of the AAFC, in which the Browns were champions for each season of the AAFC's existence, the Browns entered the NFL in 1950 along with the San Francisco Forty-Niners and Baltimore Colts. The Browns introduced orange leather helmets for night games and an early season game or two before returning to the white lids. The Browns also returned the stripe pattern on the brown socks to match up with the sleeve stripes on their brown jerseys.
In 1952, the Browns shed the white helmets for good and coach Paul Brown ordered all players to wear plastic shelled helmets. The helmets were orange with a single white stripe up the middle.
For their first home game in 1953, a Saturday nighter, the Browns broke out orange jerseys for the first time, against the Philadelphia Eagles. Here is how the matchup appeared:
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| Philadelphia Eagles at Cleveland Browns, October 10, 1953. |
The Browns also wore orange jerseys for preseason games in 1954 and 1955. The numbers were straight brown.
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| 1954 and 1955 Browns preseason orange jerseys. |
In 1957, while other teams in the NFL were starting to add "TV numbers" to the sleeves of their jerseys for easier identification of those watching the game on TV, the Browns put a little twist on the innovation by adding the numbers to sides of the helmets instead of the sleeves.
As well in 1957, the NFL ordered that each team's dark jerseys be worn for home games only. Thus, the more familiar white jerseys of the Browns were relegated to being worn for away games only while the brown jerseys would be worn for all games until 1964.
For 1960 only, the Browns added brown stripes to flank the single white stripe on the helmet, with the players numbers remaining on the helmet.
In 1961, the Browns went along with most of the rest of the teams in the NFL and added TV numbers to the sleeves of their jerseys. This meant that the numbers on the helmets were removed, and the helmet was once again blank on the sides. While almost every NFL team was now sporting emblems on their helmets, the Browns avoided them.
In 1965, the NFL released some publications with a league display of helmet logos, including those of the Browns, which featured a "CB" insignia on the sides. But this helmet never saw the light of day or night on a football field.
In 1968 with the brown jersey, then in 1969 with the white jersey, the Browns separated the sleeve stripes ever so slightly. And in 1970, as part of the merger with the AFL, nameplates were added to the backs of the jerseys. The GUD's 1970 Browns page shows these revisions.
For 1974 only, the Browns wore brown striped socks with their white jerseys.
In 1975, the Browns unveiled a rather startling change to their wares, by replacing the white pants, which up to this point had been unaltered in their history.
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| 1975 Cleveland Browns |
By 1984, the Browns decided to make the first major overhaul of their uniforms in team history. While the helmet would be untouched, the new unis would feature orange numbers on both jerseys, with outlines on each. The familiar five stripe sleeve pattern would become a three striped pattern, The pants would return to white with a thicker new brown/orange/brown pattern. The Browns would wear the new brown jersey for their first preseason game against the Steelers in Cleveland. But both fans and media personnel alike complained of the difficulty of seeing the numbers. So, the Browns immediately ditched both sets of jerseys and went with easier to see white numbers trimmed in orange (brown jerseys) and brown numbers trimmed in orange (white jerseys). The orange numbered white jerseys thus never were worn.
Apparently the new style didn't sit well with the Dawg Pound faithful, so the Browns returned to the more familiar threads the following season,
These unis more or less stayed the same through 1995 when courtesy of owner Art Modell, the franchise relocated to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Ravens. The move so incensed the city of Cleveland and the citizens of Northeastern Ohio, that the NFL declared that "officially" the Browns franchise was on a sabbatical and would return in 1999 with name, colors and history intact. Modell's Ravens would be deemed a new franchise. The 1999 Browns took the field with only slight modifications, the iconic logoless helmet was untouched, the TV numbers were moved from sleeves to shoulders, the pants stripes were thickened a bit and a patch commemorating the new team was worn.
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| Detail of Browns 1999 patch |
In 2002, the Browns broke out orange jerseys for the first time in 47 years with a Week 7 home game against the Houston Texans. The following week they would wear a commemorative patch for the passing of owner Al Lerner. This is how the patch appeared on the resurrected orange top:
In 2003, the Browns joined in on the growing trend of mixing and matching uniforms with their NFL brethren. The Browns wordmark was added to the jersey front, above the numbers. Orange pants returned after 20 years, the white pants changed stripe patterns and the Al Lerner tribute became permanent and was fixed on the left sleeve stripes of all three sets of jerseys. Note also that the socks were changing over to a solid brown.
By 2005, the orange colored jersey and pants were dropped.
In 2006, the Browns sported a 60th anniversary patch and also wore throwback uniforms for the first time, in homage to the 1957-1959 home look with a Week 12 game against the cross-state Cincinnati Bengals. And by now, the sleeve stripes were the old pre-1968 connected five striped style.
