NFL Changes 2015

[TruColor]

Maybe it's just me, but it did seem like a more colorful league in the 1970s, and I liked it.

I've said this before, but I had that Cardinals jacket and hat. Wore them proudly to school in Indiana during the NFL season, and took my abuse from the other kids every Monday.

However, they didn't like to see me coming during the '74 and '75 seasons; although the Cardinals fell apart in the playoffs those years.

[WSU151]

Speaking of having too much of one color, there are too many navy/dark blue home uniforms in the NFL:

Titans (going back to navy as primary next year)

Bears

Seahawks

Rams

Patriots

Texans

Chargers

I didn't count the Cowboys for obvious reasons. If they wore the navy as the primary, we would have exactly 1/4 of the league in that color. Even 7, as it presently stands, is way too many.

There's too much black.

Raiders

Steelers

Bengals

Saints

Ravens

Cardinals

Eagles

Jaguars

Maybe it's just me, but it did seem like a more colorful league in the 1970s, and I liked it.

Sears Wishbooks were the best. 90s Eastbay catalogs were a close second.

[JayMac]

Speaking of having too much of one color, there are too many navy/dark blue home uniforms in the NFL:

Titans (going back to navy as primary next year)

Bears

Seahawks

Rams

Patriots

Texans

Chargers

I didn't count the Cowboys for obvious reasons. If they wore the navy as the primary, we would have exactly 1/4 of the league in that color. Even 7, as it presently stands, is way too many.

There's too much black.

Raiders

Steelers

Bengals

Saints

Ravens

Cardinals

Eagles

Jaguars

Maybe it's just me, but it did seem like a more colorful league in the 1970s, and I liked it.

Sears Wishbooks were the best. 90s Eastbay catalogs were a close second.

Those Sears books looked awesome. I loved Eastbay catalogs! I miss them.

[Artmanc3po]

Speaking of having too much of one color, there are too many navy/dark blue home uniforms in the NFL:

Titans (going back to navy as primary next year)

Bears

Seahawks

Rams

Patriots

Texans

Chargers

I didn't count the Cowboys for obvious reasons. If they wore the navy as the primary, we would have exactly 1/4 of the league in that color. Even 7, as it presently stands, is way too many.

There's too much black.

Raiders

Steelers

Bengals

Saints

Ravens

Cardinals

Eagles

Jaguars

Maybe it's just me, but it did seem like a more colorful league in the 1970s, and I liked it.

Thank you for posting this magnificent pic from one of my favorite childhood memories. I gazed at the NFL pages of the Sears catalogue for countless hours as a kid growing up in the 70s, and the jacket and cap were the holy grail to the NFL fanboys I grew up with. All I ever had was the Steelers cap, but I wore it till it was ratty. And I too agree, the NFL of the 70s had a glorious look.

[Teal]

I have a feeling Miami will be getting a Navy alternate and not an Orange alternate.

I strangely wouldnt mind that.

I think it would be very cool.

[guest23]

Watched some of the 2010 SB last night between Indy and NO.

What jumped out is how vibrant the Saints uniforms looked. When you don't see them anymore, you forget how good shiny pants look compared to everyone and their sister wearing the drab matte crap today.

The matte craze needs to be toned way down. Maybe a few teams look good with it but for teams like the Saints, losing their shine from the gold britches has been a big loss. The Pats are another team that looks stupid with shiny silver helmets and dirty grey pants or dirty navy pants. Its a uniform downgrade across football.

I totally agree. It looks good on certain teams like ones with yellow pants, purple pants, black pants, red pants, and navy pants) but looks horrible on teams with gold pants, green pants, and grey/silver pants it looks horrible except for a few. Look at the differences...

vs

vs

I can't be the only person that thinks the Eagles and Patriots both look better with matte, right?

I think most teams look better with matte.

the Cowboys silver-green home pants are actually pretty shiny, so teams are just deciding not to use them I guess. It has nothing to do with Nike or anything, weird

It actually has everything to do with nike. Their top of the line uniform templates from pro combat/speed machine/mach speed/elite 51 all use nike's proprietary poly/spandex fabric (may be the same as dri fit) that has never been available in metallic/shiny finish which I have to assume is a technical limitation of the fabric. The new fabrics while they don't match metallics at all and sometimes look inferior to a shiny dark color, are lighter, more breathable and thus preferred by players.

