By Phil Hecken
Back today with part two of the Seahawks Uniform Contest — if you happened to miss the first part, look here. Yesterday we looked at the first 17 contestants, and today we’ll look at the final 18. Lots to get to, so let’s get started:
18. Brent Hatfield:
Submission: This uniform design was created considering both the modern feel of the uniform style provided by Nike with also the classic colors of the Seahawks. The Green helmet I felt was necessary because no other team in the NFL currently dawns a green helmet and I feel it would flow great with these uni’s. Old school stripes, with modern fit. The perfect blend, the perfect uniform.
19. Hungry Hungry Hipster:
Submission 1: Attached is my entry to the Seattle Seahawks uniform redesign contest. The teal-ish blue from the Seattle city flag was very close to one of the blues the Seahawks already use so I chose that as the jersey color. I made their neon green even brighter but kept their navy blue the same. The design of the jersey mimics the Seattle city flag’s design, with the seal located as a patch on the left shoulder.
Submission 2: Basically this design is the same as the first except that the jersey isn’t just inspired by the Seattle city flag, it IS the Seattle city flag. I had to add more swirls to the right shoulder and fittingly they look like upside-down Nike swooshes. Additionally the swirls give the flag and the jersey a very oceany feel and I think this is appropriate for a team called the *Sea*hawks. The swirls also mirror the tip of the beak of the Seahawk head on the helmet.
20. David Johnson:
Submission 1; Submission 2: Here are my redesigns of the Seahawks, loosely based on another northwest franchise, Vancouver Canucks.
21. James MacNeil:
Submission 1; Submission 2: I remember the Seahawks from the Cortez Kennedy days, but always dug their classic look. That being said, I’m ditching the bird and going with the blurring rotors of the SH-60 Helicopter. Tried to keep the design simple and minimal, yet different. I hope you find it interesting.
22. Mako Mameli:
Submission: Let’s start with the helmet. I don’t like the blue helmet the Seahawks are using so I went back to silver helmet, keeping the modern logo only on one side (a la Boise State). I think the logo fits for the purpose due to his length. On the other side of the helmet I put the player’s number. I wanted to keep the 2 shades of blue the Seahawks are using, but I decided to bring out the green. I got rid of the logo on the shoulders and used the compression shirt to show proper striping. Brought back gray pants. All in all, it’s an hybrid between modern and classic.
23. C.K. McKenzie:
Submission 1; Submission 2; Submission 3: Seattle fans don’t need a retro uniform to remind us how bad the ”˜hawks were back in the day. Blue on blue has given us success, so why mess with it? However it’s Nike, so I’m sure we’ll see something like my Alternate”¦ and frankly, it wouldn’t hurt the NFL to try something new (As long as it’s only one game a year).
24. Josh Nelson:
Submission 1; Submission 2; Submission 3; Submission 4; Submission 5; Submission 6; Submission 7; Submission 8; Submission 9; Submission 10; and Submission 11: I felt that there needed to be more contrast between the color choice in their existing uniforms and decided to pair black with blue as an actual seahawk has elements of black in its feathers. Furthering that inspiration, the accent color has been adjusted to a brown/copper metallic. Again, looking to the actual bird for inspiration. The bird theme is carried to the wing-style graphic on the sleeves that are worn underneath the jersey. As a nod to past franchise color palettes, I included a silver, but chose to give it an edge by going with a darker, platinum silver for the helmets (matte finish) and road pants.
25. Travis Ness:
Submission 1; Submission 2; Submission 3: I’m attempting to create a hybrid using the best elements from Seahawk uniform history. To me, that is essentially their old color scheme matched with the new logo. Here, I’ve returned the logo wraparound to the sleeve as well as stripes to the socks. Tried to keep it simple: no stripes or piping on the pants, etc. Also toned down the neon green and tried to use it sparingly, as a little of it goes a long way. I also did an alternate version with a darker blue with a brighter green, similar to their current scheme but with silver helmet/pants.
26. Shaun Ploenzke:
Submission 1; Submission 2: I am in the minority, but I actually like the neon green that Seattle has been using and would like to see more of it (but not as an alternate). In my redesign I kept the current color scheme (while slightly changing the shade of green) and returned the seahawks to their grey helmets with blue facemasks. I decided to add a stripe to shoulder/collar to add some color to the jersey and give the Seahawks a unique look. I also changed the logo slightly, adding green and removing one of the blues.