On Monday, August 18, 2008, the Browns showed off a rather shocking look for a preseason game at the Meadowlands against the New York Giants for a national ESPN telecast. A pair of solid colored brown pants worn with the white jerseys.
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| 2008 Browns preseason brown pants |
The Browns would not wear the brown pants again till the following 2009 season, when they wore them for all games in which they wore their white jerseys. The striped white socks would return with this look,
While the white striped socks were worn once again with the white jerseys, the brown pants would not return until the 2013 season. When they did, it was an unexpected all brown monochrome look for a Week 5 Thursday night game at home against the Buffalo Bills. They would also again wear the brown bottoms with their white jerseys. It was also in 2013 that the Al Lerner tribute was deleted from the jerseys.
And for 2013, the Browns wore the basic four uniform combinations, white'white, white/brown, brown/white and yes,,,brown/brown.
As for helmet decals, the Browns have worn the following throughout the years:
And for a history of the Browns wearing white at home since 1957, here is that info:
For good measure, the Browns wore their white jerseys for all regular season games in 1972 (though they did wear brown jerseys for a playoff game at Miami), 1973, 1977, 1986, 1995 and 2011.
So there you are, everything you ever wanted to know about the Browns uniforms through the years. On April 14th, a new uniform chapter will unfold for the Browns.
We'll report the unveiling here on the GUD. Be here!
On Golden Gridiron
by Tim Brulia
Yes, we are still alive at the Gridiron Uniform Database. We were just in hibernation!
On March 24th, it was revealed by the NFL that the upcoming 2015 season will be a golden celebration. For what reason, you may ask? At the end of the season, the AFC Champion and NFC Champion will meet in the Super Bowl as always. However, this will be no ordinary Super Bowl, By no means. This will be Super Bowl 50. Yes, even the roman numerals will take a one year hiatus.
In the NFL's eyes, the 50th playing of the Super Bowl is so momentous that the entire season will be cause for celebration.
Among other things, the NFL has created a gold-plated NFL Shield,
gold trimmed Pro Bowl uniforms,
gold 50's for the on-field markings,
special edition gold-trimmed logo caps for rookies at the NFL Draft,
with more to follow.
What will all of this mean in terms of uniforms? Will the NFL Shield be gold on the jersey collars and pants legs? Will the officials wear gold colored caps? Will the Super Bowl 50 Vince Lombardi trophy be gold instead of the usual silver? All that glitters is gold? All will be known soon enough, we're sure.
It was also revealed that the Browns new uniforms, to be released April 14th, will contain as many as nine different color combinations. Which one would think means a white set, a brown set and an orange set, to be mixed and matched.
The NFL has been known to have the "Midas Touch" in terms of marketing its wares. They also say that "Silence Is Golden."
Yes, we are still alive at the Gridiron Uniform Database. We were just in hibernation!
On March 24th, it was revealed by the NFL that the upcoming 2015 season will be a golden celebration. For what reason, you may ask? At the end of the season, the AFC Champion and NFC Champion will meet in the Super Bowl as always. However, this will be no ordinary Super Bowl, By no means. This will be Super Bowl 50. Yes, even the roman numerals will take a one year hiatus.
In the NFL's eyes, the 50th playing of the Super Bowl is so momentous that the entire season will be cause for celebration.
Among other things, the NFL has created a gold-plated NFL Shield,
gold trimmed Pro Bowl uniforms,
gold 50's for the on-field markings,
special edition gold-trimmed logo caps for rookies at the NFL Draft,
What will all of this mean in terms of uniforms? Will the NFL Shield be gold on the jersey collars and pants legs? Will the officials wear gold colored caps? Will the Super Bowl 50 Vince Lombardi trophy be gold instead of the usual silver? All that glitters is gold? All will be known soon enough, we're sure.
It was also revealed that the Browns new uniforms, to be released April 14th, will contain as many as nine different color combinations. Which one would think means a white set, a brown set and an orange set, to be mixed and matched.
The NFL has been known to have the "Midas Touch" in terms of marketing its wares. They also say that "Silence Is Golden."
All-time Uniform Games - Super Bowl Edition
by Kyle Standerfer
Super Bowl Sunday is finally here. And my goal is to get this posted before kickoff. If I don't, oh well.
Here are my impressions of the 48 Super Bowls based on the uniforms the participants wore.
First, the 8 "sour cream" games.
January 15, 1967; Chiefs-Packers- Super Bowl I: I hate to rate the very first one this way, It's just that I never was a fan of Kansas City in white-on-white, even though they never adopted red pants until two years later.
January 30, 1983; Dolphins-Redskins - Super Bowl XVII: So many things are wrong IMO about how Washington dressed that day. First is them being the designated "host" team and wearing white. Second is the burgundy pants they had with their white tops for 31 solid years (and most of the next two). I'll leave it at that for now.
