What will Nike do Next?

[debo0775]

If the Washington uniform is any indication it looks like they and HGI might be experimenting with textures on helmets of course the first one they did is the Redskins "leather" helmet so its not completley new

What they will do is hard to say because theres so many options they havent touched yet. Different vinal graphic finishes, colors, fabrics in uniforms. They actually have been copying themselves so much the last few years it wouldnt surprise me if the next big new trend comes from UA or adidas

I dont have any solid proof i can share but ive said before i think they are developing a really next level NFL uniform. And that might even include them getting into the helmet manufacturing business

The texture on helmets is such a bad, bad, bad thing. It will (if not policed soon) produce a nasty head injury in some player someday as they become increasingly rougher. I wouldn't be shocked if matte on matte in some instances leads to further head trauma as well.

While it might look cool (in the eyes of some, anyway), it's definitely something that is counterproductive to the "avoid head trauma" push sweeping football (and with helmet manufacturers).

paint doesn't alter the integrity of a football helmet, they have been painting helmets for about as long as they have had helmets, the finish does not change that either.

I'm not talking about the integrity of the helmet. I'm talking about the contact surface (i.e. the paint finish). A textured finish has a different coefficient of friction than a glossy/smooth finish. In certain angles of contact, it's absolutely plausible that the helmets could "stick" briefly due to friction. A textured finish is going to increase the likelihood of that occurring relative to a smooth surface.

Is it likely that someone suffers a head injury from this? Pretty damn unlikely. I'm not interested in running through the math to figure out what kind of forces different finishes could impart on a head-helmet system, but is it a possibility that should be considered and avoided? Absolutely. Just as people are concerned about the size of the holes on facemasks/helmets/other padding providing opportunities for fingers to get caught and sheared off, people should be concerned about the texture on a helmet.

If I'm a respective league, I'd put out metrics that dictate acceptable ranges for helmet finish smoothness to avoid potential issues in this area. The "popcorn" finish on the Washington helmet to me raises a huge red flag about potential safety issues.

EDIT: Adding to this, I have a different perspective on things than I think the majority of the population of this board does (I am an engineering student). There are tons of things that look awesome on paper and in practice, but at some point, someone has to reign things in. I think the textures on helmets - with the introduction of this Washington lid - is one of those areas where someone needs to start pumping the brakes.

[_RH_]

Clash kits (just one step beyond the current trend of everyone getting black and grey)

[oldschoolvikings]

Within the next five years, Nike will rollout a look where the Jersey and pants are connected, in otherwords, a one piece uniform.

The bad news is I'm almost certain it will catch on.

Surprisingly, it's been done before. A DB for the Chargers back in the 90's did it. I can't remember the guys name but it was at the Hall of Fame.

I'm having such a hard time picturing this,. How would someone get into the uniform if its all one piece?

Yeah, I've seen this at the Hall of Fame (although I'm having trouble remembering the player). Its from the navy/navy/white era and all the parts (including socks IIRC) were sewn together. He climbed in through a slightly enlarged neck hole, which was then laced shut. I'm looking for a picture.

[BBTV]

If the Washington uniform is any indication it looks like they and HGI might be experimenting with textures on helmets of course the first one they did is the Redskins "leather" helmet so its not completley new

What they will do is hard to say because theres so many options they havent touched yet. Different vinal graphic finishes, colors, fabrics in uniforms. They actually have been copying themselves so much the last few years it wouldnt surprise me if the next big new trend comes from UA or adidas

I dont have any solid proof i can share but ive said before i think they are developing a really next level NFL uniform. And that might even include them getting into the helmet manufacturing business

The texture on helmets is such a bad, bad, bad thing. It will (if not policed soon) produce a nasty head injury in some player someday as they become increasingly rougher. I wouldn't be shocked if matte on matte in some instances leads to further head trauma as well.

While it might look cool (in the eyes of some, anyway), it's definitely something that is counterproductive to the "avoid head trauma" push sweeping football (and with helmet manufacturers).

paint doesn't alter the integrity of a football helmet, they have been painting helmets for about as long as they have had helmets, the finish does not change that either.

I'm not talking about the integrity of the helmet. I'm talking about the contact surface (i.e. the paint finish). A textured finish has a different coefficient of friction than a glossy/smooth finish. In certain angles of contact, it's absolutely plausible that the helmets could "stick" briefly due to friction. A textured finish is going to increase the likelihood of that occurring relative to a smooth surface.

