Week 3 Uniform Matchup Rankings

A little more back to normal this week? Let's find out, shall we?

16)  Chargers-Titans:  SD in navy/white, TEN in white/navy.  Too much similarity here.  White helmets, navy socks for both and flip-flops on the jersey-pants combos.  Blah.  Titans definitely should have rocked the columbia blue pants, so we'd at least have a varying tint of blue.  Not one of my upper echelon choices.

15)  Buccaneers-Patriots:  TB in white/pewter, NE in navy/silver.  Man I'm just not feeling anything more than C+ for this one.  These aren't bad unis, I like them both.  But when there are matched up, it just misses the boat for me.  2 + 2 = 3 here, or something like that.

14)  Falcons-Dolphins:  ATL in red/white, MIA in white/white.  Falcons have all the zip and zing here, Dolphins have all of the white.  I do like a lot of the elements in the new Miami unis, but that's the aqua's.  A team that I think should wear the aqua's much more often than they do.  Besides if the Fins are worried about wearing "dark" in the tropical South Florida sun, aqua is perhaps the lightest "dark" colored jersey that any of the 32 NFL teams wear.  So thanks, Falcons.  You alone keep this game from the deep dark cave of the GUD's rankings.

13)  Cardinals-Saints:  ARZ in red/white, NO in white/faded gold.  Saints in normal early season WAH (white at home).  Would probably have been better for the Saints in at least black tops, but this forces the Big Red in red jerseys.  This is not a bad matchup, but there could have been some better choices here.

12)  Giants-Panthers:  NYG in blue/gray, CAR in white/white.  I know it's standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Panthers to go WAH early in the season, but gee, I really think this would have been a great time to see the carolina blue alternates.  But, the Giant blues are always a good sight.  A good - but not great - matchup.

11)  Jaguars-Seahawks:  JAX in white/white, SEA in navy/navy.  Welcome to Nike Bowl I!  These are the two sets of unis where Nike has taken the most liberty with design changes and twerks, er, tweaks (Sorry, Miley Cyrus).  Anyway, both teams are certainly both with distinctive looks, with the wild array of shapes, bright green trim and helmets that transition from matte black to gold right before your very eyes.  Very intriguing, but at the end of the day, probably middle of the road as far as the rankings go.

10)  Bills-Jets:  BUF in white/blue, NYJ in green/white.  Bills rock the billy blue pants and it works so much better with the white jerseys than the white pants.  Jets in standard green jersey - white pants ensemble, and even though both sport white lids, these sets of unis mesh quite well together.

9)  Rams-Cowboys:  STL in dark blue/dark blue, DAL in white/mint.  Thinking the Rams did right by going with all dark blue in this one.  Makes a stark contrast to the typical WAH wearing Cowboys.  As such, it earns Timmy B's brownie (blueie???) points.

8)  Raiders-Broncos:  OAK in white/silver, DEN in orange/white.  Traditional foes with traditional colors.  For the Broncos, switching back to orange as the primary jersey was such a good move.  Makes this game stand out so much more than if the Broncos would have worn navy.  Actually enhances the rather generic white jerseyed Raider look.

7)  Texans-Ravens:  HOU in white/dark blue, BAL in purple/white.  Both teams in standard wear, and this works very well. One team in dark pants, one in white bottoms.  Not much more to add, other than a very good contemporary look.

6)  Colts-49ers:  IND in white/white, SF in red/gold.  Is there something wrong with me?  For the first two weeks, I moaned about how dull the Colts look is with me.  Yet this week, for some reason, I think the Colts' duds bounce quite nicely off the Niners home set of bright scarlet and gold.  Must be the Northern California sun hitting the Colts blue trim at the perfect angle.  This one is on the money.

5)  Browns-Vikings:  CLE in white/white, MIN in purple/white.  First official outing for the Vikes new purple jerseys, and while these jerseys say "football jersey" than the previous ones, there are touches (flair tipped numbers, and sleeve stripes) that scream "2013" as well as "1963." The purple seems more vivid that ever and paired up with the standard Browns' orange and brown, the matchup has a lively feel to it.




4)  Chiefs-Eagles:  KC in white/red, PHI in green/white.  After the stunning shock of the Chiefs in all fire-engine red last week, we see KC sporting a more standard white jersey with the red pants.  Eagles go dark for the Thursday nighter, with the green jerseys.  A Chirstmassy matchup with the reds and greens, but it's as sweet as sugar cookies (with Chief red and Eagle green sprinkles, of course).

3)  Bears-Steelers:  CHI in white/navy, PIT in black/yellow.  I do like this one.  Paired against the coal black lids of the Steelers, the navy hued helmets of the Bears seem to jump a bit on front of my weak eyes.  Orange and yellow trims seem to sparkle a little more under Edison's lamplights. 

2)  Lions-Redskins:  DET in white/silver, WSH in burgundy/yellow.  Two old school teams rocking a really sharp matchup.  Silver, yellow, black, and a little honolulu blue here and a lot of burgundy there.  Nice and smooth blend at work.

1)  Packers-Bengals:  GB in white/yellow, CIN in alternate orange/white.  Bright sunny colors at work here, with a lot of orange and a lot of yellow.  I think the Bengals wearing black pants would have added a jolt of darkness to offset all of the brightness.  Still, this one has it made in the shade.

What's in store for Week 4?  Stay tuned and find out!  See you then, Do GUD'ders!!

Week 2 Uniform Matchup Rankings

Week 2 brings us some throwbacks, and some monochromes, with a pleasant surprise.  Here we go.

16) Dolphins-Colts:  MIA in white/white, IND in blue/white.  Meh.  Dolphins need to get the aqua pants paired with the white jerseys ASAP.  Colts with the nice blue jerseys.  Just way too much white, helmets, pants, and little trim on either team.

15) Jets-Patriots:  NYJ in white/white, NE in navy/silver.  Jets for the second straight week go head to toe in white, which doesn't do it for me.  Patriots in standard navy jerseys/silver pants.  The Pats have to carry the color load here, with the Jets only offering of color being green trim.  Hopefully, it will be a little better later for the return leg.

14) Saints-Buccaneers:  NO in black/gold, TB in white/pewter.  Just wish this game could have been played later in the season, by which time the Bucs would have gone from white to red togs.  But alas, not to be and there's just a bit much metal with the helmets and pants in those hues.  With Saints black and only bit of red trim on the Bucs, and this one becomes B level.

13) Browns-Ravens:  CLE in white/white, BAL in purple/white.  Ravens, in a mild surprise, go with the purples instead of the whites for the home opener.  Browns in the familiar all whites.  Nice colors, actually.  Good off-beat mix of brown, orange, purple, gold, and of course, black. 

12) Redskins-Packers:  WSH in white/yellow, GB in green/yellow.  Never thought I'd say this, but there is too much yellow here.  Even if the Redskins had dropped their burgundy pants, they definitely could have used them here.  So while some games move up the ladder with some wise moves, this one moves down a few pegs, no fault of the Packers, by the way.  Their green jerseys are almost bullet-proof.

11) Jaguars-Raiders:  JAX in white/white, OAK in black/silver.  Jags continue in the futuristic look against a team as rock-ribbed in steadfastness in the Raiders.  All that Oakland silver trim played well off the off-beat Jags lid and their teal, gold and black trimmed whites.  Oddly intriguing.

10) Rams-Falcons:  STL in white/navy, ATL in red/white.  Rams stay right with the deep blue pants as opposed to their white trousers and it bounces off well from the Falcons brilliant red jerseys.  Gold and black add instead of detract to the mix.

9) Steelers-Bengals:  PIT in white/yellow, CIN in black/black.  Bengals one of four teams in colorchromes this week.  We've seen this matchup before, and while it makes for a load of black, there's just enough orange and yellow to keep it from a blackOUT.  One thing would have sparked this matchup, and that would have seen the Bengals rock the orange socks as they did last week.

