Color Uniform vs. Color Uniform in the NFL?

[whitedawg22]

Should it happen? No. It's amateurish. Will it happen? Hopefully not. It's amateurish. I literally couldn't care the tiniest bit less what soccer does. Soccer is its own thing, and while I will avoid taking shots at soccer here, its traditions shouldn't be pushed into other sports. There is a reason the NFL and NHL used color-on-color matchups in the early goings - they weren't huge money leagues yet. As they got bigger and more professional, they got road jerseys so the teams stopped looking like well-dressed flag football teams.

No, it's not amateurish, and it's not just a soccer tradition, and teams didn't get road jerseys to stop looking like flag football teams. The NFL mandated color-vs-white games when it started broadcasting games in black and white in the late 50s and early 60s, since it would be difficult to tell one colored jersey from another in black and white. Now that nobody watches black and white TV, that consideration is moot.

Almost every team (other than maybe the Cowboys and Dolphins) sells more colored jerseys than white jerseys. I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL moves in this direction, so that teams would have more opportunities to display their best-selling jerseys to potential buyers. Plus, I would bet that if a team could designate its alternate jersey as a "clash" jersey (e.g., if the Panthers were playing at the Raiders they could wear their blue tops or if the Texans were playing at the Colts they could wear their red tops), it would sell better than if it were simply an alternate.

[TheOldRoman]

Should it happen? No. It's amateurish. Will it happen? Hopefully not. It's amateurish. I literally couldn't care the tiniest bit less what soccer does. Soccer is its own thing, and while I will avoid taking shots at soccer here, its traditions shouldn't be pushed into other sports. There is a reason the NFL and NHL used color-on-color matchups in the early goings - they weren't huge money leagues yet. As they got bigger and more professional, they got road jerseys so the teams stopped looking like well-dressed flag football teams.

No, it's not amateurish, and it's not just a soccer tradition, and teams didn't get road jerseys to stop looking like flag football teams. The NFL mandated color-vs-white games when it started broadcasting games in black and white in the late 50s and early 60s, since it would be difficult to tell one colored jersey from another in black and white. Now that nobody watches black and white TV, that consideration is moot.

Almost every team (other than maybe the Cowboys and Dolphins) sells more colored jerseys than white jerseys. I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL moves in this direction, so that teams would have more opportunities to display their best-selling jerseys to potential buyers. Plus, I would bet that if a team could designate its alternate jersey as a "clash" jersey (e.g., if the Panthers were playing at the Raiders they could wear their blue tops or if the Texans were playing at the Colts they could wear their red tops), it would sell better than if it were simply an alternate.

TV obviously played a part of it, but baseball got by just fine with off-white vs. gray in that era. That's probably not much different in b/w than royal blue vs. navy was. Yes, wearing one jersey for all games is little league-esque. And even with HDTV, games are still better looking and much easier to watch when the teams are drastically different in terms of grayscale.

[Buster]

Thanksgiving 2002

Thanksgiving 2004

Thanksgiving 2011

[BBTV]

Should it happen? No. It's amateurish. Will it happen? Hopefully not. It's amateurish. I literally couldn't care the tiniest bit less what soccer does. Soccer is its own thing, and while I will avoid taking shots at soccer here, its traditions shouldn't be pushed into other sports. There is a reason the NFL and NHL used color-on-color matchups in the early goings - they weren't huge money leagues yet. As they got bigger and more professional, they got road jerseys so the teams stopped looking like well-dressed flag football teams.

No, it's not amateurish, and it's not just a soccer tradition, and teams didn't get road jerseys to stop looking like flag football teams. The NFL mandated color-vs-white games when it started broadcasting games in black and white in the late 50s and early 60s, since it would be difficult to tell one colored jersey from another in black and white. Now that nobody watches black and white TV, that consideration is moot.

Almost every team (other than maybe the Cowboys and Dolphins) sells more colored jerseys than white jerseys. I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL moves in this direction, so that teams would have more opportunities to display their best-selling jerseys to potential buyers. Plus, I would bet that if a team could designate its alternate jersey as a "clash" jersey (e.g., if the Panthers were playing at the Raiders they could wear their blue tops or if the Texans were playing at the Colts they could wear their red tops), it would sell better than if it were simply an alternate.

That's one reason why you won't see color vs color become the norm. Take away teams having to wear white 8 times per year (give or take a few) and you'd sell even fewer white jerseys. I think that's why most if not all alts are colored - you can take away from the dark jersey appearances without damaging sales.

[whitedawg22]

Should it happen? No. It's amateurish. Will it happen? Hopefully not. It's amateurish. I literally couldn't care the tiniest bit less what soccer does. Soccer is its own thing, and while I will avoid taking shots at soccer here, its traditions shouldn't be pushed into other sports. There is a reason the NFL and NHL used color-on-color matchups in the early goings - they weren't huge money leagues yet. As they got bigger and more professional, they got road jerseys so the teams stopped looking like well-dressed flag football teams.

No, it's not amateurish, and it's not just a soccer tradition, and teams didn't get road jerseys to stop looking like flag football teams. The NFL mandated color-vs-white games when it started broadcasting games in black and white in the late 50s and early 60s, since it would be difficult to tell one colored jersey from another in black and white. Now that nobody watches black and white TV, that consideration is moot.

