A frigid North Wind is blowing in from...well...the Great White North. In news that will surely make the day for Ryan Reynolds, Don Cherry, Wayne Gretzky, Mike Myers, and Celine Dion, the GUD is rolling out our first installment of the Canadian Football League.
Years ago we toyed with the idea of adding the CFL to the GUD but, after some digging, we realized we just didn't have the resources to make a legitimate run at it.
However, as I was perusing our close, personal ally - Newspapers.com - back in October, I noticed a major influx of Canadian newspapers being added.
Montreal's Daily Star and Gazette,Ottawa's Journal and Citizen, Regina's Leader-Post, Edmonton's Journal and Bulletin, Calgary's Herald and the Albertan, and a bounty of newspaper publications from Vancouver and its neighboring area gave me a great degree of hope. Unfortunately, that left Winnipeg, Toronto, and Hamilton uncovered.
Toronto would be the first problem to solve, and the easiest. Our ProQuest library access includes Toronto's Globe and Mail as well as the Toronto Star, although the Star has not proven as useful as the Globe and Mail.
Next on tap was Winnipeg. With the help of the Winnipeg Public Library, I was provided a link to the University of Manitoba archives to access the Winnipeg Tribune. Subsequently, a small fraction of the Tribune has been recently added to Newspapers.com, but the archival assistance provided by the WPL and the University of Manitoba has been essential and limitless.
Finally, what to do about Hamilton? While there is an overflow of Ontario newspapers on Newspapers.com, no Hamilton newspaper can be found within its ranks. No problem. Again, a very resourceful Hamilton Public Library staff member has seen her way to rifle through four batches of requests for photos. Having all other teams essentially covered, the number of Hamilton games for which we were missing photos became much less than it could have been. I want to thank our 'Hamilton Goddess' Marisa for, what I'm sure, has been hours in front of a microfiche scanner searching for game photos. This project would have a huge, gaping hole in it if it wasn't for her.
With the logistics taken care of, the next hurdle became the artistic one.
As a kid, I grew up watching NFL Films with clips from the 60s and 70s so when Tim Brulia and I began working on GUD, we each had a pretty good idea of uniform designs, emblems, and colors. At least for me, colors and number fonts were going to be the biggest problem here with the CFL. There just doesn't seem to be an archival CFL collection of vintage color videos or still photos from the 1950s anywhere online. If you know of one or can send me links to such locations, please reach out to us using the Contact Us tab up top or post the photos/links in our Forum.
1960 Argonauts with gold outline invisible on B/W newspaper photos
The practical view around these parts is that, just as was the case when we created GUD over 10 years ago, contacts with proof showing corrections and adjustments that need made to our initial representations will come pouring in. Not only is it a foregone conclusion, but it's a good thing, too. It's what makes the GUD the best uniform database on the Internet. It's also the main reason why this rollout is occurring the way it is. When we unleashed the GUD on the uni-verse, we put out about 80 years worth of images - all at once. One day I'd be correcting the 1940 Bears' pants stripes and the next day I was shortening sleeves for late-80s Bills' uniforms. Let me tell you, I didn't know whether I was coming or going for a while. It was a miracle 1940 Bears' uniforms didn't end up being displayed for the 1989 Bills - or vice-versa.
We are limiting the 'Grand Opening' to a 16-season chunk, stopping at 1960. Why 1960, you ask? 1960 was the final year each Union played only teams from their own Union during the regular season. 1961 would feature a completely interlocking schedule. Additionally, it is our hope is that any images that need fixed can be done so in a shorter time frame, thus allowing us to continue our CFL rollout in 5-year chunks as time permits amid the rest of usual GUD business. The coming Spring features new XFL and USFL leagues as well as the obligatory releases of new NFL uniforms AND new/old throwbacks since the 1-Helmet Shell Rule has finally been lifted. The rest of the CFL will happen when time and life permit, but at least we are getting the ball rolling, hopefully sparking some new interest for both GUD and the CFL's history.
Speaking of the CFL's history, as I mentioned, aside from knowing the teams, I have to admit there are quite a few nuances to the Canadian brand of the game that I was completely oblivious to. I knew about the 55-yard line, the gigantic end zones, no 4th downs, and the ever-popular rouge. What has perplexed me the most so far has been how the playoffs were conducted back in the 1940s and 1950s. (I'm curious to learn whether these formats continued into the more modern era as I move forward.)
