NFL Weekly Uniform Notes

[TopCat]

The Pats uniforms really are awful. Always have hated them. Mismatched mess.

[TruColor]

I watched about 30 seconds of the Cards game. There was a CB wearing what appeared to be reversed socks. He seemed to have the red pulled down and white showing at the top. It actually looked very nice breaking up the leotard look.

Not sure I like it, but it's interesting. I think I prefer it to the leotard look, at least.

A couple of weeks ago I tweeted a number of Cards players, suggesting that they wear the alt Black socks with the Red pants.

Not one reply.

(I'm SHOCKED!)

[BBTV]

I'm surprised you actually like those Pats uniforms, infrared. I think they're just as bad as the Bills' set - ridiculous piping, side panels that don't match the pants stripes, and a hideous font. Easily one of the worst sets in the league, IMO, and totally worthy of the title of "clown suit."

Actually they do. On the home uniform (Blue top/Silver pants) the side panel stripes red/blue (color of jersey)/red just like the pants. And then for the away uniform (white top/blue pants) the side panel stripes are white(color of jersey)/red/blue/red/white just like the pants.

In theory they match up, but the red on the pants is a thicker stripe while the jersey uses piping. The red stripe on the jersey is much thinner than the red stripe on the pants, and that has always bothered me about their uniforms. That, and they're really generic. There's nothing about the striping, shoulder taper, side panels that says "Patriots" to me. Their template would work for any team in football.

Really though, how many teams can that not be said about? All of the "traditional" teams fit this description (there's nothing team-specific about stripes, and many teams have worn both shoulder and sleeve stripes), there's nothing "Cardinal"ish about their jerseys, or "Eagle"ish about their jerseys, etc. Other than the Bengals, Chargers, and maybe Vikings (and that's a stretch), you could mix and match any team on any template and justify the reasons for the inclusion of each element. There may be one or two other teams too, that was just off the top of my head.

[infrared41]

I'm surprised you actually like those Pats uniforms, infrared. I think they're just as bad as the Bills' set - ridiculous piping, side panels that don't match the pants stripes, and a hideous font. Easily one of the worst sets in the league, IMO, and totally worthy of the title of "clown suit."

It's all relative. It's not like they're one of my favorites or anything. Do I like the Patriots unis better than most "traditional" uniforms? (Jets, Packers, Raiders, Browns, etc.) No. I like them in the context of "modern" or "updated" looks. They're a damned sight better than Cincinnati, Arizona, or Minnesota. Or San Diego for that matter. (Really, my main problems with the Chargers look, are the number font and the shoulder stripes. They both just look stupid.)

Here's what I like about the Patriots look; the color scheme is cool. Navy, silver, and red look really good together in my opinion. Again, in the context of "modern", their number font is one of the better ones. It's not some ridiculous "font for font's sake" like Baltimore or Detroit. I think the helmet sucks. The truth is that if I ranked all 32 uniforms from first to worst, the Patriots would probably be in the 16-32 range. As I said, how much I like their look is relative to what I'm comparing it to. I'm also not that caught up in making sure every element of a uniform "matches." Keep in mind that my opinion is that of a layperson. I'm not a designer or artist like you guys are so I'm never entirely sure what it is I'm supposed to be looking at. For me it's pretty simple, I either like the look or I don't. Whether or not everything matches isn't that important to me.

Finally, when it comes to bad uniforms, the Bills are in a league all by themselves. The Patriots aren't even close.

[Lights Out]

The funny thing is, one of the things you specifically mentioned disliking about the Chargers' look - the shoulder stripes - is probably the most traditional part of their look.

In addition, I'd be a very happy man if the Chargers brought back yellow pants to wear with the already amazing powder blues.

[infrared41]

The funny thing is, one of the things you specifically mentioned disliking about the Chargers' look - the shoulder stripes - is probably the most traditional part of their look.

My mistake. I wasn't clear in what I was saying about the shoulder stripes on the Chargers current set. The positioning of the new shoulder stripes looks stupid. These pictures may help explain what I meant...

The new stripes look ridiculous. It's like they're sideways or something. Up until this current look, the Chargers never had a uniform that wasn't at the top of my list of favorites. I loved them all. Even these...

and these...

Hope that clears up what I meant.

[BrandMooreArt]

The funny thing is, one of the things you specifically mentioned disliking about the Chargers' look - the shoulder stripes - is probably the most traditional part of their look.

My mistake. I wasn't clear in what I was saying about the shoulder stripes on the Chargers current set. The positioning of the new shoulder stripes looks stupid. These pictures may help explain what I meant...

The new stripes look ridiculous. It's like they're sideways or something. Up until this current look, the Chargers never had a uniform that wasn't at the top of my list of favorites. I loved them all. Even these...

and these...

Hope that clears up what I meant.

i see what you're saying and i agree somewhat. but, i think what they did with the new jersey is a fairly good solution to the modern template. if i recall correctly, they wanted to make the player look wider/bigger which was half the reason for the "sideways" stripe. the other is the problem of getting the TV numbers and stripe to both be consistant and uniform. getting the TV number on top of the shoulder where its most visible (not getting tucked under the pads) and still having the lightning bolt on the jersey.

also, check out Bobby in that pic, you know hes about to come of that block and up LT! lol

[TheOldRoman]

I'm surprised you actually like those Pats uniforms, infrared. I think they're just as bad as the Bills' set - ridiculous piping, side panels that don't match the pants stripes, and a hideous font. Easily one of the worst sets in the league, IMO, and totally worthy of the title of "clown suit."