8) Titans-Texans:  TEN in columbia blue/columbia blue, HOU in white/white.  For the last seven out of eight years, the Texans open their home schedule with an all white combo.  The Titans reply by wearing all light blue, a combo they haven't worn since Week 5 of 2009.  The uniqueness of this matchup will ratchet this game up a few rungs.  Also, because it's rather a good one.

7) Broncos-Giants:  DEN in white/white, NYG in blue/gray.  The Manning Bowl gave us the blues; Bronco blue and Giant blue, with a taste of red, orange and gray.  Really though, I find it appealing.

6) Chargers-Eagles:  SD in navy/white, PHI in white/green.  By the mere fact that the Eagles busted out the green pants instead of the whites, this matchup moved up a little in the food chain.  Chargers gave their navy jerseys a touch of spark with the NOB's (names on back) being in yellow with a powder blue outline.  A blue vs. green with a touch of yellow, black, powder, gray.

5) Lions-Cardinals:  DET in white/silver, ARZ in red/white.  Not much flash in this matchup and perhaps under the radar due to the rather so-so nature of the teams, but I happen to think this is a pretty well pairing.  The pale shade of Lions blue, the silver accessory, the scarlet of the Cardinals, and not an overt amount of black, I'm feelin' it.

4) Panthers-Bills:  CAR in black/silver, BUF in throwback white/white.  Very rare to see Panthers in the black and silver so early in the season.  Usually the Panthers are in the whites or the carolina blues early on.  But they go with this gear at Orchard Park as the home Bills rock the AFL throwbacks.  It (the Bills' unis) is refreshing, if a bit too white for my taste.


3) 49ers-Seahawks:  SF in white/gold, SEA in navy/navy.  Seahawks in their second year of the all navys trimmed in Nike hubris and what pops for me? The Niners red numbers!  Why that is is a mystery, but that Seahawk uni seems to bring that red to life for me.  Not knocking the Hawks look, because I think that mess of colors works.

2) Vikings-Bears:  MIN in white/purple, CHI in throwback navy/white.  Boom-o. Great colors that pop.  Those straight orange numbers/names/stripes on the navy 40's throwbacks of the Bears, and the second straight week of purple pants with yellow and white done right and this is a dandy sweet matchup.

1) Cowboys-Chiefs:  DAL in white/mint, KC in red/red.  WHAT???? RED over RED?!?!?!  It's true!  The Chiefs have had red jerseys and red pants in their wardrobe for the better part of 45 years, but only until now have they decided to pair them up together.  And boy, did it work for me! So as not to overkill on the red, KC wore their white socks. Oh yeah, Cowboys in standard white and mint.

Will we see a shock to the system in Week 3, like we did in Week 2?  Tune in next week and find out!  See ya then.

Week 1 Uniform Matchup Rankings

Welcome to the 2013 edition of the Gridiron Uniform Database (GUD) Matchup Rankings.

The rankings are based on the personal opinion of Tim Brulia, lead historian of the GUD, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Bill Schaefer, the GUD's graphic engineer, or Rob Holecko, the GUD's webmaster.  It is simply an exercise in fun and not to be taken too seriously.

Let's get started:

16) Raiders-Colts:  OAK in white-silver, IND in blue/white.  Looks that have not changed much, if at all, in eons.  No flash here, not a great deal of color, either.  Standard Raider white jerseys with no trim.  Standard Colt blue jerseys with only truncated white shoulder stripes.  The old guard may think this is classic, but I tend to think otherwise.

15) Buccaneers-Jets:  TB in red/pewter, NYJ in white/white.  This game was a bit disappointing.  TB looks better in red jerseys with white pants.  The Jets in a look (white from head to ankle) that is very much my least favorite.  I don't mind the Jets in WAH, but either green pants or even green socks would have saved this game from the heap.

14) Texans-Chargers:  HOU in dark blue/white, SD in white/white.  Like last year, the Chargers open the season in white at home (WAH) that includes white pants, a look popular with some, but not with this observer.  Not even the Texans in their sleek blue tops and white pants can save this matchup from the lower rungs.

13) Cardinals-Rams:  ARZ in white/white, STL in navy/navy.  Only the Cardinals red socks kept this matchup from being a full-on monochrome-a-monochrome battle.  I do appreciate a total monochrome battle, but it comes at the expense of bountiful color, only trim.  Gold, black and red are merely bystanders here.

12) Dolphins-Browns:  MIA in white/white, CLE in brown/white.  Dolphins in their first official game in the new all whites, and the Browns apparently going all season in brown at home.  Would have much preferred the 'Fins in aqua pants, but I will give them a little pass, the aqua socks do help a bit.  Browns helmets make up for the loss of Dolphin orange.


11) Falcons-Saints:  ATL in red/white, NO in white/gold.  Saints, as has been the norm the last several years, open wearing white at home.  Falcons trot out the vibrant red jerseys in response.  I like this matchup, but I can't give it love.

10) Giants-Cowboys:  NYG in blue/gray, DAL in white.mint.  NBC must like these two on Kickoff Weekend.  Traditional matchup. Plenty of blue to go around and the Cowboys in their usual fifty shades of grey.  Just a dash of red from the G-men to avoid a blue-gray wash.  Just an average matchup from my eyes.


9) Bengals-Bears:  CIN in white/white, CHI in navy/white.  With the weather balmy, the Bengals go for the all white look, BUT toss us a surprise by going with orange socks instead of the normal black to accessorize.  The Bears meanwhile, stick to the traditional navy tops.  Not quite a classic, but certainly not a fiasco, either.

8) Titans-Steelers:  TEN in white/navy, PIT in black/yellow.  Titans pull off a look they haven't used since Week 6 of 2011 by wearing navy pants instead of the columbia blues with white jerseys.  Steelers in the very standard black over yellow.  I actually think the Titans should have stuck with the light blue legs.  Still, I find this one visually appealing.


7) Packers-49ers:  GB in white/yellow, SF in red/gold.  Reprising a playoff uni matchup battle from last season, the look is traditional, more or less.  The Niners continue to wear the goofy cut off triple stripes on the sleeve holes, yet the Packers wear stripes with a perfect cut.  The colors mix nicely with the two squads showing off various shades of gold.  Do like that bright Niner scarlet!


6) Patriots-Bills:  NE in white/navy, BUF in blue/white.  Traditional rivals, themed in similar colors, but no longer similar tones.  Since the Bills rebrand on 2011, this matchup seems to have improved, aesthetically.  I just love that blue that the Bills wear!  Pats in their now defining look.

5) Ravens-Broncos:  BAL in white (jerseys)/black (pants), DEN in orange/white. The season starts with a replay of the 2012 divisional playoffs.  The colors are varied and the Ravens oblige by wearing black pants instead of the whites.  The Broncos orange brightens things up well.  A nice matchup.

4) Chiefs-Jaguars:  KC in red/white, JAX in white/white.  20th century, meet 21st century.  Chiefs in one of the more timeless unis in the NFL, their bright red helmets and jerseys, meet up with the Jaguars and their black to gold transition helmet and the jangly mix of teal, gold and black trimmed white jerseys and pants.  The sensible against the senseless.  Don't ask why, but I just think this one works.

3) Seahawks-Panthers:  SEA in navy/gray, CAR in white/white.  Panthers - as always - start off the season in white and except for a foray or two in Carolina blue, will stay with WAH deep into the season.  The Seahawks rock a really sweet combo that was only seen once last year (at...Carolina!).  It bounces off well from the Panthers all whites.