To begin with, the CFL began as 2 separate Leagues, or Unions - the Inter-provincial Rugby Football Union in the East (commonly referred to as the BIG 4) and the Western Inter-provincial Football Union out west. The IRFU and the WIFU. They met increasingly in preseason exhibition games and again at the end of the season where the two champions played in the Grey Cup, the Canadian version of the Super Bowl. (Honestly, it is we Americans who should be saying the Super Bowl is our version of the Grey Cup. The Super Bowl was first contested following the 1966 season. The Grey Cup was first awarded in 1909.) With these early season exhibitions and season-ending finale, the relationship between the two Unions was very similar to the one that existed between the NFL and AFL in the 1960s, minus the heightened degree of animosity.
They continued to function as two entities until a joining in 1956 where both Unions functioned under the umbrella of the Canadian Football Council (CFC) for 1956 and 1957. Re-organization took place and the Canadian Football League was formed in 1958. 1961 actually marks a true modern beginning for the CFL as that was the season in which teams played, as mentioned, a completely interlocking, 9-team schedule.
Another similarity to the NFL/AFL comparison dealing with the schedules required some thoughtful decisions on our part. As the IRFU and WIFU functioned as two separate bodies, their starts and ends did not mesh. In other words, on a particular weekend the WIFU could be playing their 'Week 4' while at the same time the 'Big 4' IRFU teams were playing their 'Week 3.' A decision needed made on how we were going to deal with this problem. After careful thought, and not wanting to keep separate pages for both the IRFU and WIFU, we decided to show both Unions' 'Week 3' on the same page even though the dates did not match. We also split the weekly displays keeping the WIFU and IRFU images separated.
But let us move on from our 'Cliff Notes' version of my CFL tutorial and get back to those wacky playoffs. Generally speaking, each Union conducted a semi-final round featuring the #2 and #3 team from the season-long standings where the victor would play the Union team with the best record during the regular season. Sounds pretty simple, but the reality is far from it. From year-to-year, there seemed to be no consistency in the types of playoffs that were played. What do I mean, you ask? Some rounds were played as a straight-forward best-of-3 series while others were played in a 2-game total-points series where the scores of each team were totaled to make a cumulative score that would determine the series winner. There were even a few instances where the two teams were tied following the 2 total-points games and required to play a third game to settle things. These formats seemingly followed no set pattern for either Union. Perhaps someone with more scholarly knowledge of the CFL can help us out.
But wait...there's more...
With apologies to our Canadian friends, there was something even more bizarre. Each season after the BIG 4 Champion was crowned, that team still had to win one additional game before moving on to the Grey Cup to face the WIFU Champion. The Eastern Championship and representation in the Grey Cup Final had to be determined in a game featuring the BIG 4 Champion against the champion from the O.R.F.U. (Ontario Rugby Football Union), essentially a not-quite-so-major league as the IRFU. Picture the Atlanta Braves having to beat a minor league champion before actually advancing to the World Series after already winning the NLCS! Records also show at least one instance in the 1950s where the ORFU Champion instead played against the WIFU Champion in a Grey Cup Semi-Final. From an outsider's perspective, it really seems like a lot of the early CFL playoff structures were set up on the fly. It appears this custom with the ORFU had its end in the late 1950s, so I guess sanity won out eventually over tradition.
Something else we've had to take a 'crash course' in were the team histories, a prime example of which are the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Where the GUD begins, in 1945, Hamilton's IRFU team was known as the Tigers. At the same time (from 1941-47), a second Hamilton team, the Wildcats, played in the aforementioned ORFU. For reasons I won't go into, in 1948 the two Hamilton teams switched Unions. The Tigers moved to the ORFU and the Wildcats to the IRFU (Big 4). The next two years saw both teams struggle - both on the field and at the ticket gate. So, in 1950, the two teams merged for the inaugural season of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Our images for the CFL teams will include a heavy dose of a feature new to GUD. As I began collecting newspaper photos of games, one thing became immediately apparent - these teams liked their big numbers, and I don't just mean the size of the numbers on their jerseys. Very few instances could be found of teams with player numbers in the single-digits, teens, or even 20s. Almost every player I was seeing was numbered in the 40s or higher. It was really unusual to see. Because of this fact, for the purpose of the CFL uniforms, I cast aside GUD's typical '11' for the jerseys that is seen throughout our site, instead opting for a random jersey number of a player found at the other end of the camera's lens. I then continued using that number until either the jersey style or the font, itself, changed.