Is it likely that someone suffers a head injury from this? Pretty damn unlikely. I'm not interested in running through the math to figure out what kind of forces different finishes could impart on a head-helmet system, but is it a possibility that should be considered and avoided? Absolutely. Just as people are concerned about the size of the holes on facemasks/helmets/other padding providing opportunities for fingers to get caught and sheared off, people should be concerned about the texture on a helmet.

If I'm a respective league, I'd put out metrics that dictate acceptable ranges for helmet finish smoothness to avoid potential issues in this area. The "popcorn" finish on the Washington helmet to me raises a huge red flag about potential safety issues.

EDIT: Adding to this, I have a different perspective on things than I think the majority of the population of this board does (I am an engineering student). There are tons of things that look awesome on paper and in practice, but at some point, someone has to reign things in. I think the textures on helmets - with the introduction of this Washington lid - is one of those areas where someone needs to start pumping the brakes.

I think you got it. I'd imagine that slick-glossy helmets would tend to slide past each other after the initial contact, while flat to textured domes might stay in contact longer - even if only a second. That extra second of heads pressing against each other with the force of NFL bodies behind them cant be good.

[pats2000]

i hope this doesnt happen but i got a feeling somewhere down the line nike would try to do the color change thing like they did with the silver us olympic jackets. if this happens.....god help us

[debo0775]

If the Washington uniform is any indication it looks like they and HGI might be experimenting with textures on helmets of course the first one they did is the Redskins "leather" helmet so its not completley new

What they will do is hard to say because theres so many options they havent touched yet. Different vinal graphic finishes, colors, fabrics in uniforms. They actually have been copying themselves so much the last few years it wouldnt surprise me if the next big new trend comes from UA or adidas

I dont have any solid proof i can share but ive said before i think they are developing a really next level NFL uniform. And that might even include them getting into the helmet manufacturing business

The texture on helmets is such a bad, bad, bad thing. It will (if not policed soon) produce a nasty head injury in some player someday as they become increasingly rougher. I wouldn't be shocked if matte on matte in some instances leads to further head trauma as well.

While it might look cool (in the eyes of some, anyway), it's definitely something that is counterproductive to the "avoid head trauma" push sweeping football (and with helmet manufacturers).

paint doesn't alter the integrity of a football helmet, they have been painting helmets for about as long as they have had helmets, the finish does not change that either.

I'm not talking about the integrity of the helmet. I'm talking about the contact surface (i.e. the paint finish). A textured finish has a different coefficient of friction than a glossy/smooth finish. In certain angles of contact, it's absolutely plausible that the helmets could "stick" briefly due to friction. A textured finish is going to increase the likelihood of that occurring relative to a smooth surface.

Is it likely that someone suffers a head injury from this? Pretty damn unlikely. I'm not interested in running through the math to figure out what kind of forces different finishes could impart on a head-helmet system, but is it a possibility that should be considered and avoided? Absolutely. Just as people are concerned about the size of the holes on facemasks/helmets/other padding providing opportunities for fingers to get caught and sheared off, people should be concerned about the texture on a helmet.

If I'm a respective league, I'd put out metrics that dictate acceptable ranges for helmet finish smoothness to avoid potential issues in this area. The "popcorn" finish on the Washington helmet to me raises a huge red flag about potential safety issues.

EDIT: Adding to this, I have a different perspective on things than I think the majority of the population of this board does (I am an engineering student). There are tons of things that look awesome on paper and in practice, but at some point, someone has to reign things in. I think the textures on helmets - with the introduction of this Washington lid - is one of those areas where someone needs to start pumping the brakes.

I think you got it. I'd imagine that slick-glossy helmets would tend to slide past each other after the initial contact, while flat to textured domes might stay in contact longer - even if only a second. That extra second of heads pressing against each other with the force of NFL bodies behind them cant be good.

In fairness to the counter argument, I'd really, really doubt that friction between the surfaces of a helmet is going to be a significant player in the large majority of collisions. Thinking of the worst-case scenario - perfectly parallel collision between helmets, without rotation, and at just the right velocity so that static friction becomes a player - is what concerns me. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure where that speed would be for such a contact, but it's something that would concern me enough to not want to find out that a player got hurt because their awesome frost finish "stuck" to another textured helmet.