2) Eagles-Redskins:  PHI in white/green, WSH in burgundy/yellow.  This could have been a white-white pants struggle, but instead, much to my delight, both squads go with color!  Eagles in the green pants and the Skins in yellow pants.  With that, the colors burst forth, green, black, silver, burgundy and yellow.  Nice matchup that could have been much drabber.


1) Vikings-Lions:  MIN in white/purple, DET in honolulu blue/silver.  Expecting the Vikes to go all white (yawn).  Then I see the bust out the purple pants (wide awake!!!)!!  Yay-yuh!  Couple that with the sweet Lions honolulus, it's a winner!

That's it for Week 1.  Check back for week 2's roundup!  See ya then!

Shoo, fly (wire), shoo!

Well, the first true night of Preseason football is in the books. From the well-trained eyes of this graphic engineer one thing seems pretty obvious...

Someone at Nike heard our complaints about NFL jersey collars.

We knew going into this week's full slate of action that several teams were scrapping the 2-tone 'toilet seat' collar in favor of a contrasting 1-color version (Denver) or a collar that matched the color of the jersey (Baltimore, Washington, and San Diego).

What I hadn't planned on was that even in high definition photos the fly-wire feature was extremely difficult to see on white and other light color jerseys, even in close-ups.

A case could be made that not a single fly-wire is obviously there on any white jersey. You'd literally need to squint on a high definition photo to see it. Even on Miami and Tennessee's lighter colored jerseys it is extremely difficult to pinpoint.

Fly-wire on darker jerseys like those worn by Cleveland, San Francisco, and San Diego (along with Denver's navy collar) remains easy to spot.

Atlanta was one of a handful of teams that opted to go with a non-standard collar last year and that remains the case again in 2013.

News broke earlier Thursday that Baltimore was losing the 'toilet seat' (not news), losing the fly-wire (news), and also losing the NFL Shield from the collar (didn't happen). The photo they displayed showed a Raven in what resembles a practice jersey as evidenced by the advertisements being displayed. The Shield is safe, folks!

Other non-collar related developments...

- We knew about Miami's changes. Tim documented their nuances in the GUD's last blog entry.
- As expected, Cleveland has removed the Al Lerner memorial "AL" from their left sleeve.
- As expected, Tennessee is wearing a patch commemorating their 15th season as the Titans.
- As expected, San Diego changed their nameplates to yellow letters outlined in powder as well as adding a yellow (not gold) stripe at the bottom of their navy socks - a la the Broncos and their similar orange stripe.

Stay tuned to see what transpires over the weekend!
Bill Schaefer


***Addendum #1 - Friday night, August 9

More of the same...

Miami, New Orleans, and the Jets join the ranks of " I think I see it but maybe not, OK, yeah, I think it's still there" with barely visible fly-wires.

I challenge anyone to claim they can spot fly-wire on Arizona's white jersey.We may have to wait until we see the red jersey to be able to pass judgement on this one.

As with Atlanta Thursday night, New England, Philadelphia, Green Bay, Carolina, and Oakland continue the use of the non-standard collars from 2012.

Houston and Kansas City continue the use of the typical collar but, as with 2012, opt out of utilizing the fly-wire. Look for Pittsburgh to join this group again Saturday night.

Wearers of dark jerseys last night with easily visible fly-wire include Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, and Jacksonville

Minnesota did not wear the anticipated "Last Season at the Metrodome" patch on their home purples. Likely they will now wait until the regular season or even the very last home game to use it.

One more tidbit...New Orleans, St. Louis, and Cincinnati have maintained the 'toilet seat' collars for another year.

Bill Schaefer

***Addendum #2 - Saturday night, August 10

As predicted, Pittsburgh remains with the standard collar without fly-wire.  New York joins the large contingent of white jerseys with the fly-wire barely visible.

Tomorrow afternoon we will will see which style of collar Buffalo is changing to from last year's "toilet seat."
Also, will Indianapolis wear the "30th year in Indy" patches?

Bill Schaefer

***Addendum #3 - Sunday afternoon, August 11

Buffalo has formally ditched the 'toilet seat' in favor of a non-standard collar similar to those worn by New England, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Dallas (road navy jersey).

Indianapolis joins the large contingent with a barely visible fly-wire on their white jerseys. The Colts also added an anniversary patch commemorating their 30th season in Indianapolis.

Next week we will analyze those teams who wore white in Week 1 of the Preseason and will be wearing their colored jersey in Week 2 for better conformation of fly-wire presence.

Bill Schaefer

New for 2013

With the 2013 preseason right around the corner, The Gridiron Uniform Database will take a short critique on the new uniforms for the coming season.

Minnesota Vikings:
Helmet:  Appears to be unchanged in design, but the helmet shell has a matte finish to it, slightly lighter than the purple jersey colors.
Jerseys:  White first. The Nike style collar has been removed.  The collar is white. The distinctive wordmark appears to be a tad larger than before.  The numbers garner the big talk. They are solid, trimless purple. The right edges have a pointy flair on some of the numbers.  These will have to be seen a little more to really get a feel for how they'll do in game action. The TV numbers are on the shoulders and there is striping to replace the wraparound white sidewalls and sleeve trim.  The stripes are separate purple top and yellow bottom, with the purple flaring upwards towards the backside. On the back, the Norseman logo on the nape of the neck disappears. The NOB's in matching purple sees the serifed ditched for a style similar to the flairish numeral font.
The Purple jerseys has similar features. Solid purple collar, the slightly larger wordmark is a solid yellow instead of white. The fancy-dan solid white numbers also have the right side pointy flair front and back.  The TV numbers are positioned on the shoulders and the sleeve stripes are two separated stripes with the upper white flaring upward as you to the back and the bottom yellow stripe stays straight.  The NOB is a solid white with the flairy font of the numbers.
Pants:  The white pants lose all of the snaky swirls of the 2012 model and go a bit conservative, with the straight stripes.  The back stripe is a medium thickness of purple, followed by a thin yellow, fronted by a thin stripe of purple.  The Vikes also introduced a purple pair of pants, similar to the whites, with the back stripe medium white, followed by a thin purple stripe and fronted with a yellow stripe.  One would think the white pants will get by far more exposure, but the purples could make more than a few appearances.
Socks:  No changes, still solid pruple.

Miami Dolphins:
Helmets:  They remain white, but the logo changes a lot. No longer is the Dolphin wearing a helmet, he also appears to be taking a sideways jump through the updated sunburst instead of a headstrong leap with the sunburst in the background.  The helmet stripes, while simplified, have elements of minute detail.  The center stripe is a thick aqua, flanked by two micro-thin stripes, the inner a darker aqua, and the outer in orange.  The facemasks are now white instead of aqua.
Jerseys:  The jerseys appear to be quite tame, there are no stripes, nor trim of any sort.  The numerals are a customized font.  On the aqua jerseys, the numbers are white, flanked by thin deep aqua and then thin orange outlines.  TV numbers are on the shoulders, and a quite small logo is on the sleeve.  The new wordmark is in white.  The NOBs for the jerseys are rather generic and trimmed in orange.  The white jerseys are quite basic as well.  Aqua numbers trimmed in orange and deep aqua are on the front, back and shoulders.  Wordmark in plain aqua, NOBs in aqua trimmed in orange, and the small logo on the sleeves.
Pants:  The white pants mimic the stripe pattern on the helmets.  The aqua pants have a thick white stripe, flanked on both sides with thin deep aqua (inner) and thin orange (outer) stripes.  One interesting kick: The Dolphins added "MIAMI" on the center rear of the belt tunnel of both pairs of pants. Certainly a first!
Socks:  The socks are solid aqua when worn with the white pants, but appear to have be topped by deep aqua when paired up with the aqua pants. Game action will tell the tale to confirm.

