Major League Football - Reimagining the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger (San Francisco 49ers update - series complete)

[Indigo]

14 minutes ago, BayBaseballFan said:

Arizona Cardinals - the birds pick up a few desert touches as they migrate south

Over the bulk of the Cardinals' history, they've had a remarkably consistent and straightforward look. While the team's nickname may have originated from University of Chicago's second hand jerseys, the franchise's move to St. Louis cemented the bird-based moniker. The team's stop in Missouri also added some distinctive sleeve stripes. For the team's transition to Arizona, the striping pattern is updated and expanded to include the four colors of the state flag: shades of red, yellow, copper and blue.

 

The striping motif is carried over to the pants with a simplified version on the socks. The blend of colors is a bit overwhelming and probably works better on the white road jersey. The striping is also applied to the wordmark. It was kind of meant to be a signature feature, a la the Astros "tequila sunrise" elements throughout the 70's and early 80's. Also, the stripes through the wordmark vaguely alludes to sarape designs found in Mexican culture. Lastly, the Cardinals' running bird secondary logo is updated to replace the Gateway Arch with a desert landscape.

 

Next up - the Las Vegas Raiders go to the dark side on the strip.

 

 

References / Inspiration

https://i.imgur.co

I like this. It’s a bit unorthodox, but still fits the team, area, and time period. I’d probably make the numbers on the home jersey white, but otherwise, good job.

[BayBaseballFan]

On 12/28/2021 at 11:07 AM, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

I like this. It’s a bit unorthodox, but still fits the team, area, and time period. I’d probably make the numbers on the home jersey white, but otherwise, good job.

@LA Fakers+ LA SnippersAppreciate it. I know it's a bit of a bold look for a team in the 60's, but overall the design is rather simplified and relevant to both the team and the area. I'll definitely take a swing at the white numbers once the full series is done.

[BayBaseballFan]

Las Vegas Raiders - the dark side is embraced on the strip

Since the full-time switch to silver and black in 1963, the Raiders have had one of the most consistent and recognizable looks in all of sports. It's been virtually untouched in the six decades since and for good reason. This set unifies some of the best elements the team has used during that time. First up is a switch to the helmet decal from the all-black shield to the two-tone design from the early 60's. The iconic silver and black home jersey is retrained.

For the road uniform, the numbers are swapped out to silver with a thin black outline. The Raiders have worn this look in recent years as a throwback/alternate. While it's maybe a little harder to discern on a white jersey, I've always felt the silver was a better look. The biggest change across though is the addition of the black road helmet, an idea prompted by the excellent, but short-lived Unified podcast. Subtle diamond patterns are added down the pant stripes. The geometric designs fit the era and are a nod to the city's gambling ties. The gold-tinted secondary logo is reinstated as a slight contrast to the predominantly silver, white and black hues.

 

Next up - the New Orleans Saints make a return to the western division.

 

 

References / Inspiration 

[BayBaseballFan]

New Orleans Saints - what could have been with dark lids

I'll be honest and say that this set is less of a reimagining and more of a glimpse into what could have been. Not being a Saints fan, I'd only vaguely heard about the team's brief flirtation with black helmets. I had no idea a licensing issue with the NFL (along with some negative fan feedback) killed that idea after the 1969 preseason. I know gold helmets have become a core element to the Saints identity, but I kind of like the black look. It helps offset the gold pants. The decal and striping is essentially an inverted version of the colors used on the gold shells.

 

The rest of the uniforms are pretty faithful to the team's initial look. I really like the thicker, chunky sleeve stripes from the Saints first few seasons. There's minimal updates to the socks, providing a home and road version. Sir Saint is more prominently featured as a secondary logo. 

 

Next up - the Seattle Seahawks get a full overhaul in the Pacific Northwest.

 

References / Inspiration

[raz]

I think they should simplify the helmet logo to something closer to this instead of the current triple outline. 

[BayBaseballFan]

@ralphzAgreed. I guess the white outline of the black fleur de lis doesn't stand out as much on the gold shells, hence the change. But yeah, that original, simpler look is a lot cleaner.

[BayBaseballFan]

Seattle Seahawks - a full reimagining for the franchise in the Pacific Northwest

Aside from the Admirals, this full overhaul of the Seahawks is the set I'm most proud of in this whole series. I've never particularly liked the team's real world color scheme (even before the more modern navy and neon green phase). So why not unify the new Seahawks with the equally newly minted Supersonics. Yellow, green and white are combined in jerseys that feature two-tone shoulder loops inspired by later era Sonics jerseys. Striped collar and sleeve cuffs add a little more depth, while the jersey numbering features drop shadows. 