The issue with most head injuries in the NFL is rapid acceleration/deceleration of the skull. Newer helmets help to cushion that acceleration/deceleration with changes in how the helmet reacts to a hit (i.e. relocation of padding and the jaw extension on the Riddell Revolution...the reshaping of the facemask on the Riddell Speed...the flex facemask on the Speed 360...the flex panel on the SpeedFlex). All of these things permit the head to continue moving forward, but the skull's accel/decel is better controlled. Friction between helmets unquestionably will change that rate of acceleration and - more concerning to me - encourage rotation of the skull. Whereas a glancing blow on the side of the helmet would be just that, a blow with a textured surface would induce some moment about the neck and introduce an opportunity for the brain to rotate left-right of the direction of travel.

tl;dr - textured surfaces very well could force heads to rotate on contact, and it - depending on the forces in the contact - could lead to an increased risk of head trauma.

[DeFrank]

The next thing Nike will do is create something B-level for the Browns or whoever else comes first. That's what they've been doing for a while now. We'll complain about it but it'll be super marketable and therefore be a success.

If the slightly farther future? I think that athletic aesthetics will jump the shark so to speak. For a while, it was just a small community of people obsessed width things like sock stripes and pantone colors. It has recently become a huge industry where unveilings almost seem as important as games for some lesser teams. It's the big thing. The gear, the logos, the cutting edge stuff.

Nike will come out with something so ridiculous that it is rejected almost immediately. There have been some small flare-ups of this kind of thing. Under Armour's "bloody" uniforms, Adidas sleeves, etc. Nike will do something bigger. Something that makes everyone, who will at that point be as acquainted with uniforms as us, say no thank you, and yearn for classics.

We see a sort of uniform revival, similar to baseball after the era of pullovers and powder blue. We return to the classic look, updated for modern times. Similarly to how classic baseball uniforms no longer feature everyone wearing high socks, some aspects of the classic NFL uniform will be different and annoy us to no end. This could be single color socks, weirdly long compression sleeves, mesh, I don't know something weird.

Then, we'll yearn for some teams to adopt some modern stuff and the cycle repeats. Oh yeah, and baseball is about to go back into a modern era as well.

[BrandMooreArt]

If the Washington uniform is any indication it looks like they and HGI might be experimenting with textures on helmets of course the first one they did is the Redskins "leather" helmet so its not completley new

What they will do is hard to say because theres so many options they havent touched yet. Different vinal graphic finishes, colors, fabrics in uniforms. They actually have been copying themselves so much the last few years it wouldnt surprise me if the next big new trend comes from UA or adidas

I dont have any solid proof i can share but ive said before i think they are developing a really next level NFL uniform. And that might even include them getting into the helmet manufacturing business

I've seen you allude to this before, and if you can't answer this question I understand, but are you talking about a certain team going next level or a league wide template like an updated Elite 51?

if it were to happen i think it makes sense to make it available to all teams, at least as an option. what Nike is doing right now is just servicing the business, filling the order with the Elite51.

[guest23]

If the Washington uniform is any indication it looks like they and HGI might be experimenting with textures on helmets of course the first one they did is the Redskins "leather" helmet so its not completley new

What they will do is hard to say because theres so many options they havent touched yet. Different vinal graphic finishes, colors, fabrics in uniforms. They actually have been copying themselves so much the last few years it wouldnt surprise me if the next big new trend comes from UA or adidas

I dont have any solid proof i can share but ive said before i think they are developing a really next level NFL uniform. And that might even include them getting into the helmet manufacturing business

With all of the pending and future litigation, I highly doubt that nike wants to get into that line of business. I believe it was a couple of years ago that I vaguel remember that nike was in the process of acquiring the rawlings helmet business and rebranding it as nike. There was even an ad that was produced for the launch. I'm assuming that nike backed out of the deal after taking a second look at the future legal risks.

[gongofdoom]

We see a sort of uniform revival, similar to baseball after the era of pullovers and powder blue. We return to the classic look, updated for modern times. Similarly to how classic baseball uniforms no longer feature everyone wearing high socks, some aspects of the classic NFL uniform will be different and annoy us to no end. This could be single color socks, weirdly long compression sleeves, mesh, I don't know something weird.

Then, we'll yearn for some teams to adopt some modern stuff and the cycle repeats. Oh yeah, and baseball is about to go back into a modern era as well.

So, according to you, having three different home jerseys and four different away jerseys as well as another 3 alternate unis as well as one offs like EVERYBODY HAS TO WEAR THE NUMBER 42 BUT ONLY FOR ONE GAME nonsense but not enforcing 'rules' as to when you can actually wear home and away jerseys and oh yeah I forgot about batting practice jerseys, you can wear those during games as well is a return to baseball's classic look and era. There aren't enough roll eyes in storage for that one.