January 22, 1984; Redskins-Raiders - Super Bowl XVIII: same as the year before, even though this time Washington was the official "road" team.
January 31, 1988; Redskins-Broncos - Super Bowl XXII: aside from the devastation the 2nd quarter laid on my Broncos, it's the same uniform as they wore twice previously under Joe Gibbs.
January 26, 1992; Redskins-Bills - Super Bowl XXVI: once again, Washington had those abominable uniforms.
January 29, 1995; Chargers-49ers - Super Bowl XXIX: aside from being the ultimate inevitable mismatch, I couldn't stand the white pants San Francisco wore for most of that season, or the drop shadow #s they had. Doesn't look like the Niners to me.
February 5, 2006; Seahawks-Steelers - Super Bowl XL: Bill Cowher decided to go with a superstition that said they won their previous three games on the road - all in white jerseys, thus they couldn't mess with the juju by going back to black, even as the designated host team for this game. Thus, for me, that aspect of the game just didn't look right.
February 3, 2013; Ravens-49ers - Super Bowl XLVII: I'll say it again. One thing I hate about John Harbaugh becoming coach of the Baltimore Birdies is how they made black their primary pants color to go with white jerseys (and all too often with purple jerseys or, even worse, black jerseys). To me those black pants dull out their uniforms.
February 2, 2014; Seahawks-Broncos - Super Bowl XLVIII: Apart from the horrible result, I don't like Seattle in blue pants with white jerseys. I want the gray pants on them.
Now the 39 games eligible for ranking.
39. January 17, 1971; Colts-Cowboys - Super Bowl V: both teams had royal blue. Baltimore had white and Dallas had their gray/silver (whatever you called it). Hardly anything to wow me.
38. January 31, 1999; Broncos-Falcons - Super Bowl XXXIII: Atlanta's home uniforms needed an opponent with bright colors to provide a decent contrast. Denver's white and navy didn't really do that.
37. February 1, 2004; Panthers-Patriots - Super Bowl XXXVIII: the game thus far with the most Roman "digits" was pretty underwhelming when it came to the two teams' duds.
36. February 5, 2012; Giants-Patriots - Super Bowl XLVI: since it was a repeat of the game four years earlier, it had the gusto of oatmeal.
35. January 25, 1987; Broncos-Giants - Super Bowl XXI: some contrasts but pretty underwhelming uniform-wise.
34. January 28, 2001; Ravens-Giants - Super Bowl XXXV: not the mot inspiring uniform matchup, but Baltimore's purple at least provided somewhat of a contrast.
33. January 27, 1991; Bills-Giants - Super Bowl XXV: Both teams had their red white and blue, but Buffalo's red helmets made it salvageable.
32. January 12, 1969; Jets-Colts - Super Bowl III: three was also the number for the fewest combined colors in one game. New York in their Kelly green and white against Baltimore in their blue and white.
31. February 3, 2008; Giants-Patriots - Super Bowl XLII: both teams had red white and blue and both had gray or silver pants but their were enough subtle differences to make this one passable.
30. January 12, 1975; Steelers-Vikings - Super Bowl IX: the colors contrasted well, and this is one game I believe I might be underrating, but I just like 29 others better. It might have looked better if it were sunny that day.
29. February 6, 2011; Steelers-Packers - Super Bowl XLV: the only Big Game played thus far in North Texas had a lot of gold, but it was Pittsburgh's black and white against Green Bay's green and white.
28. February 4, 2007; Colts-Bears- Super Bowl XLI: not a lot of colors, but the ones on the field contrasted well enough. It was Indy in their classic white and blue against Chicago in their classic navy, white and orange.
27. January 31, 1993; Bills-Cowboys - Super Bowl XXVII: these same two teams met one year later in the same uniforms. I just liked the one the next year that much better.
26. January 30, 2000; Rams-Titans - Super Bowl XXXIV: not a bad uni contrast. I just liked 25 games better.
25. January 16, 1972; Cowboys-Dolphins - Super Bowl VI: I'm not the biggest fan of the pants the Cowboys wore in the early 70s. Looks a little too much like cement mix to me. But those unis contrasted well against Miami in their Howard Johnson colors that day in Tulane Stadium.
24. January 25, 1981; Raiders-Eagles - Super Bowl XV: Oakland in their classic road unis against Philly in their home uniforms they wore from 1974-1984 (with a few variations in the amount of striping on the sleeves). Not the greatest, but not bad.
23. January 26, 1986; Bears-Patriots - Super Bowl XX: Chicago in their white jerseys with navy pants and helmets with hints of orange against New England in their classic red, white and blue looked very good in the Superdome that day.
