NIKE NFL Uniforms

[slats7]

i still dont understand the hate of metallic silver green. it's one of the best colors in all of sports.

the cowboys are a disaster and need to get a lot of things on their uniforms fixed... but i dont know that that specific color is one of the probems at all.

i love it. replace all the silvers and greys with metallic silver green. replace all the navy blue with royal blue. ditch all the black. suddenly, it's not a bad uniform at all.

I take it you're not a Dallas fan. That's the only explanation. Bottom line is that silver-green is an ugly, totally made up color that debuted in 1991 and has nothing to do with the traditional Dallas color scheme. The pants ideally should match the patina of the helmets, and no, making everything else green is not the answer. The answer lies in the past:

[darkhaha]

I hate to potentially derail this thread, but the Cowboys pants look even worse now than before Nike. Maybe it's the lighting here, but sweet jesus, this needs to come to an end.

I remember reading somewhere that the color was originally intended for old tube color televisions so it would look grey over the air. It appears now, even in the age of HD, that it's some sort of tradition. One that is butt ugly.

Be that as it may, what makes that color ugly? Or are you referring to the mismatch? I think they should "average" the helmet color and pants color and keep a somewhat teal tinged silver. It would certainly be unique. Granted, they need to go with either navy or royal blue as well.

The Cowboys really are a mess. Ha.

Helps to compare the present look to the original uni. A big part of the problem is the helmet is now plain silver and not the original silver-blue:

That palette was gorgeous. If they did nothing more than match their colors to those, their look would be untouchable.

Another Texas team liked it too...

Love all these pics -- always happy to see that gorgeous Oilers's set! Again, though, my question is this: If the Cowboys could get it right 50 years ago, how did so many people make so many poor aesthetic decisions that they ended up where they are today?

Side note to BlueSky: Just found out my wife and I get to go the Broncos-Saints game in October. Should be a barn-burner!

[_RH_]

I'm no Cowboys fan but was curious...

[Kevin W.]

No, the teal-gray helmet does not work. The pants need to be changed to the helmet color.

[shaydre1019]

Maybe I'm just used to it but the mismatching silvers don't bothe me at all. An there's ALOT of stuff that bothers me. I guess it's kind of an iconic look. Kinda like the Yankees mismatching logos, it just works for me.

With that being said I wouldn't be opposed to a whole overhaul and elimination of the royal.

[sonny]

No, the teal-gray helmet does not work. The pants need to be changed to the helmet color.

Agreed. The problem for me is this: it just doesn't go with anything. From the rest of the uniform to any retail items, the silvergreen just doesn't appear anywhere else in the entire identity of the franchise. It's a misplaced mess, throwing an already mismatched uniform into a cornucopia of uninspired dreck.

Funny thing is, the lower you go on this uniform, the worse it gets. Helmets- awesome, jerseys- meh, pants- ugh, socks- barf.

[dissident93]

I made a crude mockup of what the pic would look like with the silver pants. And if you don't mind the semi-rough edges of the pic I did, you'd think the foam green was the shopped pic!

[Kevin W.]

Instant improvement. Much better.

[Gothamite]

The problem for me is this: it just doesn't go with anything. From the rest of the uniform to any retail items, the silvergreen just doesn't appear anywhere else in the entire identity of the franchise. It's a misplaced mess, throwing an already mismatched uniform into a cornucopia of uninspired dreck.

That's because you were never supposed to see the green-silver. It was intended to look on television like the blue-silver of the helmet.

When the Adventures of Superman television show started in the 1950s, they broadcast in black and white. Problem is that the famous blue-and-red costume, when photographed in black and white, doesn't look like it should be blue and red. The colors are too close in hue, making it a muddy mess. So the costume department had to take some liberties with the color scheme to get the result they wanted on black and white TVs.

Just like the Cowboys later did with their green-silver pants. The only difference is that brown and gray were never enshrined as official colors for the Man of Steel's costume.

[PhlyBoy]

The mismatched silvers/bluegreens and how the blue on the white jersey is different from the blue on the blue jersey and the star on the helmet of the Cowboys is my biggest pet peeve in all of sports. They would look soooo good with pants that matched the silver and the Darker blue instead of the lighter blue on the white unis. Would be a Mega-Upgrade IMO

[Harmening]

so theres your problem!

Fix the helmets, not the pants!

Well, fix both. The pants were a bluish silver instead of a greenish silver back then. Oh, and fix the blues, since they should wear that old shade of dark royal blue on both the white and blue jerseys.

I could live with this shade of blue.

That facemask makes me smile. I had that same one on my youth football helmet back in '81. I felt like a total bad-ass. Everyone else had the one or two bar masks.

[Raysfan12]

Instant improvement. Much better.

Changing the pants goes a long way to improve the 'Boys uniforms.

[pittfan11]

Have the Chiefs ever worn all red? Didn't think this was worth starting a thread.

[Lights Out]

Boom... problems: solved.

[patsox]

Boom... problems: solved.

Haha nope.

[cloverfield91]

I'm not sure if its been said yet but the chargers will wear all white for their home opener against the titans.

[sonny]

The problem for me is this: it just doesn't go with anything. From the rest of the uniform to any retail items, the silvergreen just doesn't appear anywhere else in the entire identity of the franchise. It's a misplaced mess, throwing an already mismatched uniform into a cornucopia of uninspired dreck.

That's because you were never supposed to see the green-silver. It was intended to look on television like the blue-silver of the helmet.

When the Adventures of Superman television show started in the 1950s, they broadcast in black and white. Problem is that the famous blue-and-red costume, when photographed in black and white, doesn't look like it should be blue and red. The colors are too close in hue, making it a muddy mess. So the costume department had to take some liberties with the color scheme to get the result they wanted on black and white TVs.

Just like the Cowboys later did with their green-silver pants. The only difference is that brown and gray were never enshrined as official colors for the Man of Steel's costume.

Yes, I know we were never supposed to see it. But it's 2012. We see it. We've been seeing it for 20 years. It's time to end the madness.

What really grinds my gears is that they have the silver pants already. IIRC, TO would ashew the silvergreen for the straight up silver. Much better look.

[John in KY]

Instant improvement. Much better.

Changing the pants goes a long way to improve the 'Boys uniforms.

That's getting there using today's materials.

Actually it's pretty damn close to this helmet on HelmetHut - it was supposed to be Staubach's helmet for 1973 but he switched to the Marietta (Marietta became MaxPro a couple years later) clear-shell helmet that year so it was never worn on the field:

Also I think the start of the Marietta/MaxPros was when the Cowboys helmets got screwed up - the ones like Riddell painted on the outside were far more blue than the clearshells (Marietta/MaxPro and MacGregor/Kelley) which came off more silver.

[knnhrvy16]

Boom... problems: solved.

I'm fine with either jersey as a throwback/alternate. Full-time, though? I'm not so sure. It was a good attempt at a modernization of the inagurals (if that was the intent; I always assumed it was), but it's one of those uniforms that while working for its time, I'm not sure it'd translate as well in the current time. It straddles gaudy a bit, even though I do like the idea. I think that's why the 60's "throwback" (in quotes because of the obvious color innacuracy, which if fixed would make them perfect) works so well today. It's the same idea, but is a little less gaudy and simplified. It provides more staying power. I don't know, like I said I wouldn't mind the '94's as a one-time or even occasional throwback, but I think it'd be unneccessary when the 60's ones get the same idea exemplified with more polish to it. Not sure if all that makes sense, but that's just how I see it.

[Lights Out]

The sheer gaudiness of those uniforms are precisely why they'd be the absolute PERFECT full-time set for the freaking Dallas Cowboys.