27. John Price:
Submission 1; Submission 2: Here is my submission. Wanted to go back a bit more old school while retaining some new school elements.
28. Jeff Provo:
Submission 1: Concept 1 retro inspired, but in kelly green and navy and a flat gray instead of silver, and I gave them a green jersey because *someone* should wear kelly green.
Submission 2: Concept 2 is a re-imagining of their current look with silver helmets, no green at all and the navy relegated to just trim.
Submission 3: Concept 3 is what I’d like to call the Neon Nightmare. View with caution.
…and for the record, I like their current uniforms, minus the all-white combo.
29. Matt Robida:
Submission 1: PRIMARY HOME/ROAD: For the Seahawks, I really wanted to combine eras. To do this, I wanted to return to blue, green and silver, while pairing them up with modern looking uniforms. Silver pants and helmet return, and some modern stripes and sleeves are included. I also included several alternate options.
Submission 2: ALTERNATES: For the Seahawks, I really wanted to combine eras. To do this, I wanted to return to blue, green and silver, while pairing them up with modern looking uniforms. Silver pants and helmet return, and some modern stripes and sleeves are included. I also included several alternate options.
30. Andrew Seagraves:
Submission 1; Submission 2; Submission 3; Submission 4: I have two concept styles for you: First has three equal stripes on the shoulder with the silver a light slate grey (hex: 778899). I have adorned them in White, Slate Grey, Dark Slate Blue, and Neon Green. I kept the pants consistent with light slate grey their color.
Submission 5; Submission 6; Submission 7; Submission 8; Submission 9: Second has a “divebombing” Seahawk on both side of the helmet. I have two Seahawks coming in toward the chest for a modern/artistic look. I also used a Modern Gothic font for the numbers and adorned the team in White, Dark Slate Blue, Neon Green and Powder Blue with Slate Blue pants. One fun style I did was an ode to the grunge era: plaid jersey, khaki pants with a black belt, black socks to give a faux “Doc Merten” look with white stockings and white undershirt.
31. Corey Snyder:
Submission: Using neon green and shadowed feathers on two-tone blue creates a classic look with “surprise” details. The silver pants and helmet were brought back from the original uniform. Piping throughout creates definition lines and and “armor plated” look. Helmet is silver printed so you only see the feathers in light.
32. Rich Stromwall:
Submission: I think minimalism – except on socks — is key.
33. Michael Sullivan:
Submission: Here is my Seahawks redesign.
34. David VanCleve:
Submission 1; Submission 2; Submission 3: I sent in this submission to Uni Watch before and I still really like it. I basically reverted to the Seahawks old uniforms but kept the current shade of blue and for the alternate switched to a more standard green. I feel this uniform is a proud representation of both the Largent and Hasselbeck era in Seattle.
35. Pat West:
Submission: I’m from Washington state and I can tell you now that getting rid of the neon green would be silly because the fans in Seattle love it. I added silver helmets and pants. Got rid of all navy. Brightened up the blue. I added a little more neon green trim. I also created a modern looking sleeve stripe out of the Seahawk logo which I recolored to remove the navy.
And that’s the end of the second set of contestants. Great job by all. Now, there’s Tim E. O’Brien with his observations:
Day two and the hits keep coming.
A few trends from day two:
Once again, there were no lack of original, out-there designs.
The love of the neon may be even stronger today than yesterday.
The ’90s colors, again, were out in force.
Someone designed a fantastic Detroit Lions uniform.
The logo of choice was almost exclusively the current modern-Haida seahawk. This led to some… unique?… design.
One of the few logo changes took inspiration from a helicopter blade. I wouldn’t’a thought’a that…
Another day filled with some great concepts and ideas. I can’t wait to get to the fan voting and see how this all shakes out. Again I’d like to thank all the submitters for their fabulous work, I hope they had as much fun coming up with these as I had looking at ’em.