The green-yellow striping is maintained on both the white home pants and gray road pants. Simple green socks cap it off. The helmet is a basic white with a single green stripe. The team's primary logo is a new creation, clearly inspired by the Baltimore Orioles of that same era. I know that the style of the real-world Seahawks logo has connections to Native American imagery and totem poles, but I feel like a cartoonish bird could have been a viable option for this era. The standalone logo features the eyes directed opposite the beak, but on the helmet, the gaze is directed toward the front. Let me know what you think as this was my first foray into trying to create a logo from scratch.

 

Next up - the Los Angeles Rams blend the best elements from several eras.

 

 

References / Inspiration

[raz]

This really does match the era. I can see it changing later, but this will always be a throwback favorite. 

[BayBaseballFan]

@ralphz Thanks. The cartoon Oriole logo was one of my all-time favorites. I was so happy when they decided to go back to it full time. 

 

And you're right. While they may have kept this logo from the 60's on, it probably would have been swapped out for something more menacing in the 90's, as was the trend. I toyed with the idea of doing an angry cartoon bird, a la Miami's ibis logo. Maybe I'll revisit it at some point or as a secondary mark.

 

[raz]

I suspect it's not your plan, but I'd really like to see how some of these designs evolve in subsequent years. 

 

Enjoying this project! 

[BayBaseballFan]

@ralphzI'm glad you've appreciated it. The final three teams won't be a far deviation from what they've worn at some point in their history, so I'm glad you enjoyed this departure with the Seahawks.

 

I will admit that I don't have any intention of doing any evolution of these uniforms. I think for me personally, the 60's is that perfect era in terms of jersey template. Simple helmets, actual sleeves to do different things with the TV numbers and striping. I've never much cared for football uniform templates from the 80's to the present. 

 

Given that I'm sort of stuck in time with football, I may switch back to some baseball designs while I consider what's to look at on the gridiron front.

[Bomba Tomba]

I love that seahawk, it's so cute.

 

How would it look like with a green home and yellow away?

[BayBaseballFan]

@Bomba TombaThanks for the kind words about the logo. 

 

I think I initially tried a green jersey and it wasn't bad, but looked a little too close to the Packers. And I actually stayed away from colored road jerseys to stay with the 60's aesthetic. I might test it out once the final three teams are posted.

[BayBaseballFan]

Los Angeles Rams - the best of all eras in Southern California

The Rams have had arguably the best helmet design in all of football for the better part of seven decades. Artistic, timeless, unique - all in one. That's the basis for this whole uniform set. For me the royal blue and bright yellow was the franchise's best color scheme. The gold and navy era in St. Louis and strictly white-blue combo from the early 60's were never as brilliant as the blue and yellow combination. The color of the helmets is matched to the home jerseys, which always seemed out of whack for some reason.

 

The blue jersey and white home pants are carried over from the late 1950's set. A white outline around the yellow numbers is also borrowed from that era, while a yellow outline is added to the blue numbers on the road jersey. The trademark ram horns are applied to the sleeves across both jerseys. The only difference is the horns stay yellow on the road jersey without any contrasting colors on the sleeves under the TV numbers. The 70's era yellow pants remain on the road jerseys finished off with match two-stripe socks. The secondary logo started out as a way to incorporate the horn into an "R" shape. I'm not really happy with how it came out and it wound up unintentionally looking like the (Washington Football Team) secondary logo from the 80's. 

 

Next up - the Los Angeles Chargers in their best look ever.

 

 

References / Inspiration

[Indigo]

4 minutes ago, BayBaseballFan said:

Los Angeles Rams - the best of all eras in Southern California

The Rams have had arguably the best helmet design in all of football for the better part of seven decades. Artistic, timeless, unique - all in one. That's the basis for this whole uniform set. For me the royal blue and bright yellow was the franchise's best color scheme. The gold and navy era in St. Louis and strictly white-blue combo from the early 60's were never as brilliant as the blue and yellow combination. The color of the helmets is matched to the home jerseys, which always seemed out of whack for some reason.

 

The blue jersey and white home pants are carried over from the late 1950's set. A white outline around the yellow numbers is also borrowed from that era, while a yellow outline is added to the blue numbers on the road jersey. The trademark ram horns are applied to the sleeves across both jerseys. The only difference is the horns stay yellow on the road jersey without any contrasting colors on the sleeves under the TV numbers. The 70's era yellow pants remain on the road jerseys finished off with match two-stripe socks. The secondary logo started out as a way to incorporate the horn into an "R" shape. I'm not really happy with how it came out and it wound up unintentionally looking like the (Washington Football Team) secondary logo from the 80's. 

