Bills confirm new uniform for 2011

[mmejia]

I'm a little underwhelmed by this set. Someone mentioned earlier that these looked a lot better on the illustrations and I agree with that. I was also looking forward to blue pants, but at the very least we will be spared an all-blue monochrome.

I do credit the Bills on the shade of blue they've chosen. It's unique and will help them stand out from other blue teams like the Giants.

[infrared41]

Why is it that no one ever complains about black shoes with green and gold or red, white, and blue, or powder blue, or orange and brown, and so on... but they lose their minds over a gray facemask with those colors? The shoes aren't using any of the colors of the uniforms either.

Probably because the face mask is front and center when you look at a player, and therefore should fit the color scheme of the uniform.

Then shouldn't that rule apply to the entire uniform? It's not like we don't see the shoes. In fact, Nike, et al, go out of their way to make sure we notice shoes.

The shoes aren't front and center; the face masks are.

That is simply a matter of perspective.

[DG_YouKnowWhatThatMeans]

I'm a Bills fan, happy to see something new, so my expectations were pretty low. After seeing these in real life, yeah, they look good. Although, I think the throwbacks they used the past two seasons were kind of nicer and they could have just used those. Either way, it's an improvement than the 2002-2010 uniforms.

I will say, however, that the difference between the authentics and replicas underscores some of the issues I've raised in the China counterfeit thread; namely, Reebok's QC sucks and expecting people to pay $85 for something that now looks drastically different than the on-field jersey is ludicrous.

Finally, is that an NFL Equipment shield on that soldier's prosthetic foot?

[smith03]

Why is it that no one ever complains about black shoes with green and gold or red, white, and blue, or powder blue, or orange and brown, and so on... but they lose their minds over a gray facemask with those colors? The shoes aren't using any of the colors of the uniforms either.

Probably because the face mask is front and center when you look at a player, and therefore should fit the color scheme of the uniform.

Then shouldn't that rule apply to the entire uniform? It's not like we don't see the shoes. In fact, Nike, et al, go out of their way to make sure we notice shoes.

The shoes aren't front and center; the face masks are.

That is simply a matter of perspective.

advocate for color shoes than. the teams tend to market their helmets not their shoes as a logo so the "logo" should be made up of team colors. i support team color chin straps

[iconoclast]

Why is it that no one ever complains about black shoes with green and gold or red, white, and blue, or powder blue, or orange and brown, and so on... but they lose their minds over a gray facemask with those colors? The shoes aren't using any of the colors of the uniforms either.

Probably because the face mask is front and center when you look at a player, and therefore should fit the color scheme of the uniform.

Then shouldn't that rule apply to the entire uniform? It's not like we don't see the shoes. In fact, Nike, et al, go out of their way to make sure we notice shoes.

The shoes aren't front and center; the face masks are.

That is simply a matter of perspective.

advocate for color shoes than. the teams tend to market their helmets not their shoes as a logo so the "logo" should be made up of team colors. i support team color chin straps

The original question was why don't people complain as much about shoes as they do about face masks. I speculated that is because face masks are prominent; most people tend not to notice the shoes.

[BlueSky]

• Tapered helmet stripe on a classic helmet with gray facemask, paired with a traditional jersey and pant striping = FAIL

I haven't seen any pictures that reveal a tapered helmet stripe. If I missed it in this thread, someone please point me to the post. Thanks.

From the blogged someone linked to a few posts ago...

==

...I'm a fan of the idea of widening the center stripe of the helmet toward the back. This was done to mimic the stripe on the Bills logo, which widens as well.

==

I haven't seen a pic yet either, sounds interesting. At least they had some reasoning behind it. Judging from this pic, it has to be very slight.

The rear cooling slot looks like the buffalo has his tail up.

[Panthers]

Again, junk.

18 months ro come up with a shade of blue that sorta, kinda matches the 60's blue, a grey facemask, two sleeve stripes and a white helmet with a dull grey facemask. Hate to tell you but that could have been decided in a week.

Basically, there was no innovation here. The quality of NFL Properties work has fallen way, way off from what it was.

[mbannon92]

Why is it that no one ever complains about black shoes with green and gold or red, white, and blue, or powder blue, or orange and brown, and so on... but they lose their minds over a gray facemask with those colors? The shoes aren't using any of the colors of the uniforms either.

Probably because the face mask is front and center when you look at a player, and therefore should fit the color scheme of the uniform.

Then shouldn't that rule apply to the entire uniform? It's not like we don't see the shoes. In fact, Nike, et al, go out of their way to make sure we notice shoes.

The NFL only allows black or white shoes, and I believe one additional color besides black and white.

And concerning the uniforms, I love them. I think the striping looks great, and I don't have a problem with a little navy trim. IMO one of the best looks in the league now (with blue pants on the road of course ).

[BlueSky]

From an nfl.com article:

===

"One of the things we heard consistently was there was really no identifying mark on our jersey," said Marc Honan, the Bills' senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting

===

Yeah, Marc...that was the problem.

