2000 St. Louis Rams

[Cujo]

In 2000, when the Rams updated their uniforms, they elected to go with block numbers before switching over to round digits the following year. I really didn't mind the block style. Does anybody know, why the change?

[tohasbo]

I always wondered why they switched styles.

[STL FANATIC]

The round digits were always part of the new design. Replica jerseys (and maybe authentics--perhaps I should say fan jerseys) featured the rounded numbers from the get go.

For whatever reason they didn't implement them on the on field product until the second year. I've heard the story before but don't recall it at the moment.

All I can add for now is that the style guide always called for rounded numbers, they just didn't follow it in 2000.

[Sodboy13]

Replica jerseys also had a custom font for the nameplate - along the lines of Berthold City - which never saw the light of day on the field.

[BBTV]

Wasn't it a similar situation to the Jaguars? Weren't the original "new" numbers a little thicker on the sides than the current numbers, and they had to change due to legibility issues? I remember seeing the replicas that year with the rounded numbers, and wondering WTF. Also, when those jerseys came out, nearly everyone I knew thought that the Rams instantly had the best uniforms in the league, if not all of sports. I certainly don't feel that strongly, but the ones with the side panels and GOLD PANTS ONLY are very, very nice. The gold side panel on the white jersey is perfection.

[Eye]

Wasn't it a similar situation to the Jaguars? Weren't the original "new" numbers a little thicker on the sides than the current numbers, and they had to change due to legibility issues? I remember seeing the replicas that year with the rounded numbers, and wondering WTF. Also, when those jerseys came out, nearly everyone I knew thought that the Rams instantly had the best uniforms in the league, if not all of sports. I certainly don't feel that strongly, but the ones with the side panels and GOLD PANTS ONLY are very, very nice. The gold side panel on the white jersey is perfection.

I agree with the gold side panels. Looks great.

The Jaguars also implemented side panels for a while and looked good as well.

On another note, while I do like block fonts, and when I say I that about block fonts, I mean the counters are at a 90 degree angle, not beveled here like in the picture in this thread; however, beveled can look good in some cases although it could come off as cheap looking. This is not the case here with the TV numbers. I feel the stout, compact look of these numbers here makes beveling the block font look good (in fact just as good as an unbeveled block font.) I don't like the beveled numbers on the front and back of the jersey here though, and think that it would be alright in some cases for teams that outline their numbers to go with unbeveled on the front and back and beveled block on the shoulders/sleeves.

[STL FANATIC]

I've never noticed a change between the font that originally was on the style-sheet renderings and replica jerseys and the one they currently wear, but you could be right that it's slightly thinner. The point about the name plate is correct, though.

My Isaac Bruce replica from the first year has the nameplate in the custom font (I think Berthold City, with minor modifications, is correct), while my Marshall Faulk replica from a year or two later has standard block.

I don't recall the sentiment that the Rams immediately had the best jerseys in the league, but I think it's a fair sentiment to say they had some of the best. I didn't really think of it at the time, but I find the side panels just extraneous. They wore originally designed to be worn with blue and white pants (as well as the gold) that had gold "dagger" stripes down the side. Outside of a preseason game here or there, that was never the case, and it made the side stripe kinda stagnant as opposed to dynamic.

I've got no complaints about them sticking to the gold pants, but it in turn was then a smart decision to let go of the side stripe, IMO.

And of course now they've muddied things up by adding white and blue pants and just about never wear the gold. I hate that. Navy on gold or white on gold. It's one of the best looks in the league. It just looks so good.

I've actually grown to like white on white and white on navy alright, though. But the navy pants need new stripes. And the navy jersey should ALWAYS, ALWAYS be worn with gold pants. And because I've always been a fan of simplifying possible combinations, I'd just assume they went back to gold pants all the time. (Similarly, I think teams like the Panthers and Patriots should always wear silver pants.)

And Eye, it's interesting you mention the beveled numbers. We seem to have reverse opinions on the ones the Rams used in 2000. I don't mind it on the front and back. I almost can't notice it. But it sticks out on the shoulders to me. Looks awkward. Especially the 8.

[tohasbo]

Edit: Nevermind

[andrewharrington]

True, the beveled counters on the block numerals seem to date any jersey. They've been worn in every era from the 20s to the 90s, but are so rarely seen nowadays, that they seem to represent every era but that of today, and thus end up looking old. It doesn't help that they are the standard numeral style for most cheap heat-seal printers, either. Funny that the Jaguars and Rams both used numerals with beveled counters before switching to their custom numerals.

Personally, I think a team with a very traditional uniform could use them today and it might give the uniform a nice bit of personality as long as the bevels are nice and big and noticable; not so tiny that from a distance you can't even tell they have beveled counters.

[Sodboy13]

It doesn't help that they are the standard numeral style for most cheap heat-seal printers, either.

For me, that's what does it. I see that number style (especially if the 1 has that rounded cut on the top serif) and I immediately think of T-shirts in a rec league. It;s a font I immediately associate with cheapness and lack of quality - the same association I have with the Champion block font recently revived by Adidas.

[CJworks]

Heh, I always thought the Rams had a differnt number font before their currents, but was never sure.

[BBTV]

True, the beveled counters on the block numerals seem to date any jersey. They've been worn in every era from the 20s to the 90s, but are so rarely seen nowadays, that they seem to represent every era but that of today, and thus end up looking old. It doesn't help that they are the standard numeral style for most cheap heat-seal printers, either. Funny that the Jaguars and Rams both used numerals with beveled counters before switching to their custom numerals.

Personally, I think a team with a very traditional uniform could use them today and it might give the uniform a nice bit of personality as long as the bevels are nice and big and noticable; not so tiny that from a distance you can't even tell they have beveled counters.

When the 49ers switched to their now-old set in the mid '90s, they had that kind of number too. I think the jerseys were Reebok, and the original set had those numbers, but then as jerseys got replaced, they seemed to get replaced with standard block. I'm sure I've seen Steve Young in the exact same style of jersey but with each type of number, and I'm sure I've seen a game where some players had one style, and some players had the other.

I get what you mean about it being the standard cheap heat-seal number (which is why I don't understand why so many people seem to love them on the '99 Rams jerseys), I think that the "2"s are different. The cheap numbers you speak of seem to usually have a diagonal 2, while these have a horizontal two.

This font also seems very similar to the standard MLB font, and actually, nearly identical to the serifed version of it that some teams used to use (KC being one of them.)

I always hated that style of the inside of the number being octagonal instead of square. It's why I hated the Champion font, and why I didn't like those Rams jerseys.