Jacksonville Jaguars:
Helmets:  The helmets change for the first time ever (not including the prototypes when the club was first born).  And they are innovative for NFL standards.  The helmet gradiates from front to back, going from black and evolving to gold around the sides and back.  The revised logo graces the sides.
Jerseys:  The Jags drop the thin wraparound stripes on all jerseys and overhaul the look.  We'll start with the whites first.  Numbers are teal in a customized font on the front, back and shoulders, with microthin gold and black outlines.  There are black sleeves and side panels.  The NOB is a solid black.  The wordmark is replaced by a black "badge" on the left breast that says "JAGS" with the new logo.  The black jersey has similar features of the white, with white numbers in the normal places, trimmed in thin teal and gold, and a white NOB, as well as the badge.  The sleeves are teal with matching side panels.  The Jags also introduced a teal jersey, likely to be used as the alternate, with black numbers trimmed in white and gold.  The NOB is white, the sleeves and side panels are black and the black badge is positioned similar to the white and black tops.
Pants:  The Jags have two sets of pants, white and black.  The whites have a thick vertical black stripe that only starts at an angle near the top side and only extends to the knee area, also ending at an angle.  The top of the stripe is edged in teal and the bottom of the stripe is edged in gold, with the logo placed at the hip above the teal edge.  The black pants have a similar design, with the thick stripe in teal, topped by gold and bottomed by white, with the jag's head topping the stripe.
Socks:  With all of that wild action above, the hose are a very plain black.

Summing these changes, I happen to like them. A semi-back to basics for the Vikings, though the numbers touch up to me is unnecessary. The Dolphins, apart from the major alteration to the beloved "Flipper", head to a very generic style with less orange.  The Jaguars appear to be the next in line to the Seahawks, much bells and whistles with the teal (apart from the alternate jersey) continuing the trend to be a trim and not a main color.

A few other changes to note:
San Diego Chargers:  The Chargers are changing the NOB on the navy jerseys from white to yellow.  And the Bolts are also adding a single yellow stripes to the socks.  The sock change - as of now - is unconfirmed.
Indianapolis Colts:  The Colts will be wearing a patch commemorating their 30th season in Indy.
Minnesota Vikings:  In addition to the uniform changes, the Vikings will sport a patch for their final season in Mall of America Field, likely to be worn on the purple jerseys only.
Tennessee Titans:  The Titans will wear patch to celebrate 15 seasons as the Tennessee Titans (they were the Tennessee Oilers in 1997 and 1998).

There will also be more subtle changes coming in 2013, notably collar trim changes as Nike and NFL teams will be tweaking some of the uniform innovations that first saw the light in 2012.  More on the equipment side of things, thigh pads and knee pads will be mandatory in 2013.

Whatever changes are made this season and whomever stands pat for the season just in front of us, the GUD will monitor, note and revise as necessary.

Enjoy.

It Had To Have Been The Shoes!

A few months ago, I wrote a blog about changes to the current footwear we were going to show here at GUD. The goal was to demonstrate the NFL's decision to allow teams to move away from the 'base-black' or 'base-white' shoe edict the League had run with for the past several decades.

Now with Nike taking over the League supplying the League with its' uniforms, conciliations were made to allow cleats of 'team colors' that may not even include black or white at all. Even brands that are not called Nike are now being allowed to be worn on the field of play as long as they fit within the 'team colors' guidelines.

Now it is time to turn our eyes back to the past. Since the site began we have shown essentially one style of shoe previous to the changes of 2012. With the exception of the colored cleats worn back in the 1970s by several teams including Philadelphia, Kansas City, Denver, San Diego, Washington, and the Rams, everything else on our site shows as the typical 'base-black' or 'base-white.' But those of us who have more than fair knowledge of the sport's history know that the 'low-cut' cleats of modern football were not worn back in the early days.

No. Back in those first decades of the League, players donned what could be referred to as 'high tops,' more reminiscent of basketball shoes than modern football cleats.

My next, and current, task as GUD's resident graphics creator is to make appropriate changes to this era and bring the site up to speed by doing so. Before I began, I needed to establish a timeline. In the 1970s, two changes occurred that brought football uniforms into a more modern era. Both were gradual changes not made in a single year.

The year 1974 saw San Diego and Kansas City go to colored facemasks. Their lead caused the vast percentage of the League to begin adopting non-grey facemasks over the next five or six years. In fact, by 1980, only 10 teams were left with grey facemasks. Furthermore, of those 10 teams, 5 of them were teams that had grey or silver as a team color.

The 1970s also saw, with the advent of artificial turf becoming more prominent across the League, players began switching to white cleats from black. At the time, the League had no mandate stating that all members of a team must conform and wear a single colored cleat. The situation was much more fluid. In some cases, teams spent a three-year period where the players would go from "75% black / 25% white" to "50 / 50" to "25% black / 75% white." What we have done here at GUD is document for each team when the change in majority occurred rather than show both varieties being worn at the same time.

My research to discover when the majority transformation occurred in which high-topped cleats were replaced with low-cut cleats focussed on the 1950s. I began looking at photos from the League Championship Games starting in 1959 and working my way back. Sure enough I found that the 1956 NFL Championship Game between the Chicago Bears and New York Giants was the last game to feature the majority of players in high-topped cleats. The following year, 1957, both the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions sported a look that featured the majority of players going to the low-cut version. I now had my 'line of delineation' for the change to be made.

But its' fun to point out that we tend to find extra additions to our site while researching something completely different. While viewing photos of the 1956 Championship Game hosting the Bears, I noticed the the Giants were wearing white basketball shoes (Converse Chuck Taylors, actually) instead of cleats. Continuing to dig further back it was discovered that, in a 1950 Playoff Game the Giants played in Cleveland, they wore white, high-top basketball shoes on another occasion! These additions will be made to the site when the high-tops are added to the Giants' images.

After altering the look of the low-cut black cleats to a more appropriate looking high-top appearance, I forwarded on the drafts to our historian, Tim Brulia. He made two different recommendations. First, he stated that until about 1935, the cleats featured prohibitively black laces that changed predominantly to white laces afterwards. The adaptation was made soon after.

The second alteration Tim suggested revolved around what is referred to as 'sannies' or sanitary socks. Tim suggested that when the high-tops are added to images beginning in 1932 where the sannies are included, that too little of the sannies show above the top of the new, higher cleats. He suggested that we raise the upper portion of the sannies so that more of them can be seen. However, in constructing my original drafts of the high-tops, I had already tinkered with this idea. It could be done, but by raising the tops of the sannies we'd lose a feature of the high tops that I felt we needed to keep.  By leaving the sannies in position and limiting how much of the sannies are shown, it is much clearer to see that the viewer is now looking at high-tops and not the normal low-cut cleats we had previously been viewing due to less sanny being visible. If we raised the sannies as much as the cleats themselves were raised, we lose that differentiation.

Therefore, I have begun making changes to all images pertaining to the time frame leading up to the conclusion of the 1956 season - 37 years if you're counting from 1920 forward. I am trying to get these updates in to Rob over the next few weeks ahead of the beginning of the 2013 Preseason.

It is our opinion that the addition of these high-topped cleats make for a look more authentic to the era than was previously shown.

Look for these footwear updates, along with some concurrent belt alterations from our pal Larry Schmitt,  in the GUD "Updates" page as they are completed.
Bill Schaefer

The Gridiron Uniform Database turns 2

It's our birthday.  The Gridiron Uniform Database turns two years old today.

A year ago when we celebrated, Rob, Bill and myself took turns comparing where we were when we started and how far we came up to that point.  We certainly came a long way.

In the year since June 12, 2012, we have come a long way even more.

We added a 1920 - 1932 section to the GUD.  We now have a full uniform database from 1931 to the present.  We hope to add even more uniforms to this era of the NFL as we go along.

