1994 NFL Throwbacks

[tBBP]

The Buccaneers wore their regular uniforms... but that was typical Bucs. Last year they wore an actual correct throwback. The Orange had changed between 1976 and 1994.

The orange changed between 1976 and 1977 and the actual 1976 orange jersey was only worn for one pre-season game.

As I've mentioned in other threads, all NFL teams used custom ink matches for their colors prior to circa 1980. So when Pantone colors were finally implemented, teams began matching these custom inks to Pantone values, and sometimes there were close matches, sometimes there weren't.

Here is the color palette for the Buccaneers from 1976 through 1996:

However, when the Bucs unveiled their "Classic Throwback" uniforms, they used the following colors:

Note that the primary Orange is an exact match to the official version used in subsequent seasons. And, they used a custom lighter Orange (called "Orange Glaze") for the uniforms themselves. And a darker Red (for some reason).

I have an official Style Guide sheet for those 1976 uniforms. On this particular sheet, I would characterize the Orange as somewhere between the two Oranges in the throwback unis. And I would also say that the Red matches up almost exactly to the Red shown in the 1976-1996 palette. However, what was worn on-field doesn't always match what was intended; I'm sure the NFL decided to re-create the throwbacks based on what was actually worn, not what was shown in a Style Guide.

And I, for one, couldn't be happier.

(I know this one's a long shot but...any chance I might can get my hands, or at least lay my eyes, on that 1976 style guide sheet??? )

[imawalkingcorpse]

The Buccaneers wore their regular uniforms... but that was typical Bucs. Last year they wore an actual correct throwback. The Orange had changed between 1976 and 1994.

The orange changed between 1976 and 1977 and the actual 1976 orange jersey was only worn for one pre-season game. In 1994 no one wanted to go back to the original winless season so the Bucs "threw back" to 1979 when they made the playoffs for the first time - which meant their uniform was unchanged from the throwback year. That made the Bucs, Colts and Browns was the teams who really didn't have a unform to "throw back" to because they wore the same uniform (except for the Browns and Colts wearing white facemasks instead of grey). The Chiefs only had to remove the stripes from their jersey.

The Seahawks only used throwback jerseys; the helmet (blue facemask instead of grey) and pants (wider green stripes in 1994 than in 1976) were essentially the same.

Good catch, seems like I read when they announced they were wearing the throwbacks last year they had someone send them a game worn 1976 pre-season jersey.

[tohasbo]

I know that the Gridiron Site has them posted however does anyone have a complete list of when they were all worn?

I have been compiling a major list of all the throwbacks/alternates worn since that time. I can only find a couple of the dates in which they were worn...

[kajeet]

I know that the Gridiron Site has them posted however does anyone have a complete list of when they were all worn?

I have been compiling a major list of all the throwbacks/alternates worn since that time. I can only find a couple of the dates in which they were worn...

Most or all of the dates the throwbacks the throwbacks were worn I found on this site. http://www.pfraforum.org/index.php?showtopic=978

[Gothamite]

That's a good list, but you have to read down - he originally missed the Packers' road throwbacks, worn October 31 at Soldier Field.

[Mitch B]

The Chargers '61 throwbacks were sweet.

[timmy b]

Use this link to see when the throwbacks were worn:

http://www.gridironuniforms.com/grid/1994.htm

The chart gives you the week they were worn. Hope this helps some.

[andrewharrington]

The Vikings sleeve design also ended up being different. The graphic shows the 3-stripe design, similar to the throwbacks they currently wear. In '94, they only had 2 stripes.

I'm not sure but I think that most players just cut their sleeves so the wider middle stripe was missing.

But on this jersey the bottom stripe is a knit cuff. You can tell because it has a different texture than the upper stripe and because it ends with the gold trim. If the sleeves were cut they would end in the middle of the thick purple portion of the middle stripe.

[tohasbo]

If anyone would like to see the spreadsheet I have of everything I have compiled so far, send me a PM and I will get it to you guys. Also, if there are any errors if I provide it to you guys, please let me know so that I can change them so that they are indeed all correct.

[SmoothieX]

Some of the attempts were pretty lousy, others were spot on. But I'll give them credit for kicking the throwback/alt craze into high gear.

[SCL]

The Vikings sleeve design also ended up being different. The graphic shows the 3-stripe design, similar to the throwbacks they currently wear. In '94, they only had 2 stripes.

I'm not sure but I think that most players just cut their sleeves so the wider middle stripe was missing.