Almost every team (other than maybe the Cowboys and Dolphins) sells more colored jerseys than white jerseys. I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL moves in this direction, so that teams would have more opportunities to display their best-selling jerseys to potential buyers. Plus, I would bet that if a team could designate its alternate jersey as a "clash" jersey (e.g., if the Panthers were playing at the Raiders they could wear their blue tops or if the Texans were playing at the Colts they could wear their red tops), it would sell better than if it were simply an alternate.

TV obviously played a part of it, but baseball got by just fine with off-white vs. gray in that era. That's probably not much different in b/w than royal blue vs. navy was. Yes, wearing one jersey for all games is little league-esque. And even with HDTV, games are still better looking and much easier to watch when the teams are drastically different in terms of grayscale.

Baseball isn't a sport that depends on telling one team from another. The guys batting and running around the bases are from one team; the guys pitching and fielding are from the other. Football would be impossible to watch if you couldn't tell relatively easy who is who.

[CIM]

All for it. And doesn't have to be for every game. Imagine Chiefs/Steelers among the others. I don't mind the jerseys either way being color or white. To me I am more pissed when both teams are wearing the same/similar colored pants.

[illwauk]

There are plenty of photos in this thread that prove color vs. color can work in the NFL, and frankly, I can't think of a good reason why it shouldn't happen.

My guess is the more traditional teams (Steelers, Cowboys, Packers, etc.) would stick with white for "clash" jerseys while newer teams like the Panthers and Texans would scrap their whites and just use their alternates.

[guest23]

There are plenty of photos in this thread that prove color vs. color can work in the NFL, and frankly, I can't think of a good reason why it shouldn't happen.

My guess is the more traditional teams (Steelers, Cowboys, Packers, etc.) would stick with white for "clash" jerseys while newer teams like the Panthers and Texans would scrap their whites and just use their alternates.

I would think the pre tv era teams bears, giants etc. could pull off the clash/alt jersey pretty well as they had an established history of doing so...the color tv era teams would look better with white aways and the newest franchises could go either route.

[Gothamite]

There are plenty of photos in this thread that prove color vs. color can work in the NFL, and frankly, I can't think of a good reason why it shouldn't happen.

My guess is the more traditional teams (Steelers, Cowboys, Packers, etc.) would stick with white for "clash" jerseys while newer teams like the Panthers and Texans would scrap their whites and just use their alternates.

And with that, you just gave me a good reason why it shouldn't happen.

[LAWeaver]

I'd like to see it happen, but there are some matchups that wouldn't work. Say, for instance, last year, Seattle vs Buffalo in Toronto. Seattle used the gray jersey against Buffalos blues, though the gray was pretty light. But if New England is gonna wear their homes against Oakland, then your gonna have a hard time finding your team.

[whitedawg22]

I'd like to see it happen, but there are some matchups that wouldn't work. Say, for instance, last year, Seattle vs Buffalo in Toronto. Seattle used the gray jersey against Buffalos blues, though the gray was pretty light. But if New England is gonna wear their homes against Oakland, then your gonna have a hard time finding your team.

I think that if this happened, teams would need to have a "clash" jersey that is a dramatically different color than their home jersey. For some teams this could be white; for others, it could be a secondary color. So if a navy-jersey team like New England were to play at a black-jersey team like Oakland, then New England would have to wear a red/silver/white jersey, because their home jersey wouldn't provide enough contrast.

[oldschoolvikings]

I'd like to see it happen, but there are some matchups that wouldn't work. Say, for instance, last year, Seattle vs Buffalo in Toronto. Seattle used the gray jersey against Buffalos blues, though the gray was pretty light. But if New England is gonna wear their homes against Oakland, then your gonna have a hard time finding your team.

I think that if this happened, teams would need to have a "clash" jersey that is a dramatically different color than their home jersey. For some teams this could be white; for others, it could be a secondary color. So if a navy-jersey team like New England were to play at a black-jersey team like Oakland, then New England would have to wear a red/silver/white jersey, because their home jersey wouldn't provide enough contrast.

But, in my mind, telling the two teams apart isn't the only reason for the color vs white. Its also to tell who is the home team and who is on the road. Of course, in the NFL teams like the Cowboys already screw this up, but with hockey or basketball, its generaly a given that you can tell where the game is being played based on who's is in color and who is in white.

[sportstar1212]

Let's just leave color vs. color for special occasions. Guaranteed if they went to it full time, the novelty would wear off.

[Gothamite]

Who says this is about novelty? That's a terrible reason to institute any uniform rules.

in my mind, telling the two teams apart isn't the only reason for the color vs white. Its also to tell who is the home team and who is on the road. Of course, in the NFL teams like the Cowboys already screw this up, but with hockey or basketball, its generaly a given that you can tell where the game is being played based on who's is in color and who is in white.

I agree with that, but then I would prohibit teams from wearing white at home, with a possible exemption for the Cowboys and Dolphins, since they long ago adopted white as their primary jersey color.

[JCRGraphix]

Personally, I like color vs. color. As long as they're different enough.

[Jungle Jim]

... but with hockey or basketball, its generaly a given that you can tell where the game is being played based on who's is in color and who is in white.

I don't like the recent trend of home teams wearing the color in basketball, and there have even been games of dark color vs dark color, such as red vs navy, in the SEC. Perhaps other conferences, as well, but the SEC is the only one I recall seeing it.