Alouettes receiver Hal Patterson
In the late 1950s, teams began adding numbers to the sides of their helmets. But as the years went by and more teams began adding logos to their helmets, the numbers got moved to the back of the helmet, the front of the helmet, or both. To this point, we've never included front/back helmet numbers for other leagues. Yet with the CFL it became apparent that we could not avoid them any longer.
When Part II of our CFL rollout takes place, GUD visitors will notice that, in 1962, the BC Lions moved their numbers from the sides of their helmet to the rear when they changed from a black-and-orange version of Michigan's 'flying wing' helmet to a black helmet with a lion's paw logo on the sides. The new helmet included a central orange stripe and two flanking, separated white stripes. The Lions placed the numbers to either side of the central orange stripe, thereby interrupting the white stripes from flowing all the way down the back of the helmet. Those of you familiar with our templates already know that we show a 'bird's-eye view' of the helmet's stripe detail. We could not show the white stripes going all the way down the back of the helmet on the stripe-view because, well, they didn't. Nor could we show the white stripes stopping short and leaving empty black space where the numbers should be. No, the only way to handle this is to include the helmet numbers for each CFL team, wherever they turn up. As stated, this will be seen in Part II of our CFL rollout when we publish 1961-65 in a few months.
9/17/62 - Hamilton @ BC
Finally, as was the case for several NFL teams back in the 1940s, only a very small number of CFL players wore socks. In some cases, teams went the entire season with nothing other than simple white sannies. This trend continued into the 1950s when there evolved, in most cases, an even split among teammates with or without socks. We have tried our best to display such vagaries, as always.
We hope you enjoy our foundation for what will eventually become the entire CFL history from 1945 forward. The wheels are turning. We will soon be assembling a list in our Forum of games for which we have been unable to locate photos for. Our visitors are welcome to provide demonstrative proof of an image that either needs minor adjustments or a complete overhaul. Please contact us. We welcome your contributions.
So the NFL finally wised up and decided to do away with the 1-Shell Rule which limited teams to utilize only one set of helmet shells per season. Teams were permitted to alter the logos and stripes while retaining the same helmet shell to enable a design that would work with a team's alternate or throwback uniform.
The obvious question is...which teams will be taking advantage of the rule change? Here are my thoughts...
* - One-Star (almost a certainty not to happen)
** - Two-Star (possibility exists, but still not likely)
*** - Three-Star (better than 50/50 chance)
**** - Four-Star (should be carved in stone for 2022 or 2023)
** Arizona - Except for a short period a lifetime ago when the Cardinals used a red helmet, they have very little history in anything other than a white helmet. Could we see a cardinal red (or even a black) helmet? Sure, but probably not until they update their uniform template, whenever that is.
**** Atlanta - Almost a foregone conclusion the Falcons will utilize some form of red helmet going forward.
** Baltimore - The Ravens have never worn anything other than black helmets. As with Arizona, could we see a white or purple helmet? Possibly, but not likely.
**** Buffalo - The Mafia would love to see the Bills slide back into the Kelly-Era red helmets a few times each year. They'll get their wish.
*** Carolina - Despite only ever using silver helmets, the Panthers have long teased a black helmet. It is now more likely to happen at some point.
* Chicago - Won't happen. Their navy helmets work well with their 1930s throwback.
**** Cincinnati - On the heels of a Super Bowl appearance, the Bengals will likely create a white shell version of their helmet to wear with their white jersey uniforms a few times. (Am I the only one who would also like to see the Bengals go old-school to the 70s with "BENGALS" on the sides?)
**** Cleveland - With their 1946 throwback they unveiled last season, the only missing piece to truly authenticate the uniform would be a plain white helmet. It will happen this year.