It's all relative. It's not like they're one of my favorites or anything. Do I like the Patriots unis better than most "traditional" uniforms? (Jets, Packers, Raiders, Browns, etc.) No. I like them in the context of "modern" or "updated" looks. They're a damned sight better than Cincinnati, Arizona, or Minnesota. Or San Diego for that matter. (Really, my main problems with the Chargers look, are the number font and the shoulder stripes. They both just look stupid.)

Here's what I like about the Patriots look; the color scheme is cool. Navy, silver, and red look really good together in my opinion. Again, in the context of "modern", their number font is one of the better ones. It's not some ridiculous "font for font's sake" like Baltimore or Detroit. I think the helmet sucks. The truth is that if I ranked all 32 uniforms from first to worst, the Patriots would probably be in the 16-32 range. As I said, how much I like their look is relative to what I'm comparing it to. I'm also not that caught up in making sure every element of a uniform "matches." Keep in mind that my opinion is that of a layperson. I'm not a designer or artist like you guys are so I'm never entirely sure what it is I'm supposed to be looking at. For me it's pretty simple, I either like the look or I don't. Whether or not everything matches isn't that important to me.

Finally, when it comes to bad uniforms, the Bills are in a league all by themselves. The Patriots aren't even close.

I agree that the Patriots' jerseys are among the best of the modern jerseys. However, they still suck. I think the silly tron-like number font sucks, especially for a team called the Patriots which should be using more classical immagery. They aren't as bad as the Chargers, of course, but these unis would benefit from standard block or even thin block numbers and a normal letter font for the back. The piping-pant stripe issue was mentioned. I don't like the total removal of silver from the road look. The navy pants are fine, but it doesn't make sense to have a silver number outline on the navy jersey, yet go navy-white-red on the white jerseys. On top of that, the logo is horrible. So, while the Patriots could have done a lot worse, they also could have done better.

[infrared41]

So, while the Patriots could have done a lot worse, they also could have done better.

That pretty well sums up my thoughts on their uniforms. Are they great overall? No, but when compared to other "modern" looks they suddenly look a lot better. For example...

[BBTV]

Wow, those photos just made me think that the Cardinals would look much better in recolored Patriots uniforms, and the Patriots might look OK in recolored Cardinals outfits.

[SmoothieX]

I think this is a good point. i am a huge Pats fan, but I really don't like their unis, particularly the roads. But yeah, it could be worse, like Minnesota, Atlanta, Cincy, etc.

Plus I really liked the previous incarnation of Flying Elvis, so they replaced something I liked with something I can't stand.

Oh well, if they go on to win this year, they could wear chicken suits for all I care.

[infrared41]

I think this is a good point. i am a huge Pats fan, but I really don't like their unis, particularly the roads. But yeah, it could be worse, like Minnesota, Atlanta, Cincy, etc.

Plus I really liked the previous incarnation of Flying Elvis, so they replaced something I liked with something I can't stand.

Oh well, if they go on to win this year, they could wear chicken suits for all I care.

I think if they kept the current colors but used them on the uniform pictured below with a silver helmet they'd have one of the best looks in the league. In other words, replace the red with navy, make the pants and helmet silver, change the blue shoulder stripes to red and leave the stripes on the helmet like they are or go with a variation of the mid 80's helmet stripes in red, white, and blue. This is one of those times I wish I had the talent to do a concept or at least photoshop a picture to illustrate what I mean. I can see it in my head and it looks really good.

[BrandMooreArt]

yea not bad. Colts-like

[infrared41]

yea not bad. Colts-like

That's pretty much what I was thinking except I'd use the old Patriot on the helmet. Thanks for taking the time to illustrate what I was saying. Now that I see the silver pants I'm thinking maybe white would be better. My idea has them looking like a cross between the Colts and Giants.

[Lights Out]

That'd go over well - a cross between two teams that Patriots fans hate.

I still think 1995 jerseys + 1993 pants would be their best option.

[infrared41]

That'd go over well - a cross between two teams that Patriots fans hate.

Now you know why I leave the concepts to you guys. What can I say? It looked good in my head.

[Chawls]

That'd go over well - a cross between two teams that Patriots fans hate.

I still think 1995 jerseys + 1993 pants would be their best option.

Swap the '95 jerseys for the '94 jerseys and I'd be cool with it.

[oldschoolvikings]

That'd go over well - a cross between two teams that Patriots fans hate.

I still think 1995 jerseys + 1993 pants would be their best option.

Those 95 jerseys are thankfully dead and buried. Just like the horrible Dallas double-stars that inspired them. There are probably only a half dozen people in the world that even remember/liked either of those jerseys... unfortunatly they all post here

[SmoothieX]

That'd go over well - a cross between two teams that Patriots fans hate.

Now you know why I leave the concepts to you guys. What can I say? It looked good in my head.

Haha, after a second look at them, it looks like a Manning mashup spectacular.