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Sleeves and the modern football uniform


Ted Cunningham

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As a celebration of 1+ year in this community and my 100th post, I thought I'd start a topic of my own.

A common feature of discussion about football uniforms on this board, especially when it comes to jerseys sporting 'traditional' style striping, is the ever-shrinking sleeve. Most players now wear jerseys that have no sleeves, but rather a covering of the shoulder (and pads) to the end of the deltoid muscle. Stripes on teams like the Browns, Steelers, Giants, and 49ers (throwbacks especially) have migrated to the side of the shoulder, only going to the seam of the jersey. Long gone are the days of the stripe making it all the way around the arm. Even TV numbers have come into question on these boards due to their shrinking in proportion with the shrinking of the sleeves.

A prime example of this (as mentioned above) is the throwback that the 49ers wore last week. Currently, they look like this (and I feel this is a generous representation in which all three stripes are visible):

sfnosleeve.png

The TV number is tiny, and the stripes are about to fall off the 'sleeve.' Most (if not all) players wear some kind of shirt between their skin and their pads. Some of these shirts are Under Armour or the RBK equivalent: a skin-tight undershirt. Many players have sleeves on these shirts that run all the way to their wrists. So, why not make a short sleeved (to just above the elbow, or just below; player's choice) version of this and have everyone wear it. Make it part of the standard jersey. That way, stripes can be moved down to the sleeve and go all the way around again, and the TV number has room to breathe:

sfsleeve.png

I realize the reason why sleeves on the jerseys have gone away; they can restrict motion and/or be great places for grabbing onto for tackling/holding. That, and linemen like to be as cool as possible when playing, so the less sleeve the better. However, with this made from skin tight, expandable material that can be cool-base in the hot months and be insulating in the cold months, I feel that these points counter those arguments.

For teams that have shoulder stripes that go all the way around the top of the shoulder (i.e. the Colts; "UCLA-style stripes"), I realize this does little to solve the truncation problem. (But, FAU did it with modern jerseys or at least did a decent job with what they had up until this season, so why couldn't that style be implemented with other UCLA-style stripes as well?)

As for teams with modern sleeve designs (like the Falcons), just keep the normal jersey patterns, and make the sleeves the color of the jersey.

It was just something I thought of, and the specific idea had never really been mentioned here as far as I've seen, so I was wondering what the rest of you uniform aficionados thought. *Note to the mods: If this is too much like a concept and you feel it belongs over there, please feel free to move it. ^_^

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Funny, I made just such a suggestion to a contact with the Packers a couple years ago. Not a special undershirt, but putting sleeve stripes on the regular undershirts

His immediate concern was that not all players want to wear the sleeved shirts in the same game, so it wouldn't be very uniform. Your solution would address this.

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I've had similar ideas before, but this one seems like it could actually work. The only problem I see is that teams would inevitably start wearing the away or alt under-sleeves with the homes and vice versa. That just creates even more uniform combinations for Oregon, which we don't need.

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I've had similar ideas before, but this one seems like it could actually work. The only problem I see is that teams would inevitably start wearing the away or alt under-sleeves with the homes and vice versa. That just creates even more uniform combinations for Oregon, which we don't need.

I actually thought of that as well, and I guess that's why I used the NFL heavily as an example as the League is so stringent about uniforms. They could simply mandate that the under-sleeves (well stated, by the way) must be the set that match the uniform the team will wear in any given game. As the NCAA makes rules about glove colors, I figure they could make the same sort of ruling.

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Why couldn't they just sew a spandex sleeve with stripes onto the jersey. That way it wouldn't give players a choice whether to where them or not.

I think there would be a air gap formed from the shoulder to the upper arm. The point is to eliminate excess material to grab on to. I agree with others that a sleeved, breathable undershirt will become the norm. The jersey sleeve will extend only the point of enclosing the shoulder pads. To me, the sleeve stripe for such an undershirt will look out of place and archaic. Such a sleeve will either be just a solid color, a single logo or possible sublimated logo patterned across the material to allow for sleeve length alteration.

shysters_sm.jpg

"One of my concerns is shysters show up and take advantage of people's good will and generosity".

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I love it. You could have long sleeves with the stripes in the same place for cold weather games and shorter sleeves for warm weather games. I think it would not only restore sleeve stripes to teams fast losing them such as the redskins, but it would also be a revival for sleeve stripes in general. Teams would come out with brand new featuring sleeve stripes for the first time since the 80's. The sleeves could even be another place to put the TV numbers.

