Our friend at Uni Watch, Phil Hecken, posted some breaking news earlier.
On Thanksgiving Day the Dallas Cowboys will not wear white jerseys at home.
On Thanksgiving Day the Dallas Cowboys will not wear their fauxback navy jerseys at home.
Instead, they will wear their beautiful, navy jerseys that...wait for it....wait for it...MATCH!
For the first time, they will wear their regular road navy (the road jerseys didn't actually become navy until 1981 and were basically royal blue before that) jerseys at home. The regular blue/navy jersey has not been worn at home since 1963 when they last wore their standard royal blue home jersey - their original uniform.
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| 10/13/1963 - Detroit at Dallas - courtesy of Getty Images |
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| 11/21/1993 - NFL's first throwback uniform - courtesy of Getty Images |
During the NFL's 75th Anniversary Season in 1994, teams began the trend of wearing what would become known as throwback jerseys/uniforms. The New York Jets actually wore a throwback uniform the previous year in honor of their Super Bowl III triumph, however, they wore their regular green helmets instead of a white throwback design. In 1994, the Cowboys assembled a fairly accurate throwback to their early 1960s design, except they chose to wear the normal silver helmet instead of using a white one. They only wore the combination once for a Monday Night game against Detroit.
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| 9/19/1994 - Detroit at Dallas |
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| Left - 1994 NFL 75th Anniversary white 'fauxback' - courtesy of Getty Images Center - 1995 navy 'fauxback' styled alternate jersey - courtesy of Getty Images Right - 2004-2012 navy 'fauxback' styled alternate jersey - courtesy NFL.com |
From 2004-2012 the Cowboys utilized a different 'fauxback' uniform. This one was basically a navy version of the Cowboys' first uniforms worn from 1960-63 replacing the royal blue that was used back then.
Anyways, I got to thinking about how infrequently the Cowboys actually use their gorgeous navy jerseys - rarely more than once or twice per year in recent years. Then I began to wonder...how many teams are there in the League that have never faced the Cowboys in their navy jerseys?
Since the end of the 1963 season, the Cowboys have essentially had the same home and road white and blue combos, with the aforementioned change from royal to navy in 1981. We are talking about 50 years of Dallas Cowboys football!
Here's what I found for teams making the Cowboys wear the regular, non-throwback, non-fauxback, blue jerseys...
Washington (29) - 1964, 1981-94, 1996-2000, 2002-09
* - twice in 1982 including NFC Championship Game
St.Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (26) - 1964-66, 1970-83, 1989-94, 1997, 2000, 2002
Philadelphia (16) - 1971, 1973, 1980, 1983, 1985-89, 1992-93, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2006-07
* - 1980 was the NFC Championship Game
Cleveland (10) - 1964-70, 1979, 1988, 2008
New York Giants (7) - 1980-81, 1983-87
Carolina (5) - 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2012
* - both 1996 and 2003 were playoff games
Los Angeles/St.Louis Rams (4) - 1969, 1978, 2008
* - twice in 1978 including NFC Championship Game
Miami (3) - 1978, 1996, 2007
New Orleans (3) - 1967-68, 1971
Pittsburgh (3) - 1966-67, 1969
San Diego (3) - 1983, 1986, 2013
Tampa Bay (3) - 1990, 2003, 2009
Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (2) - 1970, 1981
* - 1970 was Super Bowl V
New England (2) - 2003, 2011
Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (2) - 1974, 1982
Atlanta (1) - 1989
Buffalo (1) - 1984
Denver (1) - 1980
Houston (1) - 2002
Jacksonville (1) - 2006
New York Jets (1) - 1987
San Francisco (1) - 1979
That's 123 times in about 50 years, averaging a little more than twice per year. This also means that there are nine teams that have never faced the vaunted, navy jerseys. That list will drop to eight should the Cowboys follow through and wear the navy jerseys this Thursday against the Raiders. Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Green Bay, Kansas City, Minnesota, and Seattle would remain.
This list could remain intact for a while as most of these teams are not known for wearing white jerseys at home too often. The most likely to do so would probably be Baltimore or maybe Cincinnati. The others, not so likely.
The most the navy/blue jerseys have been worn in a single season is five times in 1983. They have been worn on four occassions in a season ten times (1966, 1978, 1980-82, 1986-87, 1989, 1996, & 2003).
It's odd. Watching Cowboy games in Dallas, when the cameras pan the audience, I usually see a lot more navy jerseys than white. (I actually see the same thing viewing Dolphin home games, too, with their fans opting for the aqua jerseys. Look for it!)
One thing is certain, if it happens, the uniform match-up Thursday afternoon will be a pairing never before seen in the history of regular or post-season NFL games. Who knows. Maybe wearing these navy jerseys at home will bring the team luck and may start a trend of Dallas wearing them more often at home next year. One can only dream.
Bill Schaefer
***UPDATE***
It seems I beat our Timmy B. to the punch as he was in the middle of organizing the same type of article. He passed on to me the following photo of the last time the Cowboys wore their regular blue jerseys for a home game...December 8, 1963, at the Cotton Bowl, against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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