The GUD's Preseason Project

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!