 

Next up - the Los Angeles Chargers in their best look ever.

 

 

References / Inspiration

I like this one, but a few tweaks would make this look much better IMO. 
As is, I think you have the pants mixed up. The white pants would pair better with the white jersey, while the gold pants would match better with the gold-heavy blue jersey.  I’m not sold on the gold horns on the away jerseys, though. Yellow(with no outline) on white is hard to see and just clashes to much.

[BayBaseballFan]

@LA Fakers+ LA Snippers A few thoughts on your comments. The pants - I really didn't want to put the yellow pants with the blue home jerseys just because it would have been identical to their look from the 70's-90's, which I actually enjoy. I just wanted to mix it up. Alternatively, I the Rams most recent stint at the Coliseum made me sour on an all-white look for them. I counted on the Gridiron Uniform Database and I think the Rams wore all white something like 28 times in 4 seasons. It just always struck me as very washed out and bland. I may try to do yellow pants across both sets.

 

And yeah, as soon as exported this I saw the yellow horns on the white jerseys being a problem. There's a part of me that liked how clean it looked without the contrasting colored sleeves. However, I think I'll attempt two teaks to improve it: one with the horns outlined in blue and one with sort of an inverse color scheme of the 70's-90's road jerseys - keeping the gold horns, but adding blue sleeves and yellow TV numbers.

[BayBaseballFan]

Los Angeles Chargers - looking pristine in powder blue

The penultimate team in the Major League Football series is in my opinion the best looking team in all of football, at least in the configuration presented. There's something about the combination of white helmet, powder blue jerseys and the bright yellow pants that just looks clean and crisp. The vibrant combination epitomized the style of the less traditional AFL. When the modern-day Chargers went back to a modernized version of this look last year, I was ecstatic. 

 

Laid out here is my favorite combination, based off of the team's 1969 look. The only small adjustments I made were to add a yellow outline around the numbers on both the home and road jerseys. The contrasting shoulder stripes help make the lightning bolt designs stand out more. The helmet numbers are updated to match the font of the jerseys in a powder blue color. I was never quite sure why the original numbers were in black. The golden yellow pants are carried across both the home and road jerseys with the blue bolts down the sides. The most significant update is a reworking of the original Chargers' shield. Gone is the horse in favor of a hand wielding a lightning bolt. This was one of the more fun teams to work on as I tried to replicate and make some minor adjustments on that iconic look. Let me know what you think. (Mild side note - I never understood why the Rose Bowl was never used as a regular home for an NFL team, especially during the periods where there were two teams in LA. I know by modern standards it wouldn't have made sense with the lack of luxury suites, but it seemed suitable in the 60's or even 80's.)

 

Lastly - the San Francisco 49ers receive a moderate road team makeover.

 

 

References / Inspiration

 

[BayBaseballFan]

San Francisco 49ers - the series ends in the golden west

The finale to this series had to be my hometown 49ers, or as they used to write it out "Forty Niners." Watching some of the 1970 NFC Championship against the Cowboys at Kezar Stadium helped inspire this whole series. It sort of epitomized this whole era of football: simplified uniforms, less than perfect playing surfaces and stadiums in the middle of residential neighborhoods. While the 49ers' fortunes on the field weren't always "super," the subsequent success in the 80's and 90's cemented the team's home jerseys as iconic. Things are kept simple with just the contrasting red and white hues. The triple stripe on the sleeves is carried to the socks and the shade of red darkened just slightly. The helmet logo is kept simple without the unnecessary gold accents to the outline.

 

The bigger changes are to the road jersey. Echoes of the shoulder stripes from the team's silver phase of the 1950's show up in the form of red shoulder loops with subtle gold trim. I know the gold doesn't stand out as much against the white base, but I wanted that to be a softer touch. The red-white-red stripe on the side of the pants is kept from the 60's, avoiding the clunky stripe of the 80's. Lastly, the team's secondary shield logo is brought back to prominence. 

 

This wraps up the Major League Football series. I hope everyone enjoyed some part of it. Always open to thoughts and feedback and thanks for letting me share these with you.

 

 

References /  Inspiration

[BayBaseballFan]

As a quick postscript - there are still variations folks have suggested that I'm going to start working through now that all 32 teams are out. Stay tuned.

[Indigo]

Unpopular Opinion, I never liked the Vikings throwback set with the inconsistent striping, and this Niners set runs into the same problem. It just looks like jersey from two different set just sat next to each other. I know it’s hard to change much for a classic look like San Francisco, but maybe something built around the super-thick stripes of the 1980s?