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NFL Team colors...


wdm1219inpenna

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I want to, on this Super Bowl Sunday, go over the 32 NFL teams and their team colors. I tried to research this a bit, but didn't find much. Some team colors are obvious.

Miami - Aqua & orange, the sun is orange, the water is an aqua color.

New England - Red,white, blue & silver, obviously since our nation's colors are red, white & blue. The silver helmet is a nice touch.

New York Jets - Green & white. I know at one time Mr. Hess owned the Jets, and Hess Gasoline is associated with the color green. I also know Sonny Werblin purchased the then New York Titans from Harry Wismer in 1963 and renamed the team the Jets in honor of the space age or "jet age", as well as anticipating playing at Shea Stadium in 1964, located between 2 airports. That the Jets & Mets names rhymed was kind of cool too but that's now the reason they were named the Jets, this according to long time Jets P.R. person Frank Ramos. But why green? Any idea?

Buffalo - I know they had been blue & silver, just like the Lions back in the early 1960s, since Ralph Wilson I believe was part owner of the Lions. I'm assuming he switched to red, white & blue because of it being the "American" Football League, but I'm not sure.

Pittsburgh Steelers - Black & gold are the colors of the flag of Pittsburgh, so this makes sense to me. I know the 3 diamond cycloid things represent iron, steel & something else I believe :-\ One of the greatest logos ever. I just wish they'd put it on both sides of the helmet...

Baltimore Ravens - Black & purple make sense, since Ravens are black and I believe depending on how the sunlight hits them, sometimes a shade of purple is seen too.

Cleveland Browns - Brown obviously but the orange I believe was due to Paul Brown switching to orange helmets, so Otto Graham would have an easier time spotting receivers. I seem to recall reading that once, but don't recall when or from what source.

Cincinnati Bengals - Orange & black makes perfect sense since tigers are associated with those colors.

Tennessee Titans - Sky blue, red & white. I know part of the current logo incorporates part of the flag of Tennessee. I also know the Titans kept the old Houston Oilers colors which leads me to the question, if oil is black, why did the Oilers go with sky blue? My only guess is when oil shoots up from an oil rig, it goes up into the sky.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Black, teal & gold. The black & gold make up the colors to represent the jaguar itself. I'm assuming teal since it's Florida, and/or something unique and to break up the otherwise dull color scheme. Very sad to read that the Jags will have all black uniforms as primary......there are enough teams in black w/the Steelers, sometimes the Ravens, Bengals, Raiders, and very dark blue, Texans, Bears, Broncos, Chargers, Titans. Do we really need ANOTHER team in very dark uniforms?!?!

Houston Texans - Represents the state flag, makes sense, and the helmet color a midnight blue to make it stand out.

Indianapolis (formerly Baltimore) Colts. Any idea why blue was chosen for the team color?

Denver Broncos - I recently read where the orange represents the sunset, the white of the horse is for the horse and also for snow. The dark blue I guess is so they stand out more? The old helmets with the sky blue I guess represented the open skies associated with Colorado. I actually prefer and still miss that helmet & look, vs. the orange suspenders.

Oakland Raiders - Used to be black & gold, made sense since raiders are pirates looking for gold or silver, so it makes sense now to be silver & black.

Kansas City Chiefs/Dallas Texans - White, red & gold. I know the Texans always had red helmets and carried that over into K.C. Chiefs refers sometimes to indians, and sometimes indians are referred to as "redskins", so is this the tie-in with them having red? I know the gold came from the star that represented Houston. What does the gold represent now, aside from it looking aesthetically pleasing of course?

San Diego Chargers - Gold lightning bolt makes sense. I always prefered that on the dark helmet, made it stand out more, made it look like a dark sky with a bolt of thunder. The gold bolt on the white helmet doesn't do it for me as much. Too many teams with white helmets (Cardinals, Jets, Dolphins, Bills, Chargers, Colts, Titans).

Dallas Cowboys - Metallic blue & dark blue. Any particular reason why those colors were chosen?

Washington Redskins - The burgundy color goes well with the logo. Classic look. I'm guessing burgundy and gold to represent native Americans.

New York Giants - Red, white & blue. American colors. Is this why they chose those colors?

Philadelphia Eagles - Silver, white & midnight green (used to be Kelly green which I prefer)...as with the Jets, why green? I know the Eagles got their nickname during the Great Depression, inspired by a billboard of some sort.

Green Bay Packers - Green makes sense. Gold? I know Wisconsin makes a lot of cheese, is that where the gold ties in?

Chicago Bears - Dark midnight blue & orange. The dark blue simulates the color of a grizzly bear I'm guessing. Why orange for the "C"?

Detroit Lions - Silver & Hawaiian blue. Detroit is the last place I associate with Hawaii. Any idea why the team came up with those colors for the Lions?

Minnesota Vikings - Gold & purple. I'm guessing given the Nordic ties and purple being associated with Vikings, this is why that color was taken?

Atlanta Falcons - Silver, black, red & white. They used to have white, red, black & gold to honor Georgia & Georgia Tech, but soon ditched the gold striping. I understand that's why the Falcons have red as a color.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Pewter & red. I guess red looks good for that makeshift Jolly Roger flag logo, and the pewter has a golden appearance, and pirates often search(ed) for gold.

Carolina Panthers - Black makes sense as panthers are black, tarheel blue makes sense too. I guess they went with silver just for appearance?

