2006 NFL Uni Combos

[tjpskillz34]

I know this has been touched on many times before on this board, but after this weekend, I really have to rant:

"WHY IS EVERYONE WEARING WHITE AT HOME?"

I know the generic answer (it's too hot, it's an advantage to make the visitor wear dark, yadda yadda yadda). If you ask me, it's ridiculous!

With all the new technology that goes into uniforms these days, is it that big of a difference? I don't think so...(maybe I'm wrong).

Whatever happened to teams having an identity. I never thought I would see Chicago/Kansas City/Cincinnati wear white at home, but for the past couple years we sure have. It sucks!!! Maybe I have been spoiled with the Broncos, knowing that they will ALWAYS wear the dark jersey at home.

When I was growing up, the Cowboys/Redskins/Browns were the only teams that wore white at home. Recently the Dolphins have been fairly consistent, but more and more teams wear white in September.

If you want to know my own conspiricy theory, I think the white jerseys for most franchises sell A LOT less than the home jerseys. But if their team begins to wear white @ home more often, jerseys sales may go up? I may be way off base, but that is something that I thought about yesterday watching the stupid Ravens in their white uniforms...

Let me know what you think

[tBBP]

Changeover, fad, trend...somewhere in there lies the answer.

It could be tied into jersey sales slagging for the white versions, true enough. But I think it's just more or less a trend, much like how over the past couple years the trend has developed of NHL teams wearing their colored sweaters at home as opposed to the "home" whites. I know Tampa and Miami do it because of the weather, and lately jacksonville's ben doing it a lot, too. Beyond that, as to why Chicago, KC, and Baltimore decided to go white at home? Trend, fad--that'd be the only logical answer.

(IF this trend of wearing "colored" at home or "white" on the road ever develops in the NBA, look out world!)

[tjpskillz34]

Good point, Bucco.

The thing is, I don't care if they want to wear white @ home (ala Dallas/Washington), but pick one and stick with it!

[BPenix]

For Chicago....

It's because Papa Bear (George Halas) the founder of the Bears use to do for every first home game for the Bears. Lovie Smith brought that back.....as he did last year, once again against the Lions.

[hormone]

I'm sure it's hot in Oakland (even Pitts) this time of year, but they seem to wear black. I wish they would just mandate colors at home/white on the road. Most white combos are bland and with the alts (like the NHL) it only makes sense to wear the colors at home. To this day, I still never heard a team credit wearing white for their victory due to how much cooler they stayed. When it really bothers me is when they wear white versus a division team and then you usually end up with the same uni combo at the other stadium. It also bothers me when you have a team that wears white 15/16 games.

[WSU151]

much like how over the past couple years the trend has developed of NHL teams wearing their colored sweaters at home as opposed to the "home" whites.

NHL teams switching to dark colors at home was a trend that was made into a rule.

[dirwuf]

For Chicago....

It's because Papa Bear (George Halas) the founder of the Bears use to do for every first home game for the Bears. Lovie Smith brought that back.....as he did last year, once again against the Lions.

I've never heard that before, what's your source?

[FiddySicks]

I'm sure it's hot in Oakland this time of year

No. No its not. Its almost NEVER truely hot in the Bay area. It has one of the mildest, coolest climates in the country this time of year.

[tjpskillz34]

For Chicago....

It's because Papa Bear (George Halas) the founder of the Bears use to do for every first home game for the Bears. Lovie Smith brought that back.....as he did last year, once again against the Lions.

Now if that is true, that would be a good reason to wear white @ home!

[IronChefShark]

I'm sure it's hot in Oakland this time of year

No. No its not. Its almost NEVER truely hot in the Bay area. It has one of the mildest, coolest climates in the country this time of year.

eastern contra costa and alameda counties routinely go over 100 degrees in the summer.

[cranium]

I agree 100% with your concern here. The NFL is so anal about the unis, I wouldn't be surprised if they mandate white at home only once year unless the team had established a history of white at home. Then again, I could believe that they are pushing white at home to up the jersey sales.

Frankly, I avoid white jerseys because I dread the idea of getting wing sauce on a $75+ white jersey. I figure it would be less noticable on a dark home jersey.

[IronChefShark]

the simple way to solve it is this: the NFL should take a page from what the NHL did back in the early 90s.

meaning, for preseason and weeks 1-8, white is home, dark is away

for weeks 9-17 and postseason, dark is home and white is away.

and mandate it THROUGHOUT the league regardless of what traditions certain teams carry. (that means YOU cowboys, redskins, and to an extent, dolphins)

and eliminate ALL alternate uniforms, retro or otherwise. a 16 game schedule is just not a long enough schedule to warrant the need for alternate uniforms.