22. January 11, 1970; Vikings-Chiefs - Super Bowl IV: Kansas City in their red and white with hints of gold contrasted decently against Minnesota in their white and purple with hints of gold. Those two uniforms may have looked better at night or under sunshine.
21. February 6, 2005; Patriots-Eagles - Super Bowl XXXIX: Philly in their midnight green and white against New England in their white and navy with silver helmets looked pretty good that evening in Jacksonville.
20. January 28, 1996; Cowboys-Steelers - Super Bowl XXX: as you well see below, all 3 matchups between these two traditional powers crack the top half (20) of the ranked games. I just like 19 games better than this one, including the two other matchups between Pittsburgh and Dallas.
19. January 20, 1980; Rams-Steelers - Super Bowl XIV: Yes there was a lot of gold that day, as evidenced by both teams' pants. But Pittsburgh's black and white against Los Angeles' blue and white sparkled well that day in Pasadena, both before and after the sun went down.
18. February 3, 2002; Rams-Patriots- Super Bowl XXXVI: New England's current home uniforms aren't exactly a jolt to my senses, but their unis that day were sparkling brand new and contrasted well against St. Louis in their navy and gold in the Superdome.
17.January 14, 1973; Dolphins-Redskins - Super Bowl VII: it was Miami's last game in the stripeless white jerseys, worn by Griese, Csonka, and Jake Scott to name a few. Difference is - that season, some Dolphins players had the white jerseys with the sleeve stripes - such as Mercury Morris, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield. Their white and aqua with coral trim contrasted well with Washington's burgundy and gold.
16. January 25, 1998; Packers-Broncos - Super Bowl XXXII: I have always preferred Denver in their classic orange, but the navy blue jerseys with orange trim were acceptable to me, and they clashed beautifully against Green Bay. It was also the Packers' first season in their jerseys with fewer sleeve stripes. That game also gave me my all-time favorite Super Bowl logo.
15. January 24, 1982; 49ers-Bengals - Super Bowl XVI: the first Super Bowl played in a cold-weather city provided a beautiful color contrast. It was also Cincinnati's first year in their orange and black tiger stripes, which was on their helmets, pants, and shoulders.
14. January 18. 1976; Cowboys-Steelers- Super Bowl X: this was the first ever Super Bowl where both teams wore the same patch on their respective uniforms. The two teams' unis contrasted well in the last game at the Orange Bowl ever played on an artificial surface.
13. January 28, 1990; 49ers-Broncos - Super Bowl XXIV: I hated the 55-10 result. But . . . this was the first season the Broncos widened, or enlarged, if you will, the middle sleeve stripe between the blue outer sleeve stripes (on both jerseys). The two uniforms contrasted well on the Superdome turf that evening.
12. January 26. 1997; Patriots-Packers - Super Bowl XXXI: the Packers green shone through sharply that evening in the Superdome. And I was a huge fan of New England's road unis in the late 90s. Watching Desmond Howard streak past the Patriots' coverage unit was beautiful not only in a football sense, but in a uniform color sense.
11. January 21, 1979; Steelers-Cowboiys - Super Bowl XIII: I just like 10 others better than this one. And I just like this one better than the other two matchups between these two heavyweights. The Steelers' gold pants had more luster in my eyes than the game 3 years earlier.
10. February 7, 2010; Saints-Colts - Super Bowl XLIV: New Orleans' gold helmets and pants sparkled well with their white jerseys and black numbers/trim against Indy in their classic blue and white. Looked great that evening in Miami Gardens.
9. February 1, 2009; Steelers-Cardinals - Super Bowl XLIII: in what ended up as John Madden's last broadcast, Pittsburgh's black, gold and white looked great at Raymond James Stadium against Arizona's red and white. Furious action on the field can bring out the best in those colors, and that game had plenty of furious action.
8. January 30, 1994; Cowboys-Bills - Super Bowl XXVIII: the only SB rematch to happen in back-to-back seasons, I just preferred this one to the one in Pasadena one year earlier. Dallas and Buffalo's uniforms contrasted beautifully back then. It looked better under the Georgia Dome lights than in the Rose Bowl to me.
7. January 22, 1985; Dolphins-49ers - Super Bowl XIX: Miami's white uniforms with aqua numerals and aqua/coral trim looked great that day against San Francisco in their classic colors. ABC's first crack at the Big Game was also a colorful treat.
6. January 13, 1974; Vikings-Dolphins - Super Bowl VIII: this is the only time in any game that Minnesota was in their white jerseys against Miami (other than maybe a few preseason games). Played on a cloudy day at Rice Stadium in Houston, Miami's aqua-green jeresys with white pants and helmets and coral trim contrasted well against Minnesota's white jerseys and pants with purple helmets and gold trim. But what makes this game a high-ranker for me is the Vikings' purple socks, where the color burst out in a big way.
