The throwback uniform craze

[Slater]

Some of the previous topics got me to thinking: Why is it that everything old is suddenly new again? People seem to love the older NFL (and other sports) uniforms as much or more than the current uniforms. The more teams introduce new colors, logos, etc., the more fans seem to long for the "old days". Nostalgia?

I must admit that I have a fondness for the Los Angeles Rams of old, with "Hacksaw" Reynolds, Jack Youngblood, and the blue/yellow outfits.

[Gothamite]

Sometimes it's nostalgia, sometimes it's fashion, sometimes it's because the throwback designs are superior to the current ones.

The more teams introduce new colors, logos, etc., the more fans seem to long for the "old days".

I think you might have it here. Part of the reason may well be that with all the changes, teams are breaking the connection that fans feel with them. Why identify with a scheme that won't stay long? Why get attached to colors that will certainly be changed in a couple years? The past is the past. There's some stability there.

Sometimes I think English soccer has the right idea. They radically overhaul the uniforms every two years (in the case of the national team, the jersey has an expiration date on it!) but almost never change the main colors. Liverpool will always be red, Manchester City will always be sky blue, Aston Villa will always be claret with blue sleeves. Then they have "change" or away jerseys that can be any color. So teams can all have a black jersey one year, or a teal jersey another. They can take advantage of temporary trends to sell merchandise, they can stay current with modern designs and fashions, but they always have that link with the past and tradition.

[DrBear]

It's a change, but a "safe" change. We all like changes now and then but we do want to keep tradition. Add in the desire to return to a successful period (SD's powder blue, the Brewers' glove logo, Denver's Orange Crush jerseys) and you have the recipe.

Plus they appeal to a wide strain - older fans who remember watching the older designs and younger fans who like change and wouldn't mind seeing a new uniform every day. Add the marketing of it ? I'm willing to bet the hip-hop crowd may be getting some of those throwbacks free for use in public as advertising to young people who don't watch TV except for MTV, listen to radio or read newspapers - and who don't trust advertising they KNOW is advertising - and you've got something hot.

[HowBoutThemFins]

I'm fine with the whole throwback craze. I just think that they're wearing out their welcome in the NBA.

[Chazberg]

Maybe it's because all the new uniforms comign out now suck donkey balls (Cincinnati, Arizona, Seattle, Atlanta). I mean as a fan how are you supposed to feel when your team trashes their traditional and trademark look to be trendy and sell more crap? I won't even mention the NBA, as far as I'm concerned it's one big rap video and I want no part of it.

[-kj]

I personally wish the throwback trend would end. Some of the trendy throwback stuff is just awful (Atlanta Hawks 70s, San Diego washed-out powder blues, etc), and some of it is nice (Buffalo Sabres blue/gold), but in general, it's throwback for throwback's sake, and it's boring.

[DGivens87]

The throwback trend is ok with me. For one, my favorite throwback was re-created by M&N (94 Bledsoe Pats throwback) so I scooped one of those up ASAP. Even at the time in 1994, I wanted one of those throwbacks, but couldn't find one around even then. Same with the red Pat Patriot throwbacks...I've got about 6 of them now, thanks to Reebok. So the trend, in that aspect, benefitted me.

On the other hand, it makes me look like a bandwagon hopper when I do wear throwback jerseys. My first "throwback" was a 1990 Jets Blair Thomas (former Pat as well) kelly green jersey, which I bought in 1999. Soon after, I bought a Troy Aikman Dallas Cowboys "double-star" throwback. Yeah I was original for about 2 years, until the craze caught up in 2001-02. I'm glad I was "fashionable" even before the craze, but now it's just getting outta hand.

My only pet peeve: If Reebok would just put out a white Pat Patriot throwback, I'd be a very happy camper. (not the crappy Reggie Rucker one from the 70s - I'm talking about the 60's, like back in Gino Cappelletti-Babe Parilli days). I scoop up a white Babe Parilli Pat Patriot throwback in a heartbeat. Here's $100 reebok, go make it! lol

[rmackman]

Some of my throwbacks I like because they're not even imitation throwbacks...they're REAL. My grandma used to buy me Authentic Brewers jerseys from the Milwaukee Brewers Clubhouse store just outside of Milwaukee. She bought them big so I'd grow into them. I now own authentic Brew Crew jerseys from 1993, 1994, and 1998, and the hats to with them. I had an authentic Keith Jackson jersey from when he played with the Dolphins around 1993 or so, but they had heat pressed numbers. Those numbers fell off, so I gave the jersey away to a family member b/c it looked like crap. I have an authentic Heat jersey from when Zo first joined the team. I have an authentic Penguins jersey from their previous style with the athletic gold instead of the vegas gold. I just think they're more special because they don't say Mitchell and Ness. They say Russell Athletic, Champion, CCM, or whoever really made them.

[Magus]

im tired of the throwback craze and/or people that whine about teams making a hue change to a uniform because it violates the religion of tradition.

[CZzyzx41]

To each his own...c'est la vie...and all that stuff.