The widening helmet stripe is most evident on the one hanging at far left:

[infrared41]

advocate for color shoes than. the teams tend to market their helmets not their shoes as a logo so the "logo" should be made up of team colors. i support team color chin straps

The original question was why don't people complain as much about shoes as they do about face masks. I speculated that is because face masks are prominent; most people tend not to notice the shoes.

My point on the shoes was that if the Bills had come out with red shoes to go with that set, this place would have lost it's mind; despite the fact that red shoes "match" the rest of the set. No one complains that the shoes don't "match." Shoes are a vital part of the outfit, just ask any woman.

The gray facemask works in this case because it goes well with the rest of the color scheme.

[infrared41]

The NFL only allows black or white shoes, and I believe one additional color besides black and white.

That doesn't change the fact that the color of the shoes rarely matches the colors in the uniforms.

[BBTV]

It's clear that they intended for blue pants, otherwise there's no need for two sets of socks.

Re: shoes - I don't like black shoes on teams that don't wear black, and would always choose white or a team color (if allowed) if my team didn't have black jerseys or black as a big part of their scheme. The reason it's not bitched about by the GMHC (gray mask hate club) is because the helmet is really the representative of the team, as it's a default primary logo that's used all over the place. It makes a statement about the team way more than the shoes do. As for "that's simply a matter of perspective", if the shoes are front and center from your perspective, then you're probably about to be stepped on, and the color of spike that's about to crush your skull really doesn't matter much.

[Mac the Knife]

Just some quick thoughts as a casual observer...

(1) The design is a VAST improvement over what they had, but overall it could've been done better. That said though, it's good enough to last the rest of the Bills history, until Ralph Wilson dies and whoever buys the franchise relocates them.

(2) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, friggin' LOVE the return of the white helmets. They should've ditched the red helmets the day they ditched Joe Ferguson; why they stayed with them for so long is beyond me, but I'm so glad they're gone.

Other than that, no real complaints - not about gray facemasks, stripe widths, etc. I'm just glad that the monstrosity of a uniform they had for the past several years is now in their past.

[BlueSky]

advocate for color shoes than. the teams tend to market their helmets not their shoes as a logo so the "logo" should be made up of team colors. i support team color chin straps

The original question was why don't people complain as much about shoes as they do about face masks. I speculated that is because face masks are prominent; most people tend not to notice the shoes.

My point on the shoes was that if the Bills had come out with red shoes to go with that set, this place would have lost it's mind; despite the fact that red shoes "match" the rest of the set. No one complains that the shoes don't "match." Shoes are a vital part of the outfit, just ask any woman.

The gray facemask works in this case because it goes well with the rest of the color scheme.

Good God, man, football players don't wear OUTFITS!!!

Congrats, you earned the rare and coveted "Three Wackos" award.

Speaking of going crazy about somebody's shoes, you're probably old enough to remember this famous NFL scandal:

Yes, folks, they called him Joe Willie Whiteshoes and half the NFL crapped itself over somebody daring to wear white cleats.

[TurnTwo]

I was at the unveiling last night with some friends. The uniforms looked great, IMO but I'll post my full review later. Right now, I just wanted to bring some attention to the new wordmark that Andrew had alluded to earlier in the thread.

I bought one of the replica jerseys that came with a commemorative gift. The certificate of authenticity in the box had a detailed look at the new wordmark:

For reference, here's the old wordmark:

[Billy B]

The NFL only allows black or white shoes, and I believe one additional color besides black and white.

That doesn't change the fact that the color of the shoes rarely matches the colors in the uniforms.

I think it's pretty pointless to complain every time that someone uses black shoes if it's because of NFL rules. If gray facemasks were a rule, people wouldn't complain about them nearly as much. And for the record, I prefer white shoes on teams unless black is in their color scheme for the most part.

[ARTnSocal]

I haven't seen any pictures that reveal a tapered helmet stripe. If I missed it in this thread, someone please point me to the post. Thanks.

Hope this helps ....

[hawk36]

I was at the unveiling last night with some friends. The uniforms looked great, IMO but I'll post my full review later. Right now, I just wanted to bring some attention to the new wordmark that Andrew had alluded to earlier in the thread.

I bought one of the replica jerseys that came with a commemorative gift. The certificate of authenticity in the box had a detailed look at the new wordmark:

For reference, here's the old wordmark:

Like the updated wordmark. Still has character but slightly more refined. Nice.

[Panthers]

Only a few teams have worn shoes that match their uniforms (and I don't mean white or black with a team color).

Two I can think of: The Rams and Chargers both wore blue shoes in the 70's.

[njmeadowlanders]

I was at the unveiling last night with some friends. The uniforms looked great, IMO but I'll post my full review later. Right now, I just wanted to bring some attention to the new wordmark that Andrew had alluded to earlier in the thread.

I bought one of the replica jerseys that came with a commemorative gift. The certificate of authenticity in the box had a detailed look at the new wordmark:

For reference, here's the old wordmark:

That's a nice, subtle upgrade.