We added a complete history of the uniforms worn in the Pro Bowl.  Every Pro Bowl game, every AFL All-Star Game, and even the Shamrock Bowl, the All-America Football Conference's lone All-Star outing.

Of course, the 2012 NFL season came and went, and we added those uniforms as the games were played out, the game by game uniform matchups were added.

We added a lot of stuff to the research tab as well.  Consider:

1) A text description of the history of game officials' uniforms, all the way back to the first season of 1920.

2) A text description of the long departed, but very important College All-Star Game uniforms.

3) Perhaps most important, a history of commemorative helmet decals that have been worn by every team ever.  This is surely the most exhaustive examination of these logos to be found anywhere.

As for now, what is going on currently at the GUD?

Bill - with tremendous help from Larry Schmitt - is updating perhaps the most overlooked aspect of a football uniform, the waistbelt, or more commonly referred to simply, as the belt.  When the GUD first opened shop two years ago, the belts were mostly either just colored in the pant colors of the team, or a very generic black belt.  In recent weeks, the belt colors as well as the belt tunnel/loop patterns have been updated dramatically, in some cases, with impressive results!

Tim is slowly but surely adding additional reference to each season, namely, the weekly uniform matchups for every regular season and post season game played in the NFL and AFL since 1950.  We are roughly halfway through the first step of this project.  The years posted so far are of a "random" variety, but eventually all the holes will be filled and soon you will be able to see every single uniform matchup ever for the last 63 years!

Rob, of course, has the lucky task of taking what Bill and Tim have done and adding all of these goodies to the site itself.

Not to mention the continual and perpetual updates to getting the stripe patterns, numeral fonts, shades of colors, helmet logos even more closer to the way they actually were.  There's no question were have added hundreds of updates to the GUD since our June 12, 2011 launch.  And there will certainly be more as new information is discovered from long forgotten photographic evidence, whether it be on the internet, ancient books and magazines, precious microfilm, yard sales, etc.  If you submit it and we can document it and then confirm it, we will add it to the GUD.

A few areas where we have fallen short, we hope to soon remedy.  We realize we have not blogged nearly as much as we should have since the Ravens took care of the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.  This very blog will hopefully get us back in gear.  Our facebook page has been dormant for some time.  We promise to be much more timely and frequent there.  Rob is hoping to make our podcasts, once experimental, more of an ongoing educational presence.  While the blog, facebook and podcasts are important and bonuses to the GUD, the heart of our existence is the website, The Gridiron Uniform Database.  Stay with us in year three of GUD as we promise to add more good things along the way, as well as - of course - the 2013 season, with the Dolphins, Vikings and Jaguars all making major changes to their look(s).

To close, we can't thank you enough for your kind words, encouragement and most of all your generous help, both in information and financially.  A generous financial gift from a very kind benefactor has helped the GUD beyond words.  Rob, Bill and Tim are three grateful guys to all of you for your enduring support.  We hope to make year three of the GUD every bit as good as the first two years.

As always, your comments are always welcome. You can always contact us personally.

Stay tuned.

Belts 'R' Us

A short while ago, Rob updated the site with a flood of revisions largely centered on, of all things, belts. (and still working on them, unfortunately -RH)  The situation began when I happened to be perusing the collection of “Mud Games” photos collected in a thread of our Forum. I spotted an image from the 1983 AFC Championship Game between the Jets and Dolphins. I noticed something that I had known to exist but I had actually not given it a single thought. I did some quick searching and came across a photo showing Jets’ quarterback Richard Todd attempting to elude the rush of Dolphins’ lineman Doug Betters. Clearly evident was my target – pants that showed the belt all the way around the player’s waistline. For lack of a pre-existing name for this bit of fashion, I began referring to them as ‘peek-a-boo’ belts (PABs, for short).

1983 AFC Championship Game - Courtesy of getty.com

I remembered these belts vividly on several teams and was immediately troubled by the fact that we had completely neglected them up till this point. That was going to be something that would have to change.

A thread was organized on the Forum to answer the who’s and when’s of this situation. Our own Larry Schmitt was invaluable aiding me in the research. What began as a search for the Jets quickly began to include the Colts, Chargers, Patriots, Bengals, Falcons, Bills, and Dolphins.  A summary of that research can be found in the thread “Unusual pants (did that get your attention?).”

For me, an interesting thing is how this research led to other belt-related/unrelated discoveries that also needed attending to.  While efforting to discover the origin of the Jets’ PABs, we discovered the first year of their existence was the Super Bowl III season. However, just one year earlier, they were wearing regular white belts that we had incorrectly been displaying as black. Now we had to find how far back these white belts went. Sure enough, they went all the way back to the first year of the Jets after they ceased being known as the Titans. But that was not all.

Left - 1967 with normal white belts; Right - 1963 1st year Jets with white belts

Larry’s keen eye noticed some discrepancies among the pants stripes. We had been displaying a single pants stripe appearance over this entire generation. Larry noted that not only did the thickness of the green stripes have different variations but he also found that the separation between the stripes also included changes in the size of separation over the same period of time.

After about ten days of research, I began making the required changes to our site’s yearly images.

But the story doesn’t end there.  A few weeks ago, Larry sent me a harmless little email saying that he had innocently found another belt situation that needed attending to. After viewing his proof, I agreed, and made the changes. But as with the PABs, while researching one thing, you often stumble across more.  And he did.

After viewing photos of Earl Campbell and performing a little more digging, Larry had found that the Oilers matched their belts to their pants in all situations after doing away with the grey/silver pants beginning in 1972. In fact, when Houston moved to Tennessee to become the Titans, they continued this trend, another item we had missed as GUD had been displaying navy belts for all of the Titans’ combinations since 1999.

Earl Campbell in 1978 (left) and 1980 (right)

Similar discoveries soon followed for New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Seattle, and Washington. These (and other) corrections will be appearing shortly in the Update section.

While not extremely difficult corrections to make, they were disturbingly time consuming. And while I was sitting at my PC making all of these changes, my mind began to wonder ‘how did this happen?’ I mean the PABs were one thing. We had completely neglected this style that was fairly prominent for some teams for a large chunk of their existence – in some cases twenty to thirty years or even more.

But the color of the belts? How did we miss these? A light bulb went on and I had my answer. If you have read “About The Template” for GUD, you know the history of how I came to use this particular model for the construction of our template. When I first found it, most of the drawing had substantial errors. Some colors weren’t quite right, several helmet logos were too big, collars contained the NFL shield instead of the NFL Equipment logo, certain teams that would wear the 50^th Anniversary patch had the wrong color patch, and the sleeves were too long for the era being described.

Original images of our soon-to-be template

But I never thought to question the belts. Whatever was already in place there, that's what we blindly kept. It was the one part of the uniform we never really thought about for the modern age and that's my fault. So I guess I can only get upset with myself for missing these to begin with years ago. I took it upon myself to go back and check through the rest of the teams we hadn't already caught over the last few months as being erroneous. In a single afternoon, I uncovered additional errors for Arizona, Baltimore, Buffalo, Carolina, Cleveland, and Houston and put all of my 'suffering' into one day making the corrections. After all, our motto around here is "Just get it right."

It takes a sense of humor to do this. When we finally finished (hopeful and with fingers crossed!) with this most recent batch of belt amendments, Larry asked if since we were done with belts if we were next going to move on to chinstraps. It was humorous and I knew he wasn’t being the least bit serious (I hope!). The strange part was that moments  prior to getting that question posed to me via email, I had just been thinking of sending a similarly joking email to Larry asking if he would mind doing some research on the colors of wristbands and elbow pads!

I guess its true – great sick minds think alike.

Despite all that, I want to thank Larry not just for the help in locating these oversights but also for everything else he’s pitched in and assisted with over the last two years. After all, this work takes a special type of person.