5. January 14, 1968; Packers-Raiders - Super Bowl II: at least one of the very early games that wasn't yet officially dubbed the "Super Bowl" cracks the top 5. Green Bay in their classic gold helmets and pants with white jerseys and green numbers and trim against Oakland in their silver and black. This was not only Vince Lombardi's last game roaming the Packers' sidelines, it was a good uniform game.
4, January 15, 1978; Cowboys-Broncos - Super Bowl XII: Unlike the game the year before, this was the first one played indoors, and the first one to start at prime time. But Dallas in their classic colors against Denver in their orange blue and white was a color treat for me.
3. January 26, 2003; Raiders-Buccaneers - Super Bowl XXXVII: Oakland in their road whites with black numerals, silver pants and helmets against Tampa Bay in their pewter power with red jerseys. I just enjoyed looking at these two uniforms going against each other.
2. January 22, 1989; Bengals-49ers - Super Bowl XXIII: these two met seven seasons earlier in a dome in their opposite jersey colors. This time it was the first Super Bowl at the then new Joe Robbie Stadium (now Sun Life Stadium), Cincinnati's white, orange and black contrasted gorgeously against San Francisco's classic red and gold. It looked even better once the sun went down.
1. January 9, 1977; Raiders-Vikings - Super Bowl XI: It has now been 38 seasons since the Big Game started and ended in daylight. I just loved the way Oakland's white, silver and black clashed against Minesota's grape-juice purple with white pants and yellow trim in the California sunshine.
Super Bowl Sunday is finally here. And my goal is to get this posted before kickoff. If I don't, oh well.
Here are my impressions of the 48 Super Bowls based on the uniforms the participants wore.
First, the 8 "sour cream" games.
January 15, 1967; Chiefs-Packers- Super Bowl I: I hate to rate the very first one this way, It's just that I never was a fan of Kansas City in white-on-white, even though they never adopted red pants until two years later.
January 30, 1983; Dolphins-Redskins - Super Bowl XVII: So many things are wrong IMO about how Washington dressed that day. First is them being the designated "host" team and wearing white. Second is the burgundy pants they had with their white tops for 31 solid years (and most of the next two). I'll leave it at that for now.
January 22, 1984; Redskins-Raiders - Super Bowl XVIII: same as the year before, even though this time Washington was the official "road" team.
January 31, 1988; Redskins-Broncos - Super Bowl XXII: aside from the devastation the 2nd quarter laid on my Broncos, it's the same uniform as they wore twice previously under Joe Gibbs.
January 26, 1992; Redskins-Bills - Super Bowl XXVI: once again, Washington had those abominable uniforms.
January 29, 1995; Chargers-49ers - Super Bowl XXIX: aside from being the ultimate inevitable mismatch, I couldn't stand the white pants San Francisco wore for most of that season, or the drop shadow #s they had. Doesn't look like the Niners to me.
February 5, 2006; Seahawks-Steelers - Super Bowl XL: Bill Cowher decided to go with a superstition that said they won their previous three games on the road - all in white jerseys, thus they couldn't mess with the juju by going back to black, even as the designated host team for this game. Thus, for me, that aspect of the game just didn't look right.
February 3, 2013; Ravens-49ers - Super Bowl XLVII: I'll say it again. One thing I hate about John Harbaugh becoming coach of the Baltimore Birdies is how they made black their primary pants color to go with white jerseys (and all too often with purple jerseys or, even worse, black jerseys). To me those black pants dull out their uniforms.
February 2, 2014; Seahawks-Broncos - Super Bowl XLVIII: Apart from the horrible result, I don't like Seattle in blue pants with white jerseys. I want the gray pants on them.
Now the 39 games eligible for ranking.
39. January 17, 1971; Colts-Cowboys - Super Bowl V: both teams had royal blue. Baltimore had white and Dallas had their gray/silver (whatever you called it). Hardly anything to wow me.
38. January 31, 1999; Broncos-Falcons - Super Bowl XXXIII: Atlanta's home uniforms needed an opponent with bright colors to provide a decent contrast. Denver's white and navy didn't really do that.
37. February 1, 2004; Panthers-Patriots - Super Bowl XXXVIII: the game thus far with the most Roman "digits" was pretty underwhelming when it came to the two teams' duds.
36. February 5, 2012; Giants-Patriots - Super Bowl XLVI: since it was a repeat of the game four years earlier, it had the gusto of oatmeal.
35. January 25, 1987; Broncos-Giants - Super Bowl XXI: some contrasts but pretty underwhelming uniform-wise.
34. January 28, 2001; Ravens-Giants - Super Bowl XXXV: not the mot inspiring uniform matchup, but Baltimore's purple at least provided somewhat of a contrast.