New Orleans Saints - Why Old Gold & black?

St. Louis Rams - Gold & very dark/midnight blue. They used to have navy blue and yellow/gold which I prefer. The dark blue makes the ram horn stand out more. Rams horns have a golden/yellowish color to them I'm guessing, though at one point they had the white horns on the helmet, a very dull look.

San Francisco 49ers - red & gold. Gold seems obvious, 49ers panned for gold, which makes me question why the 49ers once had silver helmets back in the early 60s? Any idea? I guess 49ers panned for silver too?? And why red?

Seattle Seahawks - Colors represent the sea-faring image of the Pacific Northwest. I prefer the old color set of silver, green & blue.

Arizona Cardinals - Obviously red & black since red & black make up the colors of the bird itself.

Any feedback would be appreciated, especially the Jets & Eagles...why green??

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The Bears took blue and orange from the University of Illinois and presumably stopped doing the laundry till they dirtied to the darker tones they are now.

The Cardinals took maroon from the University of Chicago after they had done the laundry too much and they faded to cardinal red.

The Packers took their colors from Notre Dame and phased out the blue about fifty years ago.

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Yup, Curly Lambeau played at Notre Dame before forming the Packers and brought their tradition of blue & gold, but occasionally green to Green Bay with him. Green & Gold didn't become official until Vince Lombardi's first year when he insisted "We're the GREEN Bay Packers!"

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Buffalo - I know they had been blue & silver, just like the Lions back in the early 1960s, since Ralph Wilson I believe was part owner of the Lions. I'm assuming he switched to red, white & blue because of it being the "American" Football League, but I'm not sure.

Not sure. But I know they switched to red helmets in the 70s to see them better through the snow.

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The Browns' colors actually have nothing to do with the team's name. The team was named after Paul Brown signed his contract in 1945. A 'name the team' contest was conducted in the The Plain Dealer. The most popular submission was 'Browns' in recognition of Brown, who was already an established and popular figure in Ohio sports, having coached at Washington High School in Massillon and at Ohio State. Brown at first objected to the name and the team selected from the collection of contest entries the name 'Panthers.' An area businessman, however, informed the team that he owned the rights to the name Cleveland Panthers from an earlier failed football team, and another contest was held with the winning entry being 'Brown Bombers.' It was shortened to 'Browns' as Brown rescinded his objection to the name and agreed to the use of the name 'Browns.' The Browns' first training camp took place at Bowling Green State University, whose colors are brown and orange. Paul Brown reportedly saw in town a woman with an elaborate hat of brown and orange feathers and, struck by the beauty of the combination, made those the team's colors.

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I've heard the Eagles' green and silver were based on the color of currency, with Philly having one of two mints in the country.

The Buccaneers' Jolly Roger is red because the term maybe comes from the French "joli rouge" which translates to "pretty red." A red flag on a pirate ship meant the pirates would fight to the death.

The Saints have black and gold because the original owner, John Mecom, was a big player in the oil industry. Oil is sometimes known as "black gold". The Saints were originally going to use a medium blue, but the NFL told the team they would look too much like the Chargers.

The Lions use Honolulu blue because it matched the best with silver. No other reason than that.

The Bears don't use dark navy because it simulates a bear. Probably chosen because the owner liked the colors. There are no navy bears in any forest as far as I know.

Smart is believing half of what you hear. Genius is knowing which half.

 

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The Broncos have never had sky blue helmets or sky blue in their colors, it was always a shade of royal blue.

The orange & blue was chosen by the fans after the 1961 season when the owners burned the ugly brown and yellow uniforms. They had an open vote at the stadium for new colors and the fans chose the orange & blue uniforms.

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Im pretty sure Pewter is sort of a cannon ball color, so that's why it's there.

I read about how Reebok wanted a "new neutral" color for the NFL, and they chose pewter.

The Buccaneers changed to pewter and red long before reebok took over the uniform contract

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The Cardinals took maroon from the University of Chicago after they had done the laundry too much and they faded to cardinal red.

That one is sort of an urban legend. Sounds good, but no real facts to back it up.

Oh and the Pewter that the Bucs use is interesting, because I believe it was a color that had been proposed for the Ravens as well.

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I know the 3 diamond cycloid things represent iron, steel & something else I believe :-\ One of the greatest logos ever. I just wish they'd put it on both sides of the helmet...

Yep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelmark

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It isn't? Because the Chargers at least call it Electric Blue for merchandise purposes.

http://www.amazon.co...y/dp/B00479GFEU

http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B0048UIO74

http://www.goteamsho...-_Electric_Blue

What's the official name of the color, if it isn't Electric Blue?

Powder blue.

SanDiegoChargers_FRC_9999_SCC_SRGB.png

(As he quotes my own site!)

Every "official" listing I've ever seen (e.g., the NFL Record & Fact Book for one), lists it as what I have on my site.

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I've always heard it referred to as Powder Blue too. I never thought of why it was named that. I always assumed the color choice was the for color of the SoCal sky but then I guess it would be called Sky Blue.

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Im pretty sure Pewter is sort of a cannon ball color, so that's why it's there.

I read about how Reebok wanted a "new neutral" color for the NFL, and they chose pewter.

Reebok didnt come up with the new Bucs scheme. The new stuff came out in 1997 and Wilson made their unis. Then came Adidas prior to the Reebok monopoly era.

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