Thanks, Tim. OK, readers — once again it’s time to support your favorites in the comments and help me decide the final parameters for the contest voting. Based on yesterday’s comments, I’m leaning towards having a crack panel select five uniforms from each day, and next week putting those ten to a vote. The top two vote getters will have a run-off to determine an overall winner. Now, should there be one finalist from the first five and one from the second? Or should the top 2 vote getters of the final ten (regardless of which day they appeared) constitute the final two? Or…do you guys think there is a better way? Let’s have your thoughts below.
New NCAA Rundown
In what will now be a regular Sunday feature during the NCAA season, my man Terry Duroncelet is here to give us the uni machinations and assorted athletic aesthetics for Week III of the college football season. Here’s Terry:
• In Thursday’s game against LSU, Mississippi State had the Nick Bell memorial patch on their jerseys from last year, and although there’s no photo (I wish I was smart enough to take one while the game was on), the 36-yard hashmarks were painted black in memory of Nick Bell (he wore jersey #36 at Miss. State during his time).
• On Friday, Boise State wore a new uniform combination: their white Nike Pro Combat jerseys with standard blue helmets (not to be confused with their Nike ProCom blue helmets) *Also note the asymmetrical TV number on the left sleeve* and new orange pants with no graphics other than the team name “Broncos” going down the leg. Kinda reminds you of that other Broncos team from a long time ago… Upon further examination on that Pro Combat jersey top, I noticed that the shoulder fabric on the Boise State ProCom jersey has a ribbed texture to it. Looks pretty cool (I think Paul would agree).
• Iowa State was rumored to go with this Storm Trooper look, complete with this white helmet prototype, but they had second thoughts on the helmet and went with the normal cardinal lid, but with white pants. Good look, IMO.
• Although it’s hard to see in these photos, UCLA added their “Ucla” logo to the back of their Bruin Blue jerseys to match last year’s “new” road jersey. Found that out in Yesterday’s game against Texas
• No picture, but one of the Notre Dame players was wearing a pair of Nike Volt ripoff Adidas cleats.
• Maryland went with the Darth Vader costumes against West Virginia, and the picture matches the outcome for Maryland quite nicely. Also, WVU’s Geno Smith was wearing an “I <3 boobies!" bracelet. For those who don’t observe high school/college fashion, look here at the Zumiez website.
• Although Clemson wore mono-orange Yesterday, Auburn was seeing red as their 17-game win streak was snapped.
• Tennessee broke out the orange pants against Florida.
• Looks like Boston College went back to last year’s helmet stripe for the second time in three games in their game against Duke. Looks like they also wore white pants with their cardinal?/crimson? jerseys.
• Arizona State went full Storm Trooper against Illinois.
• Virginia Tech not only went full Storm Trooper against Arkansas State, but also had the throwback logo on the white lids. Plus, this seems to be our first look at Arkansas State’s black jersey tops, and one of the Red Wolves players had a jersey that was too small and/or a chestplate that was too far out and left him lookin’ a little like Madonna.
• After watching the Kentucky vs. Louisville game, I discovered something: look at this shot of the mono-blue (although it was from their game against Central Michigan). The pant stripe goes up-and-down the mesh insert on the blue pants, but the stripes on the white pants from their first game against WKU wrap around the back of the knees Pro Combat-style. Kentucky… Y U NO HAVE CONSISTENT PANT STRIPING? ಠ_à²
• Minnesota went with maroon helmets, “cheddar” jerseys, and maroon pants.
• Hard to tell, but #55 for South Carolina doesn’t have a player name on the back of his jersey.
• BYU and Utah went color vs. color in Provo Yesterday.
• TCU’s first home game also provided us with a first look at their new home uniforms.
• Georgia Tech’s previous home white jerseys were mothballed due to legibility issues involving the numbers. They got their new home whites just in time for Yesterday’s game against Kansas. Even though this is a microscopic shot, you can *barely* see a Jayhawk logo where the player name used to be.
• Arizona wore mono-blue against Stanford. First time I’ve seen Arizona with the blue lid in a while (actually, this is the most blue that they’ve worn in a while, period).
Great job on that Terry. Looking forward to your weekly rundowns for the rest of the season!
Uni Tweaks
We have another new set of tweaks today.
If you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.