33. January 27, 1991; Bills-Giants - Super Bowl XXV: Both teams had their red white and blue, but Buffalo's red helmets made it salvageable.
32. January 12, 1969; Jets-Colts - Super Bowl III: three was also the number for the fewest combined colors in one game. New York in their Kelly green and white against Baltimore in their blue and white.
31. February 3, 2008; Giants-Patriots - Super Bowl XLII: both teams had red white and blue and both had gray or silver pants but their were enough subtle differences to make this one passable.
30. January 12, 1975; Steelers-Vikings - Super Bowl IX: the colors contrasted well, and this is one game I believe I might be underrating, but I just like 29 others better. It might have looked better if it were sunny that day.
29. February 6, 2011; Steelers-Packers - Super Bowl XLV: the only Big Game played thus far in North Texas had a lot of gold, but it was Pittsburgh's black and white against Green Bay's green and white.
28. February 4, 2007; Colts-Bears- Super Bowl XLI: not a lot of colors, but the ones on the field contrasted well enough. It was Indy in their classic white and blue against Chicago in their classic navy, white and orange.
27. January 31, 1993; Bills-Cowboys - Super Bowl XXVII: these same two teams met one year later in the same uniforms. I just liked the one the next year that much better.
26. January 30, 2000; Rams-Titans - Super Bowl XXXIV: not a bad uni contrast. I just liked 25 games better.
25. January 16, 1972; Cowboys-Dolphins - Super Bowl VI: I'm not the biggest fan of the pants the Cowboys wore in the early 70s. Looks a little too much like cement mix to me. But those unis contrasted well against Miami in their Howard Johnson colors that day in Tulane Stadium.
24. January 25, 1981; Raiders-Eagles - Super Bowl XV: Oakland in their classic road unis against Philly in their home uniforms they wore from 1974-1984 (with a few variations in the amount of striping on the sleeves). Not the greatest, but not bad.
23. January 26, 1986; Bears-Patriots - Super Bowl XX: Chicago in their white jerseys with navy pants and helmets with hints of orange against New England in their classic red, white and blue looked very good in the Superdome that day.
22. January 11, 1970; Vikings-Chiefs - Super Bowl IV: Kansas City in their red and white with hints of gold contrasted decently against Minnesota in their white and purple with hints of gold. Those two uniforms may have looked better at night or under sunshine.
21. February 6, 2005; Patriots-Eagles - Super Bowl XXXIX: Philly in their midnight green and white against New England in their white and navy with silver helmets looked pretty good that evening in Jacksonville.
20. January 28, 1996; Cowboys-Steelers - Super Bowl XXX: as you well see below, all 3 matchups between these two traditional powers crack the top half (20) of the ranked games. I just like 19 games better than this one, including the two other matchups between Pittsburgh and Dallas.
19. January 20, 1980; Rams-Steelers - Super Bowl XIV: Yes there was a lot of gold that day, as evidenced by both teams' pants. But Pittsburgh's black and white against Los Angeles' blue and white sparkled well that day in Pasadena, both before and after the sun went down.
18. February 3, 2002; Rams-Patriots- Super Bowl XXXVI: New England's current home uniforms aren't exactly a jolt to my senses, but their unis that day were sparkling brand new and contrasted well against St. Louis in their navy and gold in the Superdome.
17.January 14, 1973; Dolphins-Redskins - Super Bowl VII: it was Miami's last game in the stripeless white jerseys, worn by Griese, Csonka, and Jake Scott to name a few. Difference is - that season, some Dolphins players had the white jerseys with the sleeve stripes - such as Mercury Morris, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield. Their white and aqua with coral trim contrasted well with Washington's burgundy and gold.
16. January 25, 1998; Packers-Broncos - Super Bowl XXXII: I have always preferred Denver in their classic orange, but the navy blue jerseys with orange trim were acceptable to me, and they clashed beautifully against Green Bay. It was also the Packers' first season in their jerseys with fewer sleeve stripes. That game also gave me my all-time favorite Super Bowl logo.
15. January 24, 1982; 49ers-Bengals - Super Bowl XVI: the first Super Bowl played in a cold-weather city provided a beautiful color contrast. It was also Cincinnati's first year in their orange and black tiger stripes, which was on their helmets, pants, and shoulders.
14. January 18. 1976; Cowboys-Steelers- Super Bowl X: this was the first ever Super Bowl where both teams wore the same patch on their respective uniforms. The two teams' unis contrasted well in the last game at the Orange Bowl ever played on an artificial surface.
13. January 28, 1990; 49ers-Broncos - Super Bowl XXIV: I hated the 55-10 result. But . . . this was the first season the Broncos widened, or enlarged, if you will, the middle sleeve stripe between the blue outer sleeve stripes (on both jerseys). The two uniforms contrasted well on the Superdome turf that evening.