PvO6ZWJ.png

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I actually thought about this before, and your idea is pretty much the same as mine. I think that this is a plausible way for sleeve stripes to remain fully intact and not have free cloth to grab. I doubt something like this will ever happen, but we can hope.

Wordmark_zpsaxgeaoqy.jpg

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It's a great idea. But the main problem I see is with mercendising... do fans buy just the jersey? It wouldn't look like the player's. Do they have to buy both? And would they? (OK, WE would, but everyone else?)

i don't see that as too much of a problem as it is...

example....

does THIS:

BearsFanClubPic3.JPG

look anything like THIS?:

070117_urlacher_hmed_2p.hmedium.jpg

in terms of fit/cut/etc.

fan's replica jerseys HAVE sleeves. nfl players do not.

i don't see any reason for the fan jerseys to change at all. just give the bears an undershirt that has stripes just above the elbows, like the fans.

i doubt the average fan would even notice that their player is wearing 2 shirts. they'd just see it as an extention of the jersey.

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I dont really see the problem with the way theyve updated the stripes. theyre still stripes, just not hoops. as for the tv number problem, just move it to the shoulder. im a traditionalist when it comes to football uniforms, but i think throwbacks on new cuts of uniforms look better than the originals

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I dont really see the problem with the way theyve updated the stripes. theyre still stripes, just not hoops. as for the tv number problem, just move it to the shoulder. im a traditionalist when it comes to football uniforms, but i think throwbacks on new cuts of uniforms look better than the originals

You're the only one, Pal. :mad:

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It's a great idea. But the main problem I see is with mercendising... do fans buy just the jersey? It wouldn't look like the player's. Do they have to buy both? And would they? (OK, WE would, but everyone else?)

Yes, they would.

You make a compelling argument - it's a win/win. The teams look better, with real sleeve stripes, and they can sell more merchandise.

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It's a great idea. But the main problem I see is with mercendising... do fans buy just the jersey? It wouldn't look like the player's. Do they have to buy both? And would they? (OK, WE would, but everyone else?)

i don't see that as too much of a problem as it is...

example....

does THIS:

BearsFanClubPic3.JPG

look anything like THIS?:

070117_urlacher_hmed_2p.hmedium.jpg

in terms of fit/cut/etc.

fan's replica jerseys HAVE sleeves. nfl players do not.

i don't see any reason for the fan jerseys to change at all. just give the bears an undershirt that has stripes just above the elbows, like the fans.

i doubt the average fan would even notice that their player is wearing 2 shirts. they'd just see it as an extention of the jersey.

Its funny because I have a Bears replica and I think the sleeves are waaaaay too long. They actually bug the hell out of me. I also have a Bucs red replica jersey (don't ask me why, I guess I just wanted a red jersey) and the sleeves are a million times better. They're shorter with a stretchy black band around the end. Personally I'd love a replica with shorter sleeves like what they wear on the field or something like what was mentioned in the posts above.

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I like the idea of a spandex sleeve with stripes attached to the jersey.

I have always hated big, flappy sleeves which seemed to proliferate on football jerseys from the late 1970s well into the 1980s. Jerseys used to be taylored with the sleeve tapering to a narrow point. This University of Texas version is a good example:

193226859_o.jpg

FsQiF2W.png

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It's a great idea. But the main problem I see is with mercendising... do fans buy just the jersey? It wouldn't look like the player's. Do they have to buy both? And would they? (OK, WE would, but everyone else?)

I hadn't thought of the whole selling jersey thing. That is the reason for alternates and such, right? No Fun League loves to make dollars. However, the NFL shop has presented quite a solution. The new "Premier" jerseys have stuff that's sewn on instead of screen printed, but still isn't 'authentic.' This way, if this new two-shirt jersey system existed, the consumer could still buy a one-piece jersey that's cut like the replicas so that all the elements are on one shirt, but it'd be more durable and have the sewn-on numbers and names.

Then, the "authentics" could be the two part jerseys they wear on the field. They could probably charge more for them too! :D

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BearsFanClubPic3.JPG

Oh, real good thing Bear fan on the far right tucked in his Urlacher jersey. Can't go around with your jersey untucked, because that would make you look silly.

I like your idea, Ted, but what happens when players scale back their false-sleeve undershirts? Then we're right back where we started, minus stripes.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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A prime example of how well this could be executed is in the way the Utah Utes quarterback wore his undershirt during the game yesterday vs. TCU. Granted, it didn't have the striping or anything, but it shows how the sleeves could be worn to accommodate this.

Utah vs. TCU photo gallery

By the way, that little red/white splotch on the side needs to go...but that's another discussion

GoldenPanthers.png
RiverHawks.png

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