Remember, if possible, try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per tweak. You guys have been great at keeping to that, and it’s much appreciated!
And so, lets begin:
We start with Tim Weeks, with a new color scheme for the Bobcats:
Howdy,
As a longtime Saints fan, i always wondered why there is no NBA team sporting the black & gold. The Wizards had a black & gold alternate for a few seasons, but it was hideous. I am not a fan of Charlotte’s Blue & Orange color scheme, so i chose the Bobcats for a black & gold makeover. Thoughts?
Home Uniform
Road Uniform
Alternate UniformCheers,
Tim W
Next up is Walter Helfer who is back with some baseball concepts:
Dear Phil,
Here are a couple of Rockies’ ideas, the very essence of a tweak; not much is changed. But for both jerseys I spiked up the titles to something more readable and “baseball-looking”. Unlike many who post here, I like emphasizing the first and last letters; the result looks like a steel arch bridge. Also, I reduced the number of initials on Colorado’s hat. Admittedly, “C” would have been the logical choice but we already have plenty of “C” teams, and I couldn’t think of a major league squad using an “R”.
All the Best,
-Walter
That’s it for today. Back next weekend with more. Thanks to all the submitters.
Benchies
by Rick Pearson
“Well, if the Purple Nurples want to play it that way…”
And, as always, the full-size.
Jim Vilk’s 5 & 1
And now for the part of the post that I wait up all night for you’ve all been waiting for…
The Vilkman has been on a pretty good roll lately, so that’s gotta change, right? Let’s see what’s in store this week:
Introducing the Terp Tracker! – Ninja Turtles > Ninja Ducks.
Honorable Mention to Boise State/Toledo? — THAT’S how the Broncos (Boise as well as Denver) should look!
Another Honorable Mention to Auburn/Clemson – Holy Perry Tuttle!
5. Oklahoma/Florida State — Holy JC Watts!
4. Syracuse/USC — Phil said I should have done an all-orange list, and I was mighty tempted.
3. Texas/UCLA — The Longhorns’ all-whites are better than Penn State’s…
2. Penn State/Temple — …but the Lions were playing against the best unis in the NCAA.
1. North Texas/Alabama — Wouldn’t want to see it in monochrome, but that’s a fetching shade of green!
And the bad one: Akron/Cincinnati — There’s only one thing worse than the Zips’ record, and you’re looking at it.
Only in a 5 & 1 will you ever see the word “fetching” used on UW. And you could have put 6 games with orange teams in the 5 & 1. And…it’s always good to post a 7:00 video of JC Watts & Company after a 3,000 word entry. Oh well…there’s always next week.
And on that note…we’ll call it a Sunday. Thanks to all the submitters for the Seahawks contest, both yesterday and today, and also to Moono, Ricko and Movi. Well, maybe not Movi.
Make sure you show your support for the Seahawks designers in the comments, and continue to give suggestions for the voting — we’ll be back with that next weekend.
Everyone have a great Sunday and a better week. Peace!
“Damn. I may have to not vote for myself.” — THE Jeff Provo
Is anyone else getting really tired of “stormtrooper” uniforms in the NCAA? Between all of the white and the BFBS, it’s like the concept of team colors is almost completely forgotten.
Was thinking the same thing yesterday of all this “uni of the week” business. ASU, Maryland, Oregon, Ohio, Arizoa…all of ’em.
It’s getting just…tiresome.
Doesn’t ASU, for example, realize that its Cheddar over Maroon over Cheddar is, in the college ranks, pretty damn unique in its own right? That it makes it easy to recognize them pretty much instantly?* Isn’t that the ojbect of branding?
It’s starting to come off like, “We get bored easily. Our fans get bored easily” (my then-wife and I used to tell our kids that only boring people get bored).
So now, instead of noticing which exceptional players these teams might have, and getting attention for the program that way, we’re looking at what concoction the teams are wearing this week…or trying to identity what the hell team’s highlight we just watched.
* Don’t someone say, “But BC wears Gold over Burgundy over Gold.” Anyone who can’t tell the diffrence between metallic gold and athletic gold in an instant just isn’t paying attention.
This is probably too “bland” for some people’s sensibilities…
link
…but you damn sure knew in a nano second it was Arizona State.