Teams like the raiders, panthers and cowboys are utilizing an older nylon/spandex material that has been commonplace since the early 1990's and is available across a variety of manufacturers.

When nike is either able to produce or willing to produce a good looking shiny/metallic fabric is when we will see the return of shiny uniforms as it will now be a new feature and something new for them to market.

[Chromatic]

I can't be the only person that thinks the Eagles and Patriots both look better with matte, right?

I think most teams look better with matte.

I personally feel that most teams look much worse with matte. I can understand the preferences for matte jerseys, and even matte pants on teams like the Bears and Steelers. But I don't see how anybody could think matte pants look good on teams that have sparkly helmets. I'm absolutely baffled how anybody can think matte pants look better on the Patriots, when they're actually altering the team's color and using gray instead of silver.

Because I think it looks better. Shiny pants look cheap and tacky to me. I think when pants are shiny it takes away from the colour of the pants. And I'm fine with matte pants and sparkly helmets because I understand the pants and helmet are two different pieces of equipment.

And I feel the exact opposite. I think matte looks incredibly cheap. Like someone went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought materials to make a Halloween costume for their kid, which was accurate outside of the materials. I don't think players should be in head-to-toe spandex, but I think the pants should be shiny, especially when they are intended to match the metallic helmet color. Because if you aren't bothered by the Patriots' dirty, washed-out looking gray pants, you should call for them to go to a light gray helmet to match the rest of the uniform. Like I said, it's a preference, but I can't understand how anyone would think sparkly metallic silver combined with light gray is a good look.

Okay, that's nice.

[LAWeaver]

Kind of off topic bc I didn't know where else to ask this, but what is everyone's opinion on Nike's shirseys? For those who don't know, they're a Nike tee with the player name and numbers like a normal jersey, but no striping and the team logo where the wordmark would go. I find these to be nice alternatives to actual jerseys, as they're more comfortable and about 80 bucks cheaper.

[AHcreative]

Kind of off topic bc I didn't know where else to ask this, but what is everyone's opinion on Nike's shirseys? For those who don't know, they're a Nike tee with the player name and numbers like a normal jersey, but no striping and the team logo where the wordmark would go. I find these to be nice alternatives to actual jerseys, as they're more comfortable and about 80 bucks cheaper.

I don't like them because they do not predominately display any attributes of the team's identity, save for the number font.

I like the shirts that simply have the logo displayed on the front with the player on the back, however.

[LAWeaver]

Kind of off topic bc I didn't know where else to ask this, but what is everyone's opinion on Nike's shirseys? For those who don't know, they're a Nike tee with the player name and numbers like a normal jersey, but no striping and the team logo where the wordmark would go. I find these to be nice alternatives to actual jerseys, as they're more comfortable and about 80 bucks cheaper.

I don't like them because they do not predominately display any attributes of the team's identity, save for the number font.

Yeah, that would probably be my main critique. However, then they'd make fan jerseys obsolete.

[jgiff17]

Wow there are 7 white helmeted teams and 6 of them are in the AFC. More than a third of the conference wears a white lid. I never thought about that. Weird.

And 3/4s of the AFC East (!), which is why, even though it looks nice, I'm still not too thrilled over the Bills swapping red for white. Throw in the Pats in silver and you've got a pretty dull group in my NFL mini helmet display case

The AFC East dominated the white helmet segment of the NFL during more than one era. It ended when the Jets switched to green helmets for the 1977 season.

What AFC logo is that on the bottom pic? I searched it and can not find a duplicate. Is this an actual logo that existed?

[seahawk9]

Speaking of having too much of one color, there are too many navy/dark blue home uniforms in the NFL:

Titans (going back to navy as primary next year)

Bears

Seahawks

Rams

Patriots

Texans

Chargers

I didn't count the Cowboys for obvious reasons. If they wore the navy as the primary, we would have exactly 1/4 of the league in that color. Even 7, as it presently stands, is way too many.