[FiddySicks]

I'm sure it's hot in Oakland this time of year

No. No its not. Its almost NEVER truely hot in the Bay area. It has one of the mildest, coolest climates in the country this time of year.

eastern contra costa and alameda counties routinely go over 100 degrees in the summer.

Yeah but not this time of year. Thats more like July and early August tempatures.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

the simple way to solve it is this: the NFL should take a page from what the NHL did back in the early 90s.

meaning, for preseason and weeks 1-8, white is home, dark is away

for weeks 9-17 and postseason, dark is home and white is away.

and mandate it THROUGHOUT the league regardless of what traditions certain teams carry. (that means YOU cowboys, redskins, and to an extent, dolphins)

and eliminate ALL alternate uniforms, retro or otherwise. a 16 game schedule is just not a long enough schedule to warrant the need for alternate uniforms.

Woah there....that's just way too much.

I kind of like the willy-nilly nature of the modern NFL. While I think some teams look terrible in all-white -- Baltimore (yes, I know they have no other options), KC, Washington, and the current Buffalo), I do like that teams are mixing it up.

Considering how much the NFL tries to supress any iota of individualism, it's nice to see some teams acting almost like college teams, certain coaches exerting some influence over uniforms and combinations.

Any standardization, to me, seems a bit overwrought.

[TheOldRoman]

the simple way to solve it is this: the NFL should take a page from what the NHL did back in the early 90s.

meaning, for preseason and weeks 1-8, white is home, dark is away

for weeks 9-17 and postseason, dark is home and white is away.

and mandate it THROUGHOUT the league regardless of what traditions certain teams carry. (that means YOU cowboys, redskins, and to an extent, dolphins)

and eliminate ALL alternate uniforms, retro or otherwise. a 16 game schedule is just not a long enough schedule to warrant the need for alternate uniforms.

I dont like that rule because, a lot of the time, you could get the same uniform combos in both games between division rivals. For instance, If the Bears opened up in Green Bay last week. If the Packers wore white jerseys, then both teams would be in the same uniforms when they play again on New Year's Eve. I like seeing the Bears in white jerseys at Lambeau, and I like seeing the Packers in white jerseys at Soldier Field.

Besides that, I think there should be a home uniform and a road uniform, not just color and white. You should be able to tell where the team was playing by watching a 20 second recap on sportscenter. Baseball has alt unis, too, but with the exception of the Padres, the home team wears white/cream, and the road team wears grey, at least if it is only on the pants.

[Thunderstruk]

For Chicago....

It's because Papa Bear (George Halas) the founder of the Bears use to do for every first home game for the Bears. Lovie Smith brought that back.....as he did last year, once again against the Lions.

I've never heard that before, what's your source?

Yeah where did you hear that???

[cheo25]

When I was growing up, the Cowboys/Redskins/Browns were the only teams that wore white at home. Recently the Dolphins have been fairly consistent, but more and more teams wear white in September.

You must be young. Almost every NFL team has worn white at home at some point in their existence, and most of them have done it at least on a semi-regular basis for at least a season or two here and there.

[tohasbo]

If guys wanted to discuss this, there is already a thread about the 2006 NFL Uni Combos!!!!!

[infrared41]

Regarding teams wearing white at home my question is this. Does it really matter?

The NFL doesn't need rules to determine what uniform should be worn for home or away games. Did it ever occur to the uniform police that maybe some of these teams wear the whites at home simply so the fans at the games can see both uniforms in action?

White or Dark at home. What's the big deal? Seriously, why does it seem to bother some people so much? I'm not being sarcastic I really want to know.

[Blue Falcon]

The whole "white at home helps in the heat" has been disproven many times. Just look at Week 1: teams wearing white at home were 1-6!

And wearing white at home didn't seem to help Daunte Culpeper stop throwing all those interceptions.

All I know is the NFL apparently mandated dark colors at home in 1957, and in 1964 they eased up and allowed teams to wear what they wanted. In that year (and the rest of the 60s) a lot of teams experimented with white at home. My own Steelers even wore white at home from 67-69, I think.

I like alternate jerseys/pants, but teams should wear their dark jerseys (or alts) at home for all games. What the Panther did made sense: a lighter-colored alt jersey that they could wear at home in the heat.