Treasure Trove of Old NFL Pics

[BlueSky]

As mentioned in a recent Uniwatch, Dave Boss, best known for his NFL paintings/posters, also took lots of photos at NFL games through the years. They're a lot of fun to look at and educational too. For instance, I couldn't remember who the halftime entertainment was at Super Bowl VI, the one I went to. But thanks to Dave's gallery, I now know it was...

Carol Channing?!? Note the old Tulane Stadium scoreboard in background. Interesting it shows the city names as opposed to 'Dolphins' and 'Cowboys'.

For all you young 'uns who only know Ron Jaworski as 'that guy on Monday Night Football,' yes, he was once the QB of the Eagles...

...and ESPN's Tom Jackson was a Broncos LB:

Never realized the Rams wore that dark a blue, and it's cool that the Colts today look almost exactly the same as back then. As for the crowd, perhaps it was small but vocal.

Nice shot of Namath as a Ram:

The only bummer is that most of them are in black and white.

[BlueSky]

OK, found the color stuff, and some of it's just magnificent as far as getting a closeup look at what some of these teams looked like back then.

This is my favorite of all his pics. If there was ever a photo that screams "1960s NFL football," this is it: Jim Brown running through the Rams in 1965. Note Brown's long cleats and the sense of motion. Interesting how the field markings are barely visible; looks like they're playing in an empty lot.

Packers at Rams, 1959 - no helmet logo and interesting pants stripes for the Pack:

1962 Steelers:

1960s Bears homes and roads. Love the helmet and mask on the QB talking to George Halas:

1960s Rams...could the sleeve numbers be any bigger?

[Harmening]

Thanks for posting this. Good stuff.

[Joshawaggie]

I love these type of pictures. Thanks.

[Sport]

These are great and this guy's helmet looks like one of those toy helmets that you get at Toysrus with the matching uniform.

[tBBP]

1962 Steelers:

For some reason, I sense a Steelers concept, ProCombat or otherwise, coming off this one...

...This is all good stuff, Russ. Now I have something to do to occupy my dead time at work!

[BlueSky]

But wait - there's more! Here are the '65 Rams. That's Tommy McDonald, last guy to go maskless.

The caption on this pic of Gale Sayers says it's from a photo shoot in Puerto Rico (?). No helmet logo suggests maybe for football cards? IIRC, a lot of cards back then had no logos because of licensing issues.

So much for that theory...this is a pre-Vikings Paul Krause at the same shoot. Caption says it was for an 'NFL Production'. No face mask?

Bob Hayes at the same event. Note triple sleeve stripe and how the bottom blue pants stripe has some separation from the white where it curves.

There's even some great college stuff, like Notre Dame at USC in 1964. That's Mike Garrett, who years later would be the ballcarrier in SB IV's famous "65 Toss Power Trap." Can you imagine that many empty seats at a Notre Dame-USC game today?

Butkus and the Monsters of the Midway. Note #79's helmet logo is different.

And finally, safe to say that helmet technology has made a few strides since then...

[infrared41]

Great find BlueSky! Now we can show these youngsters what NFL Football is supposed to look like.

And I don't care what anyone says, these are the best Rams uniforms of them all...

[BlueSky]

Great find BlueSky! Now we can show these youngsters what NFL Football is supposed to look like.

And I don't care what anyone says, these are the best Rams uniforms of them all...

Agreed. If they want gold, they could incorporate some trim. That helmet would look terrific with a very thin gold outline on the horn (Bucco Bruce did it in one of his concepts, but with white on the current horn). Some gold trim elsewhere and they'd be set. That's always been my favorite Rams set too. It's a simple but classic look.

Interesting too is this shot of Jim Brown from the '65 Pro Bowl. The jersey is clearly the Rams template just done in a different color (note sleeve numbers).

[BlueSky]

More fantastic color from Dave Boss' portfolio. Love this stuff!