There's too much black.

Raiders

Steelers

Bengals

Saints

Ravens

Cardinals

Eagles

Jaguars

Maybe it's just me, but it did seem like a more colorful league in the 1970s, and I liked it.

Thank you for posting this magnificent pic from one of my favorite childhood memories. I gazed at the NFL pages of the Sears catalogue for countless hours as a kid growing up in the 70s, and the jacket and cap were the holy grail to the NFL fanboys I grew up with. All I ever had was the Steelers cap, but I wore it till it was ratty. And I too agree, the NFL of the 70s had a glorious look.

Notice all the different, bright colors of all the teams. You can notice right away which teams are which. Not like today as just about every team has to be navy blue or black and has to look closely up close to see who the teams are.

[IceCap]

I can't be the only person that thinks the Eagles and Patriots both look better with matte, right?

I think most teams look better with matte.

I personally feel that most teams look much worse with matte. I can understand the preferences for matte jerseys, and even matte pants on teams like the Bears and Steelers. But I don't see how anybody could think matte pants look good on teams that have sparkly helmets. I'm absolutely baffled how anybody can think matte pants look better on the Patriots, when they're actually altering the team's color and using gray instead of silver.

Because I think it looks better. Shiny pants look cheap and tacky to me. I think when pants are shiny it takes away from the colour of the pants. And I'm fine with matte pants and sparkly helmets because I understand the pants and helmet are two different pieces of equipment.

And I feel the exact opposite. I think matte looks incredibly cheap. Like someone went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought materials to make a Halloween costume for their kid, which was accurate outside of the materials. I don't think players should be in head-to-toe spandex, but I think the pants should be shiny, especially when they are intended to match the metallic helmet color. Because if you aren't bothered by the Patriots' dirty, washed-out looking gray pants, you should call for them to go to a light gray helmet to match the rest of the uniform. Like I said, it's a preference, but I can't understand how anyone would think sparkly metallic silver combined with light gray is a good look.

Okay, that's nice.

We're all here to share and discuss various viewpoints on the subject of sports aesthetics. Try not to be so dismissive.

[Chromatic]

I can't be the only person that thinks the Eagles and Patriots both look better with matte, right?

I think most teams look better with matte.

I personally feel that most teams look much worse with matte. I can understand the preferences for matte jerseys, and even matte pants on teams like the Bears and Steelers. But I don't see how anybody could think matte pants look good on teams that have sparkly helmets. I'm absolutely baffled how anybody can think matte pants look better on the Patriots, when they're actually altering the team's color and using gray instead of silver.

Because I think it looks better. Shiny pants look cheap and tacky to me. I think when pants are shiny it takes away from the colour of the pants. And I'm fine with matte pants and sparkly helmets because I understand the pants and helmet are two different pieces of equipment.

And I feel the exact opposite. I think matte looks incredibly cheap. Like someone went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought materials to make a Halloween costume for their kid, which was accurate outside of the materials. I don't think players should be in head-to-toe spandex, but I think the pants should be shiny, especially when they are intended to match the metallic helmet color. Because if you aren't bothered by the Patriots' dirty, washed-out looking gray pants, you should call for them to go to a light gray helmet to match the rest of the uniform. Like I said, it's a preference, but I can't understand how anyone would think sparkly metallic silver combined with light gray is a good look.

Okay, that's nice.

We're all here to share and discuss various viewpoints on the subject of sports aesthetics. Try not to be so dismissive.

I'm not being dismissive. I shared my opinion that I think matte football pants usually look better than shiny. He then said he prefers shiny and is "absolutely baffled" that someone could prefer matte, and gave me his reasoning why. So I explained why I think matte looks better. Despite this he responded that he still can't fathom how anyone would have a difference of opinion, so at that point there is no reason to continue the discussion.

[IceCap]

That's nice.

See? Doesn't read right. Was TheOldRoman harsh? Yeah, two things to keep in mind. The first is that he's just as entitled to his opinion as you are yours. Secondly? If you think he's crossed a line either ignore it or report it. Responding to someone acting like an hole with passive aggressiveness isn't something that's going to improve the decorum of the discussion.