12. January 26. 1997; Patriots-Packers - Super Bowl XXXI: the Packers green shone through sharply that evening in the Superdome. And I was a huge fan of New England's road unis in the late 90s. Watching Desmond Howard streak past the Patriots' coverage unit was beautiful not only in a football sense, but in a uniform color sense.
11. January 21, 1979; Steelers-Cowboiys - Super Bowl XIII: I just like 10 others better than this one. And I just like this one better than the other two matchups between these two heavyweights. The Steelers' gold pants had more luster in my eyes than the game 3 years earlier.
10. February 7, 2010; Saints-Colts - Super Bowl XLIV: New Orleans' gold helmets and pants sparkled well with their white jerseys and black numbers/trim against Indy in their classic blue and white. Looked great that evening in Miami Gardens.
9. February 1, 2009; Steelers-Cardinals - Super Bowl XLIII: in what ended up as John Madden's last broadcast, Pittsburgh's black, gold and white looked great at Raymond James Stadium against Arizona's red and white. Furious action on the field can bring out the best in those colors, and that game had plenty of furious action.
8. January 30, 1994; Cowboys-Bills - Super Bowl XXVIII: the only SB rematch to happen in back-to-back seasons, I just preferred this one to the one in Pasadena one year earlier. Dallas and Buffalo's uniforms contrasted beautifully back then. It looked better under the Georgia Dome lights than in the Rose Bowl to me.
7. January 22, 1985; Dolphins-49ers - Super Bowl XIX: Miami's white uniforms with aqua numerals and aqua/coral trim looked great that day against San Francisco in their classic colors. ABC's first crack at the Big Game was also a colorful treat.
6. January 13, 1974; Vikings-Dolphins - Super Bowl VIII: this is the only time in any game that Minnesota was in their white jerseys against Miami (other than maybe a few preseason games). Played on a cloudy day at Rice Stadium in Houston, Miami's aqua-green jeresys with white pants and helmets and coral trim contrasted well against Minnesota's white jerseys and pants with purple helmets and gold trim. But what makes this game a high-ranker for me is the Vikings' purple socks, where the color burst out in a big way.
5. January 14, 1968; Packers-Raiders - Super Bowl II: at least one of the very early games that wasn't yet officially dubbed the "Super Bowl" cracks the top 5. Green Bay in their classic gold helmets and pants with white jerseys and green numbers and trim against Oakland in their silver and black. This was not only Vince Lombardi's last game roaming the Packers' sidelines, it was a good uniform game.
4, January 15, 1978; Cowboys-Broncos - Super Bowl XII: Unlike the game the year before, this was the first one played indoors, and the first one to start at prime time. But Dallas in their classic colors against Denver in their orange blue and white was a color treat for me.
3. January 26, 2003; Raiders-Buccaneers - Super Bowl XXXVII: Oakland in their road whites with black numerals, silver pants and helmets against Tampa Bay in their pewter power with red jerseys. I just enjoyed looking at these two uniforms going against each other.
2. January 22, 1989; Bengals-49ers - Super Bowl XXIII: these two met seven seasons earlier in a dome in their opposite jersey colors. This time it was the first Super Bowl at the then new Joe Robbie Stadium (now Sun Life Stadium), Cincinnati's white, orange and black contrasted gorgeously against San Francisco's classic red and gold. It looked even better once the sun went down.
1. January 9, 1977; Raiders-Vikings - Super Bowl XI: It has now been 38 seasons since the Big Game started and ended in daylight. I just loved the way Oakland's white, silver and black clashed against Minesota's grape-juice purple with white pants and yellow trim in the California sunshine.
2014 Conference Championship matchup rankings
by Tim Brulia
This will be our last uniform rankings for 2014. We hope you have enjoyed them.
2) Colts-Patriots: IND in white/white, NE in navy/silver. In many ways a very boring matchup. In some ways, not all that bad. The Colts, in their understated all whites, with only blue trim and a rather conservative presentation, is well liked by a lot of people for that very reason. No frills, basic block numbers, a two stripe shoulder pattern, two simple stripes on the pants, solid blue socks, topped by a white helmet with a single blue stripe and a blue horseshoe on the sides. The basics of which haven't changed in well over 50 years (though there was some tweaking in the 1980's). The Patriots meanwhile, underwent numerous changes to their wardrobe throughout their rather zig-zag history until they struck gold in 2000 with a look adopted then that has barely changed since then. Navy jersey, with double trimmed white numbers, logos on the sleeves, some side panel trim, pants that are silver/gray with bold navy striped edged in red, solid navy socks topped off with a silver helmet featuring the so called "Flying Elvis" logo facing forward on both sides. When these two looks match up, it combines fairly well, though dominated by the blue and the Colts in all white, save for the blue socks. Silver then speaks to us, with the scant red trim giving some perspective. Not one of my favorite uni clashes, but I have certainly seen worse.