[Stampman]

Some are good, some are not--the Edmonton Oilers should not go back to their original NHL unis-or even worse their original WHA ones-- (see NHLuniforms.com and WHAuniforms.com for those)--the ones they have now work--the blue matches better--and the old orange shoulders ruined the look--now they look good--and I'm not an Oiler fan in any shape or form--they are the team I would cheer for last in the NHL.

On the other hand-I haven't liked any Canucks unis since their original ones-and not because they're the original ones-see above on the Oilers--when they wore the Vintage versions last season--I liked them.

[The Danimal]

I have noticed that for the most part, the most historically successful pro franchises have stuck with the same basic designs for decades.

Yankees, Celtics, Cowboys, Lakers, Dodgers, Packers, Canadiens all come to mind.

[brinkeguthrie]

I think hell will freeze over before the Yankees or Celtics EVER change their look.

I seem to recall once (can anyone recall this?) that the Yankees were going to make their road uniforms be just like the home..except, the uniform was gray.

Gray pinstripes. Never happened, of course.

The Cowboys have messed with their blue ones for years, but still are suspicious of them, superstition, blah blah.

[totc]

I have noticed that for the most part, the most historically successful pro franchises have stuck with the same basic designs for decades.

Yankees, Celtics, Cowboys, Lakers, Dodgers, Packers, Canadiens all come to mind.

Good list, but there have been changes (minute, but changes nonetheless). The Yankees added serifs to their letters in the 70s, about the same time the road jersey got white outlines on the sleeves and around the letters and numbers, for example.

I think the longest-serving logos out there in North American sport, actually, is the Detroit Tigers' Old English D. But even then, there was a year when the home jersey had the cursive Tigers on it.

The throwback craze is good for a couple of games a season, but not an entire season like the Columbus Clippers did in 1993 or the entire Eastern League did in (I think) 1998 or 99 when every team wore a wool "retro" jersey on Sundays -- whether the jersey was authentic or not. Trenton, for example, wore a cream jersey with green and gold lettering like the Red Sox, but neither the Genuine Cuban Giants, Tigers, Giants, Packers, Spartans, nor Senators ever wore such a jersey.

Golly, even the U.S. Postal Service cycling team and the Maryland and Hopkins men's lacrosse teams have gotten into the throwback thing.

[IceCap]

throwback uniforms are like current uniforms. people who hate throwbacks for the sake of hatting throwbacks are just as shallow as people who love throwbacks for the sake of liking throwbacks. imo there are some throwbacks that are good, some that are bad. here are a few examples:

good throwbacks

bad throwbacks

[rmackman]

No more hating on the Brew Crew throwbacks. Those are nice too. However, I prefer this version!

[BaltimoreFan]

Maybe it's because all the new uniforms comign out now suck donkey balls (Cincinnati, Arizona, Seattle, Atlanta). I mean as a fan how are you supposed to feel when your team trashes their traditional and trademark look to be trendy and sell more crap? I won't even mention the NBA, as far as I'm concerned it's one big rap video and I want no part of it.

I don't mind if a team changes their unis after they have sucked for a couple years. Sometimes I think it helps the team get better (Tampa Bay).

I do like throwback jerseys but I think they should only be from years the team was at its best. One example is the Orioles cooperstown hats. They have two with the old Cartoon Bird on them. The one I own is all black and says 1966 on it, which was the first year we won the World Series and upset the Dodgers. The other one has a white panel in the front. We wore it during the 1983 season but for some reason it says 1988 on it. Why in the world would I want to buy a hat that represents the year we went 0-21 to start off the season and lost 107 games. I dont own any jerseys but I may get some custom made by a local company. I do like some other team's throwback but the only one I'll probably get is San Diego's powder blues. But I may wait to see if they bring them back in 2006 (in which case I will probably buy Maryland-grad Shawne Merriman).

[BlueSky]

I always liked the Saints' road jerseys with gold numbers. Ironically, this shot is from a 1968 home game where the Saints wore white so as to force the Clownboys to wear the dreaded blues. Didn't help, as Dallas won 17-3. :-(

The gold-numbered jerseys didn't help Charlton Heston either when the former Moses tried his luck as the Saints' QB in the movie Number One. Like much of the real life Saints' history, a more apt title for this less-than-successful film might have been Number Two. When the film's opening voiceover mentioned the "world champion New Orleans Saints," I thought, "Wow, it's a comedy?" ;-)

I think that's real Saints center Joe Wendryhoski about to snap the ball.

Also like the Raiders' roadie with silver numbers (at lower right)...

...but again the knock on 'em is that the numbers are hard to see against the white jersey.

Notice in both Saints pics that the helmet stripe is the reverse of the current one. I think they only wore the white-black-white in 1968. Oddly, when wearing the 1967-75 Saints uni in NFL 2K5, some players' helmets have the current stripe and some have the reversed one.

[cheo25]

Ironically, this shot is from a 1968 home game where the Saints wore white so as to force the Clownboys to wear the dreaded blues.

Actually, the Saints wore white at home in 1967 and '68, so it wasn't just a "Dallas thing." And the Saints have had a few years since where they wore white at home for the entire season, mainly in the early '70s when Tulane Stadium's surface went from grass to turf.