Really just amazes me how empty the Coliseum looks in some of these shots, I guess because it holds 100,000 so even if you had 60,000 or 70,000 it might look spotty. This is from November 1965 so it was a regular season game. Lombardi looks pretty lonely.

Ray Nitschke - great player, great linebacker name.

Joe Don Looney of the Lions, 1965. He ended up with the expansion Saints.

WR Gale Cogdill - note no outline around the lion:

These are all from the '66 Puerto Rico photo shoot:

G Pete Case

RB Pete Retzlaff

C Mick Tinglehoff

DB Pat Fischer (future Redskin); not sure what the no mask deal is, whether these guys were playing without 'em as late as '66.

[BlueSky]

Obviously Dave lived in L.A. - these are all from the Coliseum:

What great glimpses into the past.

[Harmening]

I'm tryin' to get on board with the rams uni love, but I can't. They just scream 'boring as hell' to me. They just look unfinished.

[rentz]

RB Pete Retzlaff

Wow, can you imagine this jersey on a modern template?

But anyways, these are great. Wonderful quality. Really gives a glimpse into the past.

[crashcarson15]

For all you young 'uns who only know Ron Jaworski as 'that guy on Monday Night Football,' yes, he was once the QB of the Eagles...

...and the QB of the Youngstown State Penguins!

[infrared41]

I'm tryin' to get on board with the rams uni love, but I can't. They just scream 'boring as hell' to me. They just look unfinished.

It's because you're conditioned to think that there has to be three colors or more and a bunch more stripes before it's "finished." The beauty is in the simplicity. Sometimes less really is more.

EDIT: I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just what we're used to these days. A really basic look like the old Rams is going to look really simple when compared with today's look.

[Harmening]

I'm tryin' to get on board with the rams uni love, but I can't. They just scream 'boring as hell' to me. They just look unfinished.

It's because you're conditioned to think that there has to be three colors or more and a bunch more stripes before it's "finished." The beauty is in the simplicity. Sometimes less really is more.

EDIT: I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just what we're used to these days. A really basic look like the old Rams is going to look really simple when compared with today's look.

Yeah, I know what you're sayin', but when I look at the Colts unis, I like 'em. My family is mostly Iowa State football fans, and hate their new uniforms, but I like those, too.

I think the first thing I notice is the white helmet logo. Maybe if the shell was white, and the logo blue, it would seem different to me. I really don't know.

Edit-- On second thought, I love the Penn State uniforms, too. I must just have it in my mind that the Rams need more color than that.

[PurpleRush]

Not a fan of those Rams jerseys either.

I feel like I'm looking at a black and white photo.

I personally don't need triple colors but

my faves were the 79 SB era Rams sets.

Maybe it's the shade of blue, but I'm with Harmening,

I don't feel that way with the Colts basic blue and white.

[CJworks]

What a great topic. Such amazing pics, great find Blue!

[Sport]

For one, this helmet looks like it would be about as protective as a wearing a box on your head, and two, it's interesting that it doesn't say "steelers" in the logo.

[BlueSky]

For one, this helmet looks like it would be about as protective as a wearing a box on your head, and two, it's interesting that it doesn't say "steelers" in the logo.

From the Steelers' website...

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The Steelers logo is based on the Steelmark logo belonging to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Created by U.S. Steel Corp. (now known as USX Corp.), the logo contains three hypocycloids (diamond shapes)...Cleveland's Republic Steel suggested to the Steelers that they use the Steelmark as a helmet logo.

In the 1960s, U.S. Steel turned over the Steelmark program to the AISI, where it came to represent the steel industry as a whole. During the 1970s, the logo's meaning was extended to include the three materials used to produce steel: yellow for coal, orange for ore and blue for steel scrap. In the late 1980s, when the AISI founded the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI), the logo took on a new life reminiscent of its 1950s meaning.

The Steelers had to petition the AISI in order to change the word "Steel" inside the Steelmark to "Steelers" before the logo was complete.

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