**** Dallas - Do you honestly think the Cowboys would pass up an opportunity to pair a white throwback helmet with a throwback jersey? The tail wags the dog here to boost jersey sales for Jerry.
*** Denver - The big "D" logo just doesn't look as good on a navy shell as it did on a lighter blue shell. Better than fair chance Broncos' fans get it.
** Detroit - As bad as the all-grey uniforms are, I just can't see Detroit compounding the mistake and adding a helmet that isn't silver. But what if the Lions did a Portsmouth Spartans throwback? Could a purple helmet happen?
* Green Bay - We're not seeing Green Bay in something other than yellow helmet shells. Period.
** Houston - The only chance is if the Texans break out a white helmet. Their original prototype was white, not navy.
** Indianapolis - Their throwbacks looked really nice last year. Eventually the blue helmet will return with a throwback as it did in 2010. Eventually. But not now.
** Jacksonville - A teal helmet, perhaps? Ick. But this is the same franchise that gave us those 2-tone monstrosities...
* Kansas City - Not gonna happen.
* Las Vegas - Ditto. However, I was truly disappointed the Raiders missed the 'golden' opportunity when they moved to Vegas. They could have gone to a silver chrome helmet and not skipped a beat.
**** LA Chargers - A Junior Seau-Era navy helmet? Yes, please. A Dan Fouts-Era version? Options 1A and 1B.
* LA Rams - Just won a Super Bowl. Just changed uniform templates after a run with a handful of different horn colors and shapes. A hard pass for at least the next few years.
* Miami - Their throwbacks, which should be made their everyday uniforms, look too good with the white throwback helmets. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
*** Minnesota - The casual observer might not have noticed but, prior to the 1-Shell Rule, the Vikings occasionally wore a dark purple throwback helmet with the vintage style horn logos. Likely they make a return.
**** New England - Foregone conclusion as Pat Patriot returns on white helmets.
**** New Orleans - 'Old gold' helmets can now return to be paired with the Saints' Color Rush uniform. Now if only they would add appropriate socks to complete that look instead of the ultra-bland plain white socks.
** NY Giants - The Giants' blue helmets work well with their 'throwback/Color Rush' uniforms even though, technically, the throwback/CR helmets should be navy. Also, 'slim' to 'no chance' we see red or white helmets from the 1920s or 1930s.
*** NY Jets - The Jets just adopted a new template. Is it too soon for a white-helmet throwback? Better than 50/50 the white helmets return on a part-time basis.
**** Philadelphia - Consider this a done deal. Kelly green helmets will return. Ownership will cave to fan pressure. But will it be in 2022 or 2023?
** Pittsburgh - Since the 'bumblebees' were retired, Pittsburgh has needed a new throwback uniform. Are the 'Batman' uniforms from the 1960s making a comeback? If so, there wouldn't be a need for a yellow helmet. Could a new throwback be something else that does require a yellow helmet?
**** San Francisco - The 1955 throwbacks with the drop-numbers that the Niners wore last year were actually worn with red logo-less helmets with a wide silver stripe back in the day. Highly likely that red helmets get added or even the more stylish silver helmets worn from 1948-52 and again from 1959-63. Either would be a nifty, new addition.
**** Seattle - The silver-helmet uniforms from the last century will return...but not until 2023. Sorry Seahawks fans, but it will be worth the wait.
**** Tampa Bay - As with the Seahawks, Bucco Bruce will return, but not until 2023.
** Tennessee - The Titans will not wear a white Oilers helmet. Could they come up with a Columbia blue version of the current model?
** Washington - They will not use a Redskins throwback helmet of any color. Could they compound the mistake that is their new Commanders look by throwing in a black or...gulp...camo helmet? Of course they could. It's what they do. Both would be a mistake.
What are your thoughts? What would you like to see? Does anyone have any inside information they'd like to share?
Hello, out there in GUD-land. Today I have a surprise for you and it's not about something on GUD.
...Well...actually...it is, but only as a side-effect.
Let me explain.
If you've ever taken the time to read our 'About' section, you've become familiar with our story of how I 'found Tim' and we began working together to hatch what would become GUD. However, there's a part of the story that tends to go unnoticed, itself having been forgotten by many and an afterthought to everyone else. We sought to rectify that.