“Honey, what‘re you doing on the computer?” “ Oh, just researching football belts.”
    - actual excerpt from a conversation in the Schaefer household

Bill Schaefer

"It's Gotta Be The Shoes!!!"

Last Spring, Uni Watch's Paul Lukas attended the unveiling of Nike's new uniforms for the 2012 NFL season and served as the informational conduit to the fans explaining what he saw as new differences as well as continued similarities to the past.  One of the features that received a significant amount of publicity was the new Nike Vapor cleats - each adorned in 2 or 3 team colors splashed generously about the footwear. Not only are the Vapors colorful but the colors are distributed in an unorthodox fashion. Insteps are one color while the the outside of the foot is another.

Last summer while creating the initial fabrications for each team's complete uniform, I put together a cleat template that would represent each team's version of the above designs.  However, we withheld adding these to the 2012 images because we were unsure how this new design would fly in the face of the League's strict "Base-White-or-Base-Black" cleat mandate. Just the previous year in 2011, Chicago's Earl Bennett received fines for continuing to wear plain orange cleats - an official Bear color - and was subsequently threatened by the League with penalties prior to kickoff and possible ejections from games if he continued to wear them.

NY Giants version of Nike Vapors

We decided that the GUD would continue displaying team footwear as either black cleats or white until we saw how the season, itself, would pan out.  When "Opening Night" arrived, I broke out the microscope the next day to dissect the footwear. What I found was a graphic engineer's worst nightmare.

Our "Standard Operating Procedure" around here as always been "Go with the majority" along with our mantra of "Just get it right." This was rigorously applied to the 1970's when teams were slowly converting from black cleats to white. Once the majority of the players photographed were seen to have crossed over that line, that would become year in which we formally made the change on the yearly team images. The problem we were about to experience was ten times worse. Not only were the majority of players running completely contrary to the 'Base-White-or-Base-Black" edict, but no one specific brand (even Nike) or pattern of design was a clear majority. It was almost as if the players said "If they're going to let us wear team-colored cleats, I'm picking my own brand/style." Below are the two collages I made up  from "Opening Night" for my GUD colleagues to demonstrate the dilemma we faced.

Various  NY Giant cleats worn in Week 1

Various Dallas cleats worn in Week 1

If the teams simply could have had the majority wearing one particular design, we'd have been fine. However, the sheer number of footwear variations was trauma inducing.  We knew we could never depict every style of footwear for every uniform combination worn. That would be ludicrous to display. We decided to ride out the season with simple white or black and let the rest of the new uniform parts carry the weight of the season.

Now in the lull between seasons, with nothing to add as far as new designs for 2013 as yet, I turned introspective and again pondered this issue and its implications. The Vapor designs I molded for 2012, while authentic looking, do not represent a majority of the looks each team put forth. However the conundrum created by the majority of players wearing 'colored' cleats, as opposed to black/white, need to be addressed. If this trend continued, and there has been no reason to expect that it wouldn't, how many seasons would have to go by before we, at GUD, said "You know, all of the players are wearing colored cleats now. We really should have made that change back in 2012 so we wouldn't have to go back and change x number of seasons for consistency's sake."

I began perusing the galleries of photos from the past season on NFL.com. and charted, to the best of my abilities, what the most common color schemes and placement of those colors were. Rather than going with a particular style/brand of design, I decided that the colors should be the focus since we were channeling away from white and black.

Each team would receive one version of two or three colors mixed in a consistent fashion. The only exceptions for receiving an additional pair would be those teams utilizing an alternate or throwback uniform combination in which the color schemes were greatly changed as with Tampa Bay (creamcicle) and Washington (burgundy throwbacks) this past year. Some teams, like New England (red) and San Diego (powder blue), used alternate uniforms of a different color from their standards but yet did not pass this on to their footwear. The majority of players on those teams used the same cleats as during the other 14 or 15 weeks of the season.

NY Giants version of the colored shoe template for 2012

While these schemes currently represent those seen by a majority of each team's players, it's my hope that the pattern will not change dramatically for the coming seasons. The idea is to show the colors being used, not any one specific pattern, since no one specific pattern is in use, even the mighty Vapor.

I believe that this alteration to last season's images helps to more accurately depict the product we see on the field. After all, the NFL is not simply Black-and-White. It has shades of grey...and navy...and midnight green...and battle red...and...

Bill Schaefer

Cris Carter - HOF Profile

If there is one word to describe the 16-year career of wide receiver Cris Carter, it would be consistency.

In an era where passing and receiving records fall regularly, it is sometimes easy to fail to appreciate the careers of those who came before. Consider these facts when pondering the accumulated totals from Carter's career, where he ranked second all time in career receptions with 1,101 and touchdowns with 130 at the time of his retirement following the 2002 season.

• His 130 touchdowns came from the arm of 13 different passers.
• Of his 12 seasons in Minnesota, the Vikings qualified for the post season eight times with seven different starting quarterbacks - making it twice with Warren Moon in 1994 and 1996.
• He was the first player to have two seasons with more than 120 receptions (with only Wes Welker equaling that to date.) 
• Carter's 10 post season games with Minnesota saw him amass 60 catches for 837 yards and eight touchdowns.  
• The Vikings won-loss record was 76-29 when Carter scored at least one touchdown.
• Carter had 29 multiple-touchdown games, including three with 3 scores.
• He holds 19 Vikings individual receiving records.

Of course, none of this seemed possible when Carter was released by  Philadelphia just prior to the start of the 1990 regular season. His three years with the Eagles were tumultuous. Substance abuse issues and off field problems forced management to waive his contract as he had become an unreliable performer and distraction to the team. 

Carter played mostly a back up role in his first season with Minnesota and focused on cleaning up his personal life. After the 1991 season a regime change brought in a new head coach, and a newly focused Carter began to emerge a primary weapon for Minnesota's offense.

The Viking's quarterback situation was unsettled, neither Rich Gannon nor Sean Salisbury emerged as the full-time starter. Despite the uncertainty, and three games missed with a broken collar bone, Carter lead the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns. Missed starts were rare for Carter, who played a full 16-game schedule in 13 of his 16 seasons, totaling 234 games played. The Vikings began a run under coach Dennis Green where they would qualify for the post season in eight of nine seasons.

A change in quarterback in 1993 from Gannon to Jim McMahon brought Carter's first of eight consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, Pro Bowl invitations, and another playoff berth. But the greatest success was just around the corner.

Moon arrived via a trade with the Houston Oilers, settling Minnesota's revolving door at quarterback (for two-and-a-half seasons anyway.)  With stability in the offense, Carter was able to establish a rapport with the Vikings passer and strung together three great seasons and for the first time saw his name appear in the NFL record books.

Carter established the NFL record for receptions in a season with 122 in 1994. His 1,256 yards and seven touchdowns as Minnesota's primary receiving threat saw him named First Team All Pro as the Vikings won the NFC Central, but for the third straight year went one-and-done in the playoffs.

1995 was an even better year for Carter personally, even though Minnesota as a team slumped to 8-8, He matched the remarkable 122 catch effort from the year before, but augmented it with 1.371 yards and an NFL leading 17 touchdowns - including four 12-reception games. Amazingly, he was only named Second Team All Pro, as he tied for second in the league for catches that year. Jerry Rice also had 122 receptions while Herman Moore set the new mark at 123.

A mid-season collar bone injury to Moon brought another quarterback change for the Vikings, but Carter continued his reliable production. With Brad Johnson taking over Carter finished the season with 96 catches, 1,163 yards and 10 touchdowns. His three year total for 1994-1996 still ranks among the most prolific of all time: 48 games played, 340 catches, 3,790 yards and 34 touchdowns.