1) Packers-Seahawks: GB in white/yellow, SEA in navy/navy. Compared to the AFC matchup, this one is a lot more exciting. In my youth, I admit to enjoying the NFC uniforms more than the AFC digs. I found them to be more colorful, imaginative, vibrant. I still do. Both teams resonate with me. The Packers in their legendary green and (yellow) trimmed white jerseys, brilliant yellow pants with green and white stripes and solid green socks topped the legendary yellow helmet with the iconic white and green oval G. A design (like the Colts, tweaked some over the years) that hearkens back to the time Saintly Vince Lombardi personally designed the unis back in 1959. The Seahawks on the other hand, sport a uniform that is a bout as modern in design as there is in the NFL, in only its third season, the all navy approach from head to ankle is unmistakably Seahawk. Spruced up with modern elements, including gray patterned numbers flanked by that modern scourge of neon green, the V-styled trim on the sleeves include an area of neon green specifically for the Nike logo to be shown off. The navy pants with a series of a "wing pattern" horizontally positioned inside the neon green stripe. solid navy socks, and capped by a helmet with the updated Seahawk logo with a sublimated front pattern section, perhaps the first ode to the 21st Century helmet model. Pairing these two distinctly different uniforms for game action works very well. The clash of traditional and modern is great as are the colors. Green, yellow and white meet a uniform distinguished by navy, gray, and hot green. designs that are carried off well in spite of the old vs. new clash. Not the best matchup, but one that I feel is a lot better than average.
As stated before, this is the last ranking for the season. I will likely review the Pro Bowl and perhaps a little review of the Super Bowl matchup. But as they will be the only game in town on those specific weeks, there will be no rankings.
Till next time, take care!
This will be our last uniform rankings for 2014. We hope you have enjoyed them.
2) Colts-Patriots: IND in white/white, NE in navy/silver. In many ways a very boring matchup. In some ways, not all that bad. The Colts, in their understated all whites, with only blue trim and a rather conservative presentation, is well liked by a lot of people for that very reason. No frills, basic block numbers, a two stripe shoulder pattern, two simple stripes on the pants, solid blue socks, topped by a white helmet with a single blue stripe and a blue horseshoe on the sides. The basics of which haven't changed in well over 50 years (though there was some tweaking in the 1980's). The Patriots meanwhile, underwent numerous changes to their wardrobe throughout their rather zig-zag history until they struck gold in 2000 with a look adopted then that has barely changed since then. Navy jersey, with double trimmed white numbers, logos on the sleeves, some side panel trim, pants that are silver/gray with bold navy striped edged in red, solid navy socks topped off with a silver helmet featuring the so called "Flying Elvis" logo facing forward on both sides. When these two looks match up, it combines fairly well, though dominated by the blue and the Colts in all white, save for the blue socks. Silver then speaks to us, with the scant red trim giving some perspective. Not one of my favorite uni clashes, but I have certainly seen worse.
1) Packers-Seahawks: GB in white/yellow, SEA in navy/navy. Compared to the AFC matchup, this one is a lot more exciting. In my youth, I admit to enjoying the NFC uniforms more than the AFC digs. I found them to be more colorful, imaginative, vibrant. I still do. Both teams resonate with me. The Packers in their legendary green and (yellow) trimmed white jerseys, brilliant yellow pants with green and white stripes and solid green socks topped the legendary yellow helmet with the iconic white and green oval G. A design (like the Colts, tweaked some over the years) that hearkens back to the time Saintly Vince Lombardi personally designed the unis back in 1959. The Seahawks on the other hand, sport a uniform that is a bout as modern in design as there is in the NFL, in only its third season, the all navy approach from head to ankle is unmistakably Seahawk. Spruced up with modern elements, including gray patterned numbers flanked by that modern scourge of neon green, the V-styled trim on the sleeves include an area of neon green specifically for the Nike logo to be shown off. The navy pants with a series of a "wing pattern" horizontally positioned inside the neon green stripe. solid navy socks, and capped by a helmet with the updated Seahawk logo with a sublimated front pattern section, perhaps the first ode to the 21st Century helmet model. Pairing these two distinctly different uniforms for game action works very well. The clash of traditional and modern is great as are the colors. Green, yellow and white meet a uniform distinguished by navy, gray, and hot green. designs that are carried off well in spite of the old vs. new clash. Not the best matchup, but one that I feel is a lot better than average.
As stated before, this is the last ranking for the season. I will likely review the Pro Bowl and perhaps a little review of the Super Bowl matchup. But as they will be the only game in town on those specific weeks, there will be no rankings.
Till next time, take care!
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