Tom Brady's jersey

[infrared41]

The whole extra initial thing as extraneous. They wear different numbers, isn't that enough of a difference?

So it would seem anyway.

[LEWJ]

Yea I think a number and a last name is enough to tell the difference. Especially if it's a very popular player, such as Tom Brady.

I mean if there was no numbers on the jerseys, then it'd be a different story, but since a players number is usually the first source of identification, there really is, in my opinion, no point in putting initial(s).

[gueman]

Back in the late 80's or early 90's the Orioles had 2 Mike Smiths in spring training. One was "Mississippi" Mike Smith, the other was "Texas" Mike Smith. And the O's had the respective state shapes in front of the name Smith. Only Texas Mike Smith made it on the O's, I don't think the other made it out of AAA. It was a creative idea though.

[chuckymack]

I think names on the backs of jerseys looks ridiculous in baseball and basketball. For some reason, it doesn't bother me in football or hockey, though. Maybe it's because they wear all that padding and are forced to wear huge jerseys.

And about Mississippi and Texas Mike Smith......If anyone ever had a picture of that, it'd be worth its weight in gold! God forbid an actual jersey! I'd bet Paul Lukas would take out a second mortgage to get his hands on it!

The FREAKIN' NUMBERS are how you identify players! Ever hear Chad Johnson refer to himself as 'Chad Johnson'?! Of course not! He's 'Ocho EFFING Cinco'!

[1_ILWT_1]

i dont think its completely pointless, when you have Henrik and Daniel Sedin on the same team. one with number 33, one with number 22. it can get confused. not to mention they're identical twins

sticking with Canucks....when Geoff and Russ Courtnall were on the Canucks together...neither had their initials on their jerseys

and sticking with twins....when Rich and Ron Sutter were on the Blues together....they had their full first names on their jerseys

[The_Admiral]

I'm surprised there isn't more support for a unique uniform quirk like the first initial. I've always thought it was neat.

[BlueSky]

i dont think its completely pointless, when you have Henrik and Daniel Sedin on the same team. one with number 33, one with number 22. it can get confused. not to mention they're identical twins

It's not reasonable to force an entire league to follow a policy because of one unique case of twins on the same team with similar numbers.

[larrypep]

I realized a while ago (while playing Madden actually) that with the signing of Kyle Brady last summer, the Patriots now have two Bradys on the roster, and so Tom's jersey really should read "T. BRADY". It does in Madden but doesn't in reality, and both his and Kyle's just say "BRADY". I'm assuming this is just because of Tom's iconic status, and because the addition of the T to such a recognizable and popular jersey would be too jarring. It reminds me of the preseason a few years ago when Brian Urlacher's little bro Casey tried out for the Bears at fullback, so #54's jersey said "B. URLACHER" for the preseason. It looked really weird.

Anyway can anyone confirm this/think of another case of multiple players with the same name not having a first initial?

The Padres had brothers Brian and Marcus Giles last year, and both players had "GILES" on their backs. Additionally, the Pads also had Mike Cameron and Kevin Cameron (not related) and they both had "CAMERON" on the back.

In 1990, the Padres also had Jack Clark and Jerald Clark, and both players had "CLARK" on the back.

When Tony and Chris Gwynn were on the Padres in 1996, Tony's jersey said "GWYNN", but Chris Gwynn's said "C. GWYNN".

[Sabrejeff]

The San Francisco 49ers have two players named Michael Lewis.

The Buffalo Bills had two sets of players that had the same surname this season. Brad and Jerametrius Butler and Anthony and Kiwaukee Thomas. In a strange twist, Brad was B. BUTLER and Jerametrius was simply BUTLER. And Anthony was A. THOMAS but Kiwaukee was just THOMAS. No idea why it was that way. In the alphabet, Brad and Anthony come before Jerametrius and Kiwaukee, respectively. Wonder if that has anything to do with it...?