2013 NFL uniform/logo changes

[TruColor]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

[Island_Style]

Way more individuality today. Just about all of those jerseys in the 60's look the same. Just different colors. The look of today has more variety than just a different color.

[Gothamite]

color trends during 2 different eras and general progression of the brands have called for colors that represent them in a different way.

the NFL's product is a football game, but what they sell us is a "long tradition of epic battles between legendary warriors". still theres an emphasis on "professionalism" and thats where dark colors work better (and sell better) to their current audience. think of the diference between a "professional" 40 year old man in a navy blue suit and one in a royal blue one. the navy says "modern, trustworthy, mature"

Oh, balderdash. Navy blue matches better with a pair of khaki slacks, so the suburbanites are more likely to buy a t-shirt. Black accessories with everything, so kids are more likely to buy a cap. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.

It's worth noting that at this period, 1961, merchandising was in its infancy, and targeted almost exclusively to children. That's how you can have a unique color combination to almost every single team, even without their helmets on.

[Gothamite]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Primaries, maybe. But when the Jaguars wore their black jerseys and white pants, and the Eagles their black jerseys and white pants, and the Falcons their black jerseys and white pants, all with black or dark helmets, not so much. And that's not counting the Cardinals with their black jerseys and white pants, set apart only by their white helmets. It's oftentimes much harder to decipher at a glance than it used to be.

[seahawk9]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Primaries, maybe. But when the Jaguars wore their black jerseys and white pants, and the Eagles their black jerseys and white pants, and the Falcons their black jerseys and white pants, all with black or dark helmets, not so much. And that's not counting the Cardinals with their black jerseys and white pants, set apart only by their white helmets. It's oftentimes much harder to decipher at a glance than it used to be.

Thank you......................

[Xist2inspire]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Primaries, maybe. But when the Jaguars wore their black jerseys and white pants, and the Eagles their black jerseys and white pants, and the Falcons their black jerseys and white pants, all with black or dark helmets, not so much. And that's not counting the Cardinals with their black jerseys and white pants, set apart only by their white helmets. It's oftentimes much harder to decipher at a glance than it used to be.

That's just natural, though. We're at 32 teams, correct? It's very hard for each team to look completely unique from each other with every combo they wear.

I suppose the real problem is with teams using combos they have no business using (here's looking at your black jerseys, Cardinals & Eagles).

[Gothamite]

Yep, that's "real problem" enough.

The Broncos back in orange is a good start. The Jaguars moving to black as their primary is a step in the wrong direction.

[CrookedThumb]

The Bucs' throwback game is gonna be against Arizona per ESPN's NFC South Blog. They also made a big deal about the Bucs wearing pink accents during the game against Philadelphia. I don't know if that means anything special or if Pat Yasinskas (the NFC South blogger) is just completely unaware of what's been happening during the past four Octobers.

[Tracy MidGrady]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Primaries, maybe. But when the Jaguars wore their black jerseys and white pants, and the Eagles their black jerseys and white pants, and the Falcons their black jerseys and white pants, all with black or dark helmets, not so much. And that's not counting the Cardinals with their black jerseys and white pants, set apart only by their white helmets. It's oftentimes much harder to decipher at a glance than it used to be.

Thank you......................

Those black and white combinations are worn no more than twice a year by the cardinals, falcons, and the eagles hardly wear those black jerseys, only the jags wear them regularly and that wasn't until last year

Maybe its me but when I see a NFL team I immediately know who they are

[ADW77]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Primaries, maybe. But when the Jaguars wore their black jerseys and white pants, and the Eagles their black jerseys and white pants, and the Falcons their black jerseys and white pants, all with black or dark helmets, not so much. And that's not counting the Cardinals with their black jerseys and white pants, set apart only by their white helmets. It's oftentimes much harder to decipher at a glance than it used to be.

Thank you......................

Those black and white combinations are worn no more than twice a year by the cardinals, falcons, and the eagles hardly wear those black jerseys, only the jags wear them regularly and that wasn't until last year

Maybe its me but when I see a NFL team I immediately know who they are

The one and only time I get a little thrown is the Jets AFL Titans throwback, but only for a moment. Outside of that, I can always tell who's playing, so I really don't understand the complaints being that it's not easy to recognize who is playing in a given game. Regardless of my beliefs on how there needs to be a massive overhaul with the NFL and their uniforms and designs, that doesn't change the fact that it's not difficult to tell teams who are playing when even catching a short clip of a game.

[Gothamite]

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that last point, especially when the alternates are in play.

[Slater]

I always thought that the rams' horns (both on the helmet and jersey) of the current Rams throwbacks look pretty anemic compared to the "classic" look. Of course, everyone wore sleeves back then:

[BrandMooreArt]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Same. And with the number of teams now they had to start introducing a variety of shapes along with unique colors. Since that has happened uniforms have definitely become more identifiable. Not always "better" but theres a strong identity to each one.

[oldschoolvikings]

I don't think it's such an issue of being able to identify the teams at a glance... at least not to me. Yes, obviously, I know I'm looking at the Rams, Eagles, Chargers, Jets, and Seahawks when I see them. That isn't the problem. The problem is every one of those teams looked significantly better back when they had a brighter color schemes.

[Kiltman]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Primaries, maybe. But when the Jaguars wore their black jerseys and white pants, and the Eagles their black jerseys and white pants, and the Falcons their black jerseys and white pants, all with black or dark helmets, not so much. And that's not counting the Cardinals with their black jerseys and white pants, set apart only by their white helmets. It's oftentimes much harder to decipher at a glance than it used to be.

That's just natural, though. We're at 32 teams, correct? It's very hard for each team to look completely unique from each other with every combo they wear.