When I moved to Florida to begin teaching at a new school in 2002, I was presented with a desktop PC in my classroom. During lunches, I would surf the internet. One site became a frequent location of my visits...Football Uniforms: Past and Present (FUPP).
Even back then, I was a football nerd. Doodling helmets and logos. Coloring them in with colored pencils. It was therapeutic. It relaxed me. Having a website that had NFL uniforms? I was in heaven.
Shortly after discovering the site, I noticed a few short-comings. Using the 'Contact' tab, I wrote to the site's creator, Craig Wheeler. Growing up the son of a Steelers' season ticket holder, I knew that the Steelers had worn a 50th anniversary patch in 1982 that wasn't being shown on FUPP. I found some photos online and sent them to Craig. About a week later, Craig posted the update. I was so proud of myself and my contribution!
Over the next few months I found other instances of improvements that could be made and kept sending them to Craig. I can only imagine what Craig was thinking every time one of my emails popped up in his inbox.
But all good things must come to an end. After the 2003 season, as we say around the GUD, "Life happens." Craig could no longer put forth the effort to maintain the site on a yearly basis. 2003 would be the last year of additions to FUPP. The site remained in stasis for a number of years. At some point, the address for FUPP changed slightly to include the name "Weirdwolf." FUPP and its domain were taken control of by Lynn "Weirdwolf" Schmidt who kept the site up and running, but not updating, for several more years, until finally, the site disappeared off of the internet for good.
Past and Present was truly the first of its kind, dedicating images and research to maintaining an important aspect of NFL history. And now it was gone.
It has now been 10 years since the Gridiron Uniform Database first appeared online. We've consistently improved and built into something bigger than any of us ever imagined. But everything we've become we owe to Football Uniforms: Past and Present for paving the way and opening the door for us. And that is why a decision was made.
We, at GUD, decided we wanted to honor the 'founding father of NFL uniform history' by displaying his graphics here within the Gridiron Uniform Database. With the help of Donovan Moore, creator of ColorWerx - now known as TruColor, we were able to reach out and gain permission from Mr. Wheeler to display his work on our site.
When Craig stopped updating FUPP beyond 2003, I was annoyed. I had downloaded his images and was using them as screensavers. What was I to do in 2004? It was then that I first began my graphic efforts to update Craig's images to suit the changes to uniforms made in 2004 and beyond. Oh boy were they bad. But I didn't worry because no one else was ever going to see them. But I made one tremendous mistake. When I made the changes and altered images like darkening the Patriots' and Broncos' navy blues from the shade Craig had used, I saved them by over-writing the originals. Gone was my 'vintage set' of Craig Wheeler originals.
For months I searched online even going into Chris Creamer's Forum where people had displayed Craig's images from time to time. But those entries were so dated that I was unable to make contact with the guests who had posted them there.
Finally, last week, I had a breakthrough. I found Lynn "Weirdwolf" Schmidt on Facebook. I made contact with him and asked, in his capacity of having taken over the domain of FUPP years before, did he ever take the opportunity to download the images for safe keeping?
He had, with one caveat.
"Weirdwolf" downloaded the images in July 2003, before the 2003 season began. Craig Wheeler had posted images for the 2003 season after its completion. But not to fear, I still had the 2003 images like the 'new for 2003 Falcons' uniforms,' the Texans in red jerseys, the Dolphins in orange jerseys largely untouched in Craig's template as he designed them.
"Ww" made the images and all of the key technical components available to us. However, coding from a 2000 website obviously has fallen a bit behind the times. But our own tech-master, Austin Snelik, is a miracle worker. In short order, he was able to get FUPP back up and 99% viewable as part of GUD.
Thank you, "Weirdwolf," for your contribution to this project. Like us, I know you wanted Craig's work not to disappear forever. And thank you, Austin, for taking the time to resurrect FUPP for us old guys and placing a link to FUPP's new home on GUD's 'Links' page.
A single small problem still exists with our recreation. One image, the 1966 Houston Oilers, shows up as 'unavailable.' I'm not sure why that appears that way. The 1965 Houston Oilers image should also be the one posted for 1966, as well. We are working to get that corrected.
