NFL number fonts

[BrandMooreArt]

You must be confused about what Champion block is. For most of us, Champion block is the thick, rounded block numbers which the Bills, Jets, Bengals and Saints wore in the '90s when Champion made their unis. The Colts wore it for a few years in the Jeff George era, but they don't use anything close to these numbers now:

probably, lol. well, whats the font with the slight modifications to the 6 and 9 serifs?

[Viper]

We've come a long way from the days of the early 90's when teams wore traditional block or Champion block, and rarely anything else. Were the Steelers' move to that stylized Nike font the first of the custom fonts, or do the Bears or Dolphins pre-date them?

The Bears' number font has been around for decades. The current Steelers' font isn't even custom, it's just a variant on the common Futura font.

[TheOldRoman]

Personally, I wonder if we will see all the block numeral teams switch over to the standard Nike block numerals, which are a bit more crisp and modern than many of the NFL teams' numerals.

I hope not. Nike's font works for some teams, but it is too thin to pass as a standard block font.

[tBBP]

You must be confused about what Champion block is. For most of us, Champion block is the thick, rounded block numbers which the Bills, Jets, Bengals and Saints wore in the '90s when Champion made their unis. The Colts wore it for a few years in the Jeff George era, but they don't use anything close to these numbers now:

probably, lol. well, whats the font with the slight modifications to the 6 and 9 serifs?

That'd be Wilson block if I'm not mistaken, also currently used by the 49ers...I think they are the only other NFL team that currently uses it.

This used to be used by several different teams in the league, including my Buccaneers back in the creamsicle days. If memory serves me correctly, I believe the Detroit Tigers also use this style of block number. (Not sure about the Yankees, though.)

For what its worth, I have no clue if the style of block the Buccaneers currently use actually has a name, but I do know that even though they, for all intents and purposes, pretty much own that style of block now, they were beaten to the punch by, of all teams, the 49ers, who I believe started playing around with that style of block number in '96. (Those with razor-sharp memories might remember the 'Niners nice little hodgepodge of jersey number styles circa '96-'98, wherein some players had the bevel-block style numbers akin to what the Jaguars first had when they came into the league, and some with the block numbers the Bucs now use...all on the field at the same time.)

[TheOldRoman]

(Those with razor-sharp memories might remember the 'Niners nice little hodgepodge of jersey number styles circa '96-'98, wherein some players had the bevel-block style numbers akin to what the Jaguars first had when they came into the league, and some with the block numbers the Bucs now use...all on the field at the same time.)

Were the Niners mismatched in those years? I thought they used the bevel-block font in 96 and switched the year after. Either way, I think the 49ers set looked better with that font, as did the Jaguars'. It wouldn't work for every team, but that is one of my favorite football fonts.

[sc49erfan15]

(Those with razor-sharp memories might remember the 'Niners nice little hodgepodge of jersey number styles circa '96-'98, wherein some players had the bevel-block style numbers akin to what the Jaguars first had when they came into the league, and some with the block numbers the Bucs now use...all on the field at the same time.)

Were the Niners mismatched in those years? I thought they used the bevel-block font in 96 and switched the year after. Either way, I think the 49ers set looked better with that font, as did the Jaguars'. It wouldn't work for every team, but that is one of my favorite football fonts.

Huh. I'd never noticed that the early Jaguars font and the 1996-only 49ers font were the same, just without the drop shadows. That'd mean the Jaguars used it first, in 1995:

Also, check Iheanyi Uwaezuoke (yeah, I went there) in the background of the 49ers pic. Appears to be wearing the "thinner" number font that Buc mentioned.

[TheOldRoman]

To me, that Jaguars' uniform set with the current helmet would be perfection. Love those numbers.

[Chazberg]

Yeah, you could always tell a Champion font by the awful slanted '2's and curvey '7', not to mention the helvetica-looking nameplates. I remember silently laughing at kids in school who wore those. Kinda like the original Korean counterfeit of the jersey world

Personally, I don't think custom fonts need justification, other than they're pretty cool and give a team a unique look (other than the Bengals totally ripping off the Bears). I think in a day and age when we have such ability to do different things with jerseys, why not break away from the antiquated block numbers?

Possibly because block fonts aren't antiquated at all and most of the teams which use custom fonts would look better with a variation of a block font.

Please don't present opinion as fact.