I suppose the real problem is with teams using combos they have no business using (here's looking at your black jerseys, Cardinals & Eagles).

I wouldn't say they Eagles have no business wearing Black as it has been in the color scheme for almost 30 years and the namesake's body is indeed black.....but agree on the Cards,

And as a fan I'd prefer us to use the 60s Kelly Green Uni as our Alternate if we are stuck with the Midnight green mess that is our home uni.

But I agree it's easier nowadays to tell who is who...with more variation in stripe patterns, fonts, and colors themselves.....the diversity in reds are a good example.

[TruColor]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Primaries, maybe. But when the Jaguars wore their black jerseys and white pants, and the Eagles their black jerseys and white pants, and the Falcons their black jerseys and white pants, all with black or dark helmets, not so much. And that's not counting the Cardinals with their black jerseys and white pants, set apart only by their white helmets. It's oftentimes much harder to decipher at a glance than it used to be.

That's just natural, though. We're at 32 teams, correct? It's very hard for each team to look completely unique from each other with every combo they wear.

I suppose the real problem is with teams using combos they have no business using (here's looking at your black jerseys, Cardinals & Eagles).

I wouldn't say they Eagles have no business wearing Black as it has been in the color scheme for almost 30 years and the namesake's body is indeed black.....but agree on the Cards,

And as a fan I'd prefer us to use the 60s Kelly Green Uni as our Alternate if we are stuck with the Midnight green mess that is our home uni.

But I agree it's easier nowadays to tell who is who...with more variation in stripe patterns, fonts, and colors themselves.....the diversity in reds are a good example.

Well, Black has been in the Cardinals' logo and the majority of their uniforms for over 50 years...plus in their primary logo going back to the '20s or '30s.

[CS85]

Way to be stupid, Rams. Ruins the whole damn thing.

[Island_Style]

The picture from the 60's reminds me of a cookie cutter neighborhood.

[Xist2inspire]

I can easily tell every team apart here, don't know what the uproar is about honestly.

I actually think it's easier to tell the teams apart now than it was in the early '60s, and this comes from a 40+ year fan of the NFL.

Primaries, maybe. But when the Jaguars wore their black jerseys and white pants, and the Eagles their black jerseys and white pants, and the Falcons their black jerseys and white pants, all with black or dark helmets, not so much. And that's not counting the Cardinals with their black jerseys and white pants, set apart only by their white helmets. It's oftentimes much harder to decipher at a glance than it used to be.

That's just natural, though. We're at 32 teams, correct? It's very hard for each team to look completely unique from each other with every combo they wear.

I suppose the real problem is with teams using combos they have no business using (here's looking at your black jerseys, Cardinals & Eagles).

I wouldn't say they Eagles have no business wearing Black as it has been in the color scheme for almost 30 years and the namesake's body is indeed black.....but agree on the Cards,

And as a fan I'd prefer us to use the 60s Kelly Green Uni as our Alternate if we are stuck with the Midnight green mess that is our home uni.

But I agree it's easier nowadays to tell who is who...with more variation in stripe patterns, fonts, and colors themselves.....the diversity in reds are a good example.

Well, Black has been in the Cardinals' logo and the majority of their uniforms for over 50 years...plus in their primary logo going back to the '20s or '30s.

I don't have a problem with those teams using black normally, but those black alts are really unnecessary. With the Cards, it makes them look like a Falcons ripoff, and with the Eagles, their current green (though I love it) is so dark that having a black jersey seems like overkill. If they want to have a black jersey, then they need to brighten their green to balance things out.

[oldschoolvikings]

After all, these are the "Dark Ages" of pro football. Back in the day, when I starting following the NFL, you could instantly tell what teams were playing by the varity of brighter, different assorted colors all the teams had. Now days everyone wants to wear Navy Blue or Black and color monochrome uniform combos. Can't really tell the teams apart anymore. Miss the old bright colors of the Broncos, Buccaneers, Seahawks, Rams, Chargers, Oilers, etc.

The Broncos wear orange as their primary now. The Titans wear the old Oilers columbia blue as their primary. The Chargers haven't worn a 'bright' color as their primary in like 30 years, at least. The Rams haven't used a non-alternate/throwback bright jersey in over 50 years.

Or, you know, about 14.

Is it just me, or is the helmet shade of blue different from the blue on the jersey? If so, I'd love to see the Rams use those helmet colors.

Never understood why back then the Rams and Giants had navy color helmets but their jerseys were the lighter, brighter royal blue. What,..... they didn't have Royal Blue paint back then or why couldn't they have had the helmet shell molded in the royal color ?????

There was a limited number of blue shells available. There was the Giants/Rams/Chargers navy blue and the Broncos bright blue. The Vikings were mismatched for the same reason.

In the 1970s/80s, there wasn't a huge emphasis (financially or technologically) put on helmet manufacturing and design. Even though they were professional teams, they had to take what was available.

Yet that does not explain why the 49ers and Saints cannot match their helmet color to their pants in 2013. Jeez, one would think that with today's technology they could at least make the colors match.

In defense of the Saints, I think they reduced the golds from 4 shades to 2.

2011

2012

I was thinking about this thread earlier today, and how so many teams have gone to darker colors in general, and this came across my dash on tumblr ...

Love the way the Eagles and Vikings jerseys pop amongst the crowd.

That is an amazing collection of NFL legends in one pic. That Cowboys uni was probably the crazy radical Seahawks uni of its time.

Anyone notice YAT wearing the blue jersey with red socks? According to the GUD that combo never happened.

Only 4 teams without striped socks. That alone make these uniforms kick ass.