[wonderbread]

We see a sort of uniform revival, similar to baseball after the era of pullovers and powder blue. We return to the classic look, updated for modern times. Similarly to how classic baseball uniforms no longer feature everyone wearing high socks, some aspects of the classic NFL uniform will be different and annoy us to no end. This could be single color socks, weirdly long compression sleeves, mesh, I don't know something weird.

Then, we'll yearn for some teams to adopt some modern stuff and the cycle repeats. Oh yeah, and baseball is about to go back into a modern era as well.

So, according to you, having three different home jerseys and four different away jerseys as well as another 3 alternate unis as well as one offs like EVERYBODY HAS TO WEAR THE NUMBER 42 BUT ONLY FOR ONE GAME nonsense but not enforcing 'rules' as to when you can actually wear home and away jerseys and oh yeah I forgot about batting practice jerseys, you can wear those during games as well is a return to baseball's classic look and era. There aren't enough roll eyes in storage for that one.

you can't honestly say this

is better than this

[oldschoolvikings]

We see a sort of uniform revival, similar to baseball after the era of pullovers and powder blue. We return to the classic look, updated for modern times. Similarly to how classic baseball uniforms no longer feature everyone wearing high socks, some aspects of the classic NFL uniform will be different and annoy us to no end. This could be single color socks, weirdly long compression sleeves, mesh, I don't know something weird.

Then, we'll yearn for some teams to adopt some modern stuff and the cycle repeats. Oh yeah, and baseball is about to go back into a modern era as well.

So, according to you, having three different home jerseys and four different away jerseys as well as another 3 alternate unis as well as one offs like EVERYBODY HAS TO WEAR THE NUMBER 42 BUT ONLY FOR ONE GAME nonsense but not enforcing 'rules' as to when you can actually wear home and away jerseys and oh yeah I forgot about batting practice jerseys, you can wear those during games as well is a return to baseball's classic look and era. There aren't enough roll eyes in storage for that one.

you can't honestly say this

is better than this

So, how long before Lights Out posts a picture of that snake jersey?

[DeFrank]

We see a sort of uniform revival, similar to baseball after the era of pullovers and powder blue. We return to the classic look, updated for modern times. Similarly to how classic baseball uniforms no longer feature everyone wearing high socks, some aspects of the classic NFL uniform will be different and annoy us to no end. This could be single color socks, weirdly long compression sleeves, mesh, I don't know something weird.

Then, we'll yearn for some teams to adopt some modern stuff and the cycle repeats. Oh yeah, and baseball is about to go back into a modern era as well.

So, according to you, having three different home jerseys and four different away jerseys as well as another 3 alternate unis as well as one offs like EVERYBODY HAS TO WEAR THE NUMBER 42 BUT ONLY FOR ONE GAME nonsense but not enforcing 'rules' as to when you can actually wear home and away jerseys and oh yeah I forgot about batting practice jerseys, you can wear those during games as well is a return to baseball's classic look and era. There aren't enough roll eyes in storage for that one.

Are we mad?

[gongofdoom]

We see a sort of uniform revival, similar to baseball after the era of pullovers and powder blue. We return to the classic look, updated for modern times. Similarly to how classic baseball uniforms no longer feature everyone wearing high socks, some aspects of the classic NFL uniform will be different and annoy us to no end. This could be single color socks, weirdly long compression sleeves, mesh, I don't know something weird.

Then, we'll yearn for some teams to adopt some modern stuff and the cycle repeats. Oh yeah, and baseball is about to go back into a modern era as well.

So, according to you, having three different home jerseys and four different away jerseys as well as another 3 alternate unis as well as one offs like EVERYBODY HAS TO WEAR THE NUMBER 42 BUT ONLY FOR ONE GAME nonsense but not enforcing 'rules' as to when you can actually wear home and away jerseys and oh yeah I forgot about batting practice jerseys, you can wear those during games as well is a return to baseball's classic look and era. There aren't enough roll eyes in storage for that one.

you can't honestly say this

is better than this

Way to utterly and completely ignore what I said in my post and instead just barf out a couple of pics which prove what, exactly? That you're really terrible at trying to move the goalposts or bait and switch. ZOWIE MCWOWIE you posted a picture of the Pirates in a white uniform, ignoring the fact that it is one of more than at least 5 different uniforms they will wear this year and that doesn't include mix and match combos where the jerseys and pants don't match or the hats don't match. How is that a return to the classic era when teams had a grand total of 2 unis, one home, one away?