Carter lead the NFL with touchdown catches again in 1997 with 13, despite Johnson being unable to complete the season with an injury. Randall Cunningham took over in December and the Vikings won their first playoff game under Green in the Wild Card round.

In 1998 a renewed Cunningham commanded the NFL's highest scoring offense in history, and Carter was a major part of their success. Minnesota's 556 points scored (averaging 34.8 points per game) broke the record of 541 held by the 1983 Washington Redskins. Although rookie receiver Randy Moss broke onto the scene and stole most of the headlines, Carter had another 1,000 yard season on 78 catches and 12 touchdowns. The 15-1 Vikings advanced to the NFC Championship Game, but lost in overtime to the Atlanta Falcons.

The following season may have been Carter's best season of all. His 90 catches for 1,241 yards and league leading 13 touchdowns (his fifth consecutive season with at least 10 scoring receptions) were punctuated by a 13.8 yard-per-catch average, his highest of any season where he caught more than 40 passes. He was rewarded with a spot on the First Team All Pro list. Most significantly, Carter was awarded the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which is an honor give in recognition of a player's volunteer and charitable efforts, showing how far he had come since his early days in Philadelphia.

Following two more productive years in Minnesota, which included becoming just the second player to reach the 1,000 catch plateau in 2000, Carter temporarily retired. He was lured out midway through in the 2002 season by the injury depleted Miami Dolphins who were engaged in a three team race for first place in the AFC East. Carter retired for good after the season.

The six-time finalist joins 11 other Vikings in Canton, continuing a run of recognition for Minnesota as Carter is the fifth member of the franchise to receive enshrinement in the past six classes (Chris Doleman 2012, John Randle, 2010, Randall McDaniel 2009, Gary Zimmerman 2008.) Carter played in 188 games (with 177 starts) and had 40 of his 42 career 100-yard games with the Vikings, and is one of only six players to have their number retired by the club. He is also a member of the NFL's All Decade Team for the 1990's.

Cris Carter's Career Statistics at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Cris Carter's career uniforms:

A Head-to-Head History: Super Bowl Edition

A Head-to-Head History: Super Bowl Edition
by Larry Schmitt

San Francisco and Baltimore both have an illustrious Super Bowl history. The 49ers are 5-0 all time in the biggest of games, with their most recent victory in 1995, while the Ravens are 1-0, having won their lone Championship in 2001 in Super Bowl XXXV.   Super Bowl XLVII will be the tenth Super Bowl in New Orleans, and the seventh in the Super Dome.

This will be the fifth time that the Ravens and Forty-Niners have played each other, and the Ravens hold a 3-1 advantage.  Ravens' head coach and older brother John Harbaugh is 1-0 versus younger brother Jim, the 49ers' coach.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first meeting between this years Super Bowl participants took place in Week 12 of the Ravens inaugural  1996 season when the injury plagued and 3-7, the Ravens traveled to Candlestick Park to take on the 7-3 49ers.

Vinny Testaverde connected with Michael Jackson on a 65-yard touchdown strike in the first quarter to give Baltimore an early lead. Unfortunately San Francisco gradually assumed control of the game and Testeverde left with rib injuries following a 2nd quarter sack.

Back up Eric Zeier lead two drives that ended with Matt Stover field goals, and also tossed a touchdown to James Jones, a defensive lineman filling in at fullback. The day belonged to the 49ers however. Elvis Grbac completed 26 passes to six different receivers for 268 yards, including a touchdown to Hall of Famer Jerry Race, and Grbac also ran for another score. After the Zeier to Jones score put Baltimore ahead 20-17, San Francisco scored 21 unanswered points. A spectacular Chris Doleman end zone strip-sack fumble recovery score was sandwiched in between two one-yard scoring runs for the 38-20 final.

The Ravens finished their inaugural season in Baltimore 4-12 for fifth place in the AFC Central Division. The 49'ers won the NFC West Division at 12-4. After beating Philadelphia in the Wild Card round they would fall to eventual Super Bowl Champion Green Bay in the Divisional Round.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Ravens franchise enjoyed their most lopsided victory in their existence (up to that point) at the expense of San Francisco in Week 13 of the 2003 season.

Forty-Niners quarterback Jeff Garcia had a miserable day as he completed less than half of his pass attempts and was intercepted four times. The Ravens defense actually outscored the San Francisco offense: Ray Lewis returned one of the interceptions for a touchdown just before halftime for a 24-6 lead, while the 49ers managed just two Todd Peterson field goals and 10 total first downs.

The Ravens were able to turn what was actually a very close 7-6 game into a blowout in the final three minutes of the first half with big plays from all three units of their team.

The first came on the kickoff following a San Francisco field goal at 3:25, when Lamont Brightful set up his offense with a 75-yard return to the 49ers 19 yard-line. Baltimore could not capitalize on the great field position though, and after three plays settled for afield goal.

Baltimore forced a three and out after the kickoff, and a personal foul on the punt return set the Ravens up at the San Francisco 49 yard-line at 1:18. The two-play drive was capped by an Anthony Wright to Marcus Robinson touchdown from 38 yards out.

Now leading 24-6, the Ravens sealed the ultimate outcome with the Lewis interception 29-yard run-back with 0:41 on the clock on the second play of San Francisco's next possession. 

The Ravens won the AFC North Division with a 10-6 record but lost to Tennessee in the Wild Card Playoffs. San Francisco finished in third place of the NFC West at 7-9.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Both defenses were strong in Week 5 of the 2007 season when the Ravens met the quarterback who guided them to a victory in Super Bowl XXXV.  The Ravens nearly doubled the 49ers total yardage output, 315-163, but could not find the end zone. However, three Matt Stover field goals were enough for a 9-7 victory.

San Francisco provided the games only real fireworks with a two play sequence in the third quarter as they sought to chisel into Baltimore's 9-0 lead. Facing a third-and-six on their own 35 yard-line, Trent Dilfer, the former Raven who was starting for the injured Alex Smith, lofted a deep pass down the left sideline to Bryan Gilmore, good for 42 yards. On the very next play found Arnaz Battle in the middle of the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown.

That concluded the scoring for the day. Following two exchanges of punts, Steve McNair helped seal San Francisco's fate with a 17-play drive that consumed over eight minutes of the 4th quarter game clock. On that drive, Baltimore was able to convert two third downs, and one fourth down on a running into the kicker penalty on a punt play.

Dilfer followed with a 46-yard drive that stalled on Baltimore's 34 yard-line, and Joe Nedney's 52-yard field goal attempt for the lead sailed wide left at 2:37 and the Ravens ran out the clock for the road victory.

Both teams finished with disappointing records and out of the post season. Baltimore was 4-12 in last place in the AFC North while San Francisco was 5-11 in third place in the NFC West.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The NFL's first ever head-to-head meeting of head coaching brothers occurred when two 8-2 teams battled on a cold Thursday night in Baltimore during Week 12 of the 2011 season.

For the third straight meeting between the clubs, Baltimore's defense dominated, this time establishing a team record with nine sacks as they harassed 49'er quarterback Alex Smith relentlessly, and they did it without Lewis who was on the sidelines with a foot injury. Terrell Suggs emerged as the Ravens dominant force, registering three of the sacks.

Baltimore lead 6-3 at the half. Remarkably, the third quarter featured just two possessions. San Francisco downed the kickoff to start the quarter on their own 20-yard line. The 13-play drive consumed 7:25 and featured Smith completed three of three passes, but he was also sacked twice and forced to scramble for eight yards once. The key play occurred on third-and-seventeen when Smith completed an 18-yard pass to Michael Crabtree to move the chains. The drive stalled at the Baltimore 34 and Akers kicked a 52-yard field goal to knot the score at 6-6.