Buc, good call on the Bucs' font-it's definitely the same as the '96-era 49ers. This is undoubtedly that trademark low-sitting '4':

Also, more Getty fun: Here's TO with the two different fonts on his home and road jersey:

Really fascinating

[TheOldRoman]

Please don't present opinion as fact.

why not break away from the antiquated block numbers?

I commented in the same manner you did.

[ARTnSocal]

. . .

Their throwbacks worn during the 1994 season for NFL-75 were very popular with their fans, and had those same similar style numbers with the big black shadow. I liked 'em.

Their mid 90s uniform change wasn't all that bad with the big exception of the different gold they changed to, I didn't like that at all. I always liked the burnished gold they had used on their pants from the 80s and early 90s, the new one was awful. The 80's pants stripes were just too wide. I didn't like the dark red face-mask either. Should have been gold IMO.

Their 'SF' logo looked great on the sleeves ...

[ARTnSocal]

Sorry for getting a bit off-subject ...

[sc49erfan15]

The 1995-96 Jaguars used the same number font as the 1996 49ers, the Jaguars only had double-outlines and no drop shadow.

The 49ers were made to switch mid-season to a thinner number font because the thicker font with the drop shadow was determined to be too hard to read.

For the 1997 preseason, the Jaguars attempted a switch to a different, rounder font with a drop shadow - only to have it also deemed too hard to read.

1997 preseason-only font seen here:

which is different than the one they ended up going with for 1997:

and obviously different than their previous block font:

...as well as their current font:

As such, I'd like to venture a guess that the Jacksonville Jaguars lead professional sports in the category of "most number fonts used per seasons played."

This, while the Carolina Panthers haven't (apart from adding an alternate) ever changed their jerseys.

[Wally1912]

These look to be similar to the Liebe MLB Full Block currently worn by the Twins

[sc49erfan15]

The shoulder numbers look to be the Liebe Full Block (same as Twins), but the front and back numbers are a little different.

It's easy to tell with the "3":

The middle notch inside the 3 is a little longer in the Jaguars' font than the Twins'.

[Chazberg]

The 1995-96 Jaguars used the same number font as the 1996 49ers, the Jaguars only had double-outlines and no drop shadow.

The 49ers were made to switch mid-season to a thinner number font because the thicker font with the drop shadow was determined to be too hard to read.

For the 1997 preseason, the Jaguars attempted a switch to a different, rounder font with a drop shadow - only to have it also deemed too hard to read.

1997 preseason-only font seen here:

which is different than the one they ended up going with for 1997:

and obviously different than their previous block font:

...as well as their current font:

As such, I'd like to venture a guess that the Jacksonville Jaguars lead professional sports in the category of "most number fonts used per seasons played."

This, while the Carolina Panthers haven't (apart from adding an alternate) ever changed their jerseys.

Holy cow, they still kept that black side panel when they changed fonts that year?? I thought they scrapped the side panels too. I remember ordering a Brunell replica jersey from Eastbay that season, and the catalogue had it pictured with the preseason font and black side panels, but when it arrived it had the 'more legible' font and no black side panels. I was devastated at the time (even though looking back, that updated look did prove to be superior)

[TheOldRoman]

The Jags wore the black side panels on both jerseys for the entire 1997 season. The next year they were gone.

[tBBP]

The Jags wore the black side panels on both jerseys for the entire 1997 season. The next year they were gone.

And it subsequently resulted in the best on-field look they've ever had...hell, one of the best the NFL has ever seen. Why J. Wayne Weaver felt the need to start jacking around with that back in 2001 (when the road numbers went from being teal to being black) is beyond me. Should've just left well-enough alone.

[TheOldRoman]

I personally think the Jags' first unis were far better. But opinion aside, I am 99% sure the Jags didn't switch to black road numbers until 2005. Certainly after 2001.

[Claystation360]

2004, yet close enough. 2002 unveiled the Black Jerseys Pants. As for the shift from teal numbers to black we've heard around here for a while that it was Shack Harris and Reebok that pushed for it. And the black pants on the road is all JDR and when Reebok muffed up one of the best modern designs in the NFL it stuck. I really miss the 1998-2008 uniform.

[rainmaker17]

To me, that Jaguars' uniform set with the current helmet would be perfection. Love those numbers.

Agreed on all counts. I could deal without the "teal flake" gimmick, though.