But on this jersey the bottom stripe is a knit cuff. You can tell because it has a different texture than the upper stripe and because it ends with the gold trim. If the sleeves were cut they would end in the middle of the thick purple portion of the middle stripe.

That '94 throwback jersey only had two stripes.

[smith03]

if you can find a picture from the 94 vikings at bears game with either the kicker or punter for the vikings you will see the full northwestern pattern, by 94 many players on all teams where cutting their sleeves the reed jersey is an example of that.

[OnWis97]

if you can find a picture from the 94 vikings at bears game with either the kicker or punter for the vikings you will see the full northwestern pattern, by 94 many players on all teams where cutting their sleeves the reed jersey is an example of that.

I recall that as a young vikings fan. Most players it seemed had about half of the fat middle stripe on the purple primaries.

[John in KY]

if you can find a picture from the 94 vikings at bears game with either the kicker or punter for the vikings you will see the full northwestern pattern, by 94 many players on all teams where cutting their sleeves the reed jersey is an example of that.

Yep - that's what I said 2 years ago: most player cut out that wide middle stripe; whomever did alterations for the Vikings just sewed that bottom cuff/stripe on after they removed the wide middle strip. There were only a couple of players who had the full pattern, most had that 2-stripe (well stripe + cuff) pattern.

[Sport]

Bringing this thread back from the dead because I finally found a larger photo of the Bengals' throwbacks.

I can remember being 7 years old watching that game against the Patriots with my dad and it may have kicked off my obsession with sports uniforms (it bothered me that the Jets and Bills were supposed to wear white helmets, but cheaped out and just used their regular colored helmets). For all I knew the Bengals had always worn tiger stripes, but he explained their uniform past to me. I was enthralled. But until today I could never find a picture of their throwbacks other than that one football card.

So I don't know if this will kickstart more discussion on this, but here's the Bengals 1994 throwbacks.

When I was at the Hall of Fame in Canton they had one of these throwback Bengals helmets and a story next to it about how the Bengals equipment manager had to strip and clean every helmet of the tiger stripe decals and apply the BENGALS decals to 60+ helmets and what an arduous task that was. This may have been the reason they only wore their throwbacks once while some teams used theirs for a few more games. Impossible these days as the Bengals have used painted tiger stripes for the last 15 years or so.

It's an attractive, albeit boring, football uniform. The black facemasks are incorrect unless they were throwing back to 1980, the one year that helmet had a black facemask (but that year they also had TV numbers on the shoulders and the striping was different so black facemasks are out of place here). I'm not 100% if that's the right number font, in fact I think they used their regular Champion font. It's interesting to me that they used the white-orange-white sleeve striping when most of the time the Bengals wore sleeve stripes that had black separating the orange and white stripes. I think it was only the less often worn long sleeve jerseys that used the white-orange-white stripes. Seen here:

vs

Those sock stripes are beautiful, though

I was disappointed the Bengals and Dolphins weren't included the AFL throwback series a few years ago because I really wanted to see the Bengals in throwback uniforms. I'm looking forward to a day when the Bengals are allowed to wear these throwbacks again, but with the painting of their stripes and the NFL's one helmet rule that may not happen any time soon.

[WSU151]

Kind of surprised HGI hasn't come up with a modern answer to make the Bengals' helmets easier to finish. Those old "BENGALS" helmets are pretty cool for some reason, but they just can't beat the tiger stripes.

And the fonts on the 1994 throwbacks were usually the fonts of the jersey supplier. The Pats used their 1994 Apex font. And the Jets used the Champion number font for their throwbacks.

[guest23]

Kind of surprised HGI hasn't come up with a modern answer to make the Bengals' helmets easier to finish. Those old "BENGALS" helmets are pretty cool for some reason, but they just can't beat the tiger stripes.

And the fonts on the 1994 throwbacks were usually the fonts of the jersey supplier. The Pats used their 1994 Apex font. And the Jets used the Champion number font for their throwbacks.

HGI may in fact have a solution for the bengals but keep in mind they are known as being the absolute cheapest penny pinching team in the league, so the painted on stripes may be dictated on cost alone. Memphis U may actually be using some type of hyrdo skinned helmet for their tiger striped helmet or I guess it could be decals.

[Sport]

This is the 20th anniversary of the 75th anniversary. The NFL should've let teams throwback to the 1994 throwbacks to celebrate.

[WSU151]

This is the 20th anniversary of the 75th anniversary. The NFL should've let teams throwback to the 1994 throwbacks to celebrate.

In theory, 2019 could be an awesome year for throwbacks...but oh yeah, one-helmet rule...

[Gothamite]

I'm hoping the Packers do something special that year.