While Past and Present will stand as a gallery of Craig Wheeler's work and will not be updated any further, the largest omission from this 2021 version is the missing 2003 season. I will fill in that gap by posting Craig's original 2003 images within this blog entry. Of note, Craig never included 'Preseason Only' combos and he hardly ever included patched jerseys as separate combos. In order to consolidate space here, I have removed the sectioning lines and placed all combos on a single image.
2003 Arizona
2003 Atlanta
2003 Baltimore
2003 Buffalo
2003 Carolina
2003 Chicago
2003 Cincinnati
2003 Cleveland
2003 Dallas
2003 Denver
2003 Detroit
2003 Green Bay
2003 Houston
2003 Indianapolis
2003 Jacksonville
2003 Kansas City
2003 Miami
2003 Minnesota
2003 New England
2003 New Orleans
2003 NY Giants
2003 NY Jets
2003 Oakland
2003 Philadelphia
2003 Pittsburgh
2003 St. Louis
2003 San Diego
2003 San Francisco
2003 Seattle
2003 Tampa Bay
2003 Tennessee
2003 Washington
As the first of its kind, FUPP was ahead of it time. But life happens. We all understand that. It's just that, as history buffs with a pro football inclination, we hated to see Craig's work disappear from the digital landscape and be lost to time. Now, we can be assured that Craig Wheeler's contribution will never, ever, be forgotten again.
Thank you, Craig.
Bill Schaefer
Tim Brulia here to add some thoughts.
I echo Bill's sentiments on FUPP 100%. Until this post by Bill, I thought I was the main P.I.T.A. for Craig, with my numerous emails for revisions! Our official 10th Anniversary will be June 12. But without question, FUPP was the spark and inspiration to continue the journey to compile the best and most accurate uniform history of "America's Game."
We feel that Craig planted the seeds of visual pro football uniform research and turned into a strong sapling. From there, we took to takeover the nurturing of the tree to a full grown tree with many branches; the teams, the years and the games with the help of so many contributors.
Without Craig laying the foundation of FUPP, the GUD likely would never have gotten off the ground. That's why when the GUD launched in 2011, we dedicated this site to Mr. Wheeler. Craig, we hope we done ya "GUD!"
Ten years ago, back in June and July of 2011, I contributed to a blog post by Rob Holecko in which I ranted about the shortcomings of mono-white uniforms. But up until that point, teams still had the dignity to wear colored socks with their white pants and jerseys.
Who could have predicted that in just four short years, in 2015, the League would unleash upon its fans...the Color Rush? A misnomer for sure, in just the second year of the Color Rush program in 2016, 12 of the 15 games promoted as 'Color Rush' games featured a team in all-white. Things had gone from bad to worse.
In the five seasons since, fourteen teams 'semi-regularly' trotted onto the field wearing white jerseys, pants, and socks - Color Rush or otherwise. Eight of these teams have since been nice enough to offer us a visual comparison...proof that the mono-whites can look better simply by adding colored socks.
For your viewership...
Buffalo
Cincinnati (2020 versions)
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Miami
NY Jets
Philadelphia
(Honestly, these would look even better with 'midnight' green socks instead of black.)
Tennessee
Not one, single all-white combo with white socks provides a superior look above the same uniform with colored socks. It's just that simple.
The other six teams have not, as yet, granted us an on-field look at the superior 'colored-socks' uniform. In my capacity as the 'graphics guy' here at GUD, I am taking it upon myself to provide that look for you...
Atlanta
Dallas
Green Bay
New Orleans (twice)
(If only the Saints would change their helmets to this shade of gold and make this their full-time template. If only.)
NY Giants
San Francisco
The pre-2021 Bengals possessed one of the more tolerable all-white Color Rush uniforms, but even it could have been improved by the addition of non-white socks.
Oh, and let me throw out one more in which NEITHER combo has yet to make it onto the field. Presenting the first graphic representation of the new Cincinnati Bengals' all-white combo for 2021...
On a related (but not related) topic, I have to say that the recent trend of teams going 'sani-less'...it's really starting to grow on me in a good way.
As the season nears towards the end of the Summer, I will again be publishing the 'Season Preview' highlighting the complete set of new uniforms for the upcoming 2021 season. Be on the look-out.