[Chewbacca]

Watched some of the 2010 SB last night between Indy and NO.

What jumped out is how vibrant the Saints uniforms looked. When you don't see them anymore, you forget how good shiny pants look compared to everyone and their sister wearing the drab matte crap today.

The matte craze needs to be toned way down. Maybe a few teams look good with it but for teams like the Saints, losing their shine from the gold britches has been a big loss. The Pats are another team that looks stupid with shiny silver helmets and dirty grey pants or dirty navy pants. Its a uniform downgrade across football.

I totally agree. It looks good on certain teams like ones with yellow pants, purple pants, black pants, red pants, and navy pants) but looks horrible on teams with gold pants, green pants, and grey/silver pants it looks horrible except for a few. Look at the differences...

vs

vs

I like the shiny pants better. The matte pants are alright and they actually don't look too bad on the Eagles but they are pretty dull looking, especially for teams such as New England and New Orleans, that have silver and old gold in their colour schemes, which are metallic colours. When they are given a matte finish, the Patriots have grey pants when their color scheme uses silver. Same for the Saints. Their golden pants should be shiny and speaking of those pants, they should be the only pants the Saints use. Those black tights they wear now are nowhere near as good. The Saints are unique because of the Gold in their colour scheme and uniforms and when they go all-black or wear the black pants with the white jersey, they look like many other teams. When they wear white with black pants, the first team that comes to mind for me is the Baltimore Ravens.

[daveindc]

Okay, so teams with metallic colors have an argument for not going matte (where was this outrage when the 49ers went back to the old pants years before?). Matte, imo, looks better on a lot of other teams.

To me, uniforms with matte finish look more like athletic wear. The shininess of the old uniforms make them look tacky in comparison. Just because something is "shiny", doesn't mean it's worth more. Especially when we're talking about fabric.

[Sport]

The 49ers got their just amount of hate for going back to khaki pants.

My personal rule is simple - if your helmet is a metallic color (silvers, golds, Bucs pewter, etc) then you should wear shiny fabric pants so it matches better. What New England wears is a completely different color from their helmet and it looks dumb. Same goes for the Saints and 49ers and Lions and Buccaneers. If your helmet is white or another regular color you can get away with matte pants, but I still think it looks worse to have a high gloss helmet with dull matte pants. The material difference is jarring and looks bush. Good for the Raiders, Panthers, and Cowboys (albeit they deliberately choose to wear ugly green silver pants with white jersey) for choosing the correct option.

I loved when the 49ers surprised everyone and went back to gold pants opening day 1998 and this time they did it right - with metallic shiny pants that matched the helmet color. There's no reason this couldn't happen with their current jerseys and helmets except they want to maintain a relic to the past.

look at those rich gold britches that shine just like the helmet. Perfect for a team named after the gold rush. Now, compare to Kaepernick's khaki capris

I know which one I prefer.

[eliasrappaport]

Okay, so teams with metallic colors have an argument for not going matte (where was this outrage when the 49ers went back to the old pants years before?). Matte, imo, looks better on a lot of other teams.

To me, uniforms with matte finish look more like athletic wear. The shininess of the old uniforms make them look tacky in comparison. Just because something is "shiny", doesn't mean it's worth more. Especially when we're talking about fabric.

That's my only real problem with Nike. I don't blame them for bad uniforms. Teams have to approve those and usually those happen because the owners or other higher ups have awful design sense and think they're being trendy in a way millennials will like.

My real problem with Nike is their mandating of stupid things to automate the uniform process. Why does every team have to wear matte now? My Eagles look worse in matte, Saints, 49ers, etc. Same thing with the big colors. It looks way worse on the Eagles and other teams. They need to start manufacturing different things for different teams. Some teams matte, some teams shiny.

[CubsFanBudMan]

For the 49ers, it was a return to an old look-- non-shiny pants included -- but it still drew complaints.

That 1998 pic McCarthy posted is a perfect combo of multiple eras and was a modern classic to me (albeit a busy one), but it's hard to fight the amount of nostalgia and success the old, simple look had.