The Raven followed suit with their own lengthy drive. The first 15 plays terminated the balance of the third quarter, and included three third-down conversions. Eleven of the calls were passes and Flacco completed seven of them, and Baltimore moved from their own 24 to the San Francisco eight yard line. The first play of the fourth quarter was also a pass, a touchdown catch by Denis Pitta to give the Ravens a 13-6 advantage.

The Baltimore defense cranked up the pressure, pressuring and sacking Smith several times. When the Ravens had the ball they leaned heavily on backs Ray Rice and Ricky Williams to muscle the ball to move the chains and eat more time from the clock. A Cundiff field goal at 3:14 sealed the 49'ers fate and a desperation drive by Smith ended on downs.

Both teams won their respective divisions and had strong post season showings, but fell short in their Conference Championships. The 12-4 Ravens defeated Houston at home before losing a heart breaker in New England where they missed a near winning touchdown reception, then a tying field goal in the final seconds. The 13-3 49'ers fate was just as excruciating. After capturing a thrilling come from behind upset victory at home over New Orleans, they lost a slug-fest in a rain soaked Candlestick Park in overtime to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

This year both teams advanced to the ultimate game, where neither franchise has ever lost before. Which brother will take home the Lombardi Trophy and family bragging rights

ADDENDUM

While the NFL officially recognizes the Baltimore Ravens as a unique franchise, their lineage does trace back to the original Cleveland Browns. Coincidentally, Browns/Ravens late owner Art Modell is a finalist for Hall of Fame enshrinement, which will be announced Super Bowl Eve Saturday afternoon.

The 49ers were a charter member of the All America Football conference with the Cleveland Browns, as well as the first Baltimore Colts franchise {which went defunct in 1951 and is not connected to the one residing in Indianapolis today.} San Francisco was the Browns toughest adversary in the league they thoroughly dominated. Cleveland sported a 52-4-3 record over the four season of the AFC, with two of those losses coming to the 49ers. They met the leagues final game to decide the championship.

The 9-1-2 Browns hosted the 9-3 49ers as their dynasty looked to for an unprecedented four-peat. San Francisco had confidence on their side. In October they dealt the powerful Browns the worst loss in their brief existence, 56-28 in San Francisco, which was also their first loss since 1947. Three weeks later in Cleveland the Browns pulled out a close 30-28 win.

In the title game, the defenses were in charge early. Cleveland scored early on a two-yard plunge by Edgar Jones. San Francisco had a chance to score in the second quarter, but Frankie Albert was sacked on third down and Joe Vetrano's field goal attempt missed and the first half ended 7-0.

Browns fullback Marion Motley provided the games most exciting play, a 63-yard touchdown jaunt that opened a 14-0 lead for the defending champs in the third quarter. A 73-yard kickoff return kept San Francisco in business. Frankie Albert threw a 23-yard touchdown to Paul Salata to keep the margin at seven.

San Francisco's defense performed admirably, keeping the normally dangerous Otto Graham-led passing attack in check, but the Browns running game wore them down. Graham, Motley and Edgar Jones each topped 60 yards rushing, and Jones' fourth quarter touchdown at 6:00 iced the game.  Cleveland was the only champion crowned during the AAFC's four season of play.

Both teams would leave a significant imprint on the landscape of the NFL after merging in 1950. San Francisco would have to wait though, as their time to reign supreme would not be until the early 1980's. Their inaugural season in the NFL National Conference was a difficult one, where they struggled to a 3-9 sixth place finish. The Browns proved to all doubters that they could indeed run with the big dogs. They rolled to a 10-2 first place tie atop the American Conference with the New York Giants. They bested the Giants 8-3 in a divisional playoff game before upsetting Los Angeles 30-28 in a thrilling NFL Championship.

11/30/58 BAL 35 vs SF 27
The 4-5 49ers traveled to 8-1 Baltimore in Week 10 of the 1958 season, and took part in a significant game that helped shape one of the NFL's legendary teams.

San Francisco exploded for 20 second quarter points as they ran out to a 27-7 halftime advantage. Deviating from their typical script, they did it with three rushing touchdown, two by the normally slow-footed Y.A. Tittle and an interception return.

Johnny Unitas lead long scoring drives as the Colts defense began to clamp down. Fullback Alan Ameche's one yard dive cut the lead to 27-20 early in the fourth quarter. After getting the ball back, halfback Lenny Moore electrified the Memorial Stadium crowd with a weaving 73-yard run where he evaded several tacklers and put the Colts on top 28-27. The inspired Baltimore defense responded by getting the ball back to Unitas where he put the finishing touches on the dominating second half with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Raymond Berry.

Here is what Hall of Famer Moore had to say about this game years later:

"I thought the best game we ever played as a team in my years with the Colts was the one when we were down 27-7 to the 49ers in '58 and came back to win. We trailed, 27-7 at halftime. We were so twisted, we didn't know what to do. The 49ers had three Hall of Famers in the backfield {Tittle, Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenney}. How do you stop those guys? But Weeb Ewbank said, 'Fellas, we're not out of this. Defense? Shut them down. Offense? Go to work.' When we went back out there, everyone was tuned in, and Johnny went to war."

San Francisco finished in fourth place of the NFL Western Conference with a 6-6 record. Baltimore finished first at 9-3 and famously went on to win their first NFL Title against the New York Giants in "The Greatest Game Ever Played."

The Colts would go on to post a 1-1 record in the Super Bowl while calling Baltimore home. This Sunday the cities of San Francisco and Baltimore will have another opportunity to carve a new niche in the NFL's championship legacy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While these two franchises have a limited history of playing each other, there is also the matter of their history with the city of New Orleans to contend with.  The 49ers have a vast advantage over the Ravens in the amount of history they have of playing in the crescent city.  San Francisco and the New Orleans Saints were in the NFC West together from 1970 to 2001, therefore they played in New Orleans every year during that stretch except the strike-shortened season of 1982.  They had, however, only played there once in the last five years before meeting the Saints earlier this season in one of Colin Kapernick's first starts, a 31-21 victory over the Saints.

The more relevant New Orleans experience for the Niners, however, may be their previous Super Bowl experience there.  San Francisco won Super Bowl XXIV 55-21 over the Denver Broncos in the Superdome  and tied the Pittsburgh Steelers with 4 Lombardi trophies.  It was their second consecutive title in George Seifert's first as he took over for Bill Walsh, who retired after the Niners' Super Bowl win the previous season.   The Steelers have since won two more, and with the 49ers winning their fifth in 1995, they can again tie Pittsburgh atop the all-time Super Bowl wins list at six here in XLVII 

The Ravens, although they've played the Saints five times since beginning play in 1996, have only played once in New Orleans, with the other four meetings coming in Baltimore.  Their one meeting in the Superdome was a 35-22 Baltimore win 2006.

 
Drew Brees threw three interceptions, including two that were returned for touchdowns as the 4-2 Ravens built up a 35 to 7 third quarter lead over the 5-1 NFC South leading Saints.  The Ravens, that year, would go 13-3 and win the AFC North, but would lose to Indianapolis 15-6 in the divisional playoffs.  Prior to that game, only one other Baltimore team had ever played in New Orleans, and that of course was the Colts.

Only once before they moved to Indianapolis did they ever play in New Orleans, and that was in 1969, during the Saints third season.  This was before the Superdome opened, of course, and the Saints played their home games then at Tulane Stadium.

Johnny Unitas threw three touchdown passes and the Colts beat the Saints 30-10.  The Colts would go 8-5-1 and would miss the playoffs in the last season before the AFL-NFL merger, however they would go on to win Super Bowl V a year later.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So there you have it -- an in-depth look at the history of the previous meetings involving the teams (and cities) involved in Super Bowl XLVII.  Good luck to both teams in the big game Sunday!