[TheSoundofThrowingPennies]

We see a sort of uniform revival, similar to baseball after the era of pullovers and powder blue. We return to the classic look, updated for modern times. Similarly to how classic baseball uniforms no longer feature everyone wearing high socks, some aspects of the classic NFL uniform will be different and annoy us to no end. This could be single color socks, weirdly long compression sleeves, mesh, I don't know something weird.

Then, we'll yearn for some teams to adopt some modern stuff and the cycle repeats. Oh yeah, and baseball is about to go back into a modern era as well.

So, according to you, having three different home jerseys and four different away jerseys as well as another 3 alternate unis as well as one offs like EVERYBODY HAS TO WEAR THE NUMBER 42 BUT ONLY FOR ONE GAME nonsense but not enforcing 'rules' as to when you can actually wear home and away jerseys and oh yeah I forgot about batting practice jerseys, you can wear those during games as well is a return to baseball's classic look and era. There aren't enough roll eyes in storage for that one.

you can't honestly say this

is better than this

Way to utterly and completely ignore what I said in my post and instead just barf out a couple of pics which prove what, exactly? That you're really terrible at trying to move the goalposts or bait and switch. ZOWIE MCWOWIE you posted a picture of the Pirates in a white uniform, ignoring the fact that it is one of more than at least 5 different uniforms they will wear this year and that doesn't include mix and match combos where the jerseys and pants don't match or the hats don't match. How is that a return to the classic era when teams had a grand total of 2 unis, one home, one away?

I don't think they're talking about the number of options, but rather what those options look like. The majority of teams in baseball right now have classic cursive scripts and simple striping. There is no team to baseball what Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, and Seattle are to the NFL. Right now anyways. DeFrank is saying that day is coming.

[gongofdoom]

We see a sort of uniform revival, similar to baseball after the era of pullovers and powder blue. We return to the classic look, updated for modern times. Similarly to how classic baseball uniforms no longer feature everyone wearing high socks, some aspects of the classic NFL uniform will be different and annoy us to no end. This could be single color socks, weirdly long compression sleeves, mesh, I don't know something weird.

Then, we'll yearn for some teams to adopt some modern stuff and the cycle repeats. Oh yeah, and baseball is about to go back into a modern era as well.

So, according to you, having three different home jerseys and four different away jerseys as well as another 3 alternate unis as well as one offs like EVERYBODY HAS TO WEAR THE NUMBER 42 BUT ONLY FOR ONE GAME nonsense but not enforcing 'rules' as to when you can actually wear home and away jerseys and oh yeah I forgot about batting practice jerseys, you can wear those during games as well is a return to baseball's classic look and era. There aren't enough roll eyes in storage for that one.

you can't honestly say this

is better than this

Way to utterly and completely ignore what I said in my post and instead just barf out a couple of pics which prove what, exactly? That you're really terrible at trying to move the goalposts or bait and switch. ZOWIE MCWOWIE you posted a picture of the Pirates in a white uniform, ignoring the fact that it is one of more than at least 5 different uniforms they will wear this year and that doesn't include mix and match combos where the jerseys and pants don't match or the hats don't match. How is that a return to the classic era when teams had a grand total of 2 unis, one home, one away?

I don't think they're talking about the number of options, but rather what those options look like. The majority of teams in baseball right now have classic cursive scripts and simple striping. There is no team to baseball what Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, and Seattle are to the NFL. Right now anyways. DeFrank is saying that day is coming.

So the Mets and Padres camo unis are classical looks. Those fit right in with these so called OUTRAGEOUS unis of Tampa and whoever, along with the Braves Tomahawk unis.

[wonderbread]

The braves unis arent outrageous. I dont know why you freak out at anyone that disagrees with you but chill dude you are starting to look like just a troll

[DeFrank]

Also, probably more of this

[TheSoundofThrowingPennies]

Also, probably more of this

I wonder how long before football gets a "play in the now" campaign like Nike Golf. ..

"Crazy reflective numbers?? Just stick to custom block fonts"

"Custom Block Fonts? Just stick to a clean monochrome look"

"Monochrome? All you need is tighter fitting jerseys and some neat side panels"

"What is this, cycling or football. Stick to mesh"

"Mesh? All you need's a nice hard helmet with a facemask and the classic sleeves"

"Facemask? All you need's a nice helmet. Quit ruining the game"

"Hard helmet? All's you need a nice leather cap. Quit being a pansy."

"Pansy's what you are for this 'forward pass'. It'll never catch on ya know"

Cue Dropkick Murphy's.

[Campbellwatson2]

Mix and match basketball uniforms . Just like mix and match football unis