“Storm Trooper” whites, “Darth Vader” blacks… all we need is Oregon in all-carbon and Oklahoma State in all-grey so that we can have a series of link.
Of course, we’ll never know if the Cowboys were binging on Star Wars this past week seeing as their game against Tulsa was called last night due to weather…
actually…they did play this morning (game started after midnight, their time)…
further proof that the NC2A is big business and just HAD to get the game in…wouldn’t want to give refunds on those seats or try to reschedule it for another weekend now would we? better to make the kids play until after 3AM
(link)
Eeyup.
(link)
Looks like Tulsa only purchased new road uniforms this year. Same home duds as before, at least judging from that picture.
One more…
(link)
Sorry, but I had to link…
“Midnight Madness” comes to Tulsa football?
Hey, come on. It’s not like OSU could just come back later…that’s a whole 71 miles from Stillwater to Tulsa. That would take a whole hour to get there!
That was just silly that they played the game. Just reschedule for, I don’t know…today?
Would mono-grey be called “That’s No Moon…It’s A Space Station” or “Cloud City Carbonite”?
How ’bout the “Commander Clavin” look?
John Ratzenberger WAS one of Grand Moff Tarkin’s Death Star minions in the original, after all.
And those guys wore gray.
Wasn’t The Mailman a rebel officer in E4:ESB? He was the mustachioed gentleman explaining to the X-Wing pilots that it’ll be “Two fighters against a STAR DESTROYER?!” And that’s if memory serves correctly.
Forehead smack.
Never mind.
Ratz was in EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Duh.
Imagine if Oregon could play ASU both in all whites
If that would happen I’d smash my TV. All white should be used as a home team in baseball and nowhere else. Makes it even worse when the team wears a colored helmet but even a white one can’t save it. Even high schools can afford a set of pants in the team colors to wear so no excuse pro & college teams can’t have 2 sets. I’m OK with the monochrome or all color at home but the all white on the road bugs me as much as the pants stripes for LSU. I don’t care if it’s tradition. Lose it. NOW. And put a logo on the helmet/get the numbers off. And while I’m ranting, put NAMES on the back of the jersey, that should be required too….
Now get off my lawn you pesky kids!!!!!
Hey Terry, take a closer look at the UK pant stripes – link
What you refer to as “mesh” is the new checkboard design now worn on the sleeves and as the outer stripe on their pants. Both home and away have a single white surrounded by checkerboard strips, the rear of which wraps around the knees. Not sure if I like the look, but it is consistent.
I know it’s the checkerboard design, but that’s not what I was referring to. The stripe on the blue pants is a single stripe that doesn’t wrap around the back of the knees, whereas the stripes on the white pants are double stripes that do wrap around the back of the knees. But seeing as they used the same pattern on both pants without changing the striping color, I guess it created an illusion of two different pant stripes. But the new Speed Machine Nike uniforms do have the mesh insert like the Pro Combat pants. Thanks for the clarification.
I’m with James here. The striping is consistent. Look again at the blue pants pic that you posted: straight blue checkerboard stripe, straight white stripe, blue checkerboard stripe that wraps around the back of the knees. Now look at the pic James posted: straight blue checkerboard stripe, straight white stripe, blue checkerboard stripe that wraps around the back of the knees. There’s no difference between the striping on the pants–they’re even the same color.
Hey, um, Brent, link.
You beat me to it.
I agree that a crack staff should pick out the overall top ten and let us vote amongst those. I would say from there, have a final vote off amongst the top 2 overall, not just the top from each day. This way if the 2 best designs happened to roll out the same day, it ensures the best 2 get recognized in the final round.
Also, Mako’s submission is my favorite, sans stripes on away socks.
Mako Mameli definitely gets my vote as well! At least somebody had the sense to get the logo off the helmet (albeit only on one side). Would have been nicer to leave the other side blank though in honor of the original helmet, but the number does look cool.
THE SEAHAWKS NEVER USED A PLAIN HELMET!
Settle down, it’s just a Uni Watch meme.
Thanks guys!
I’m glad that somebody like my work.
Between yesterday and today there are some great submissions by some great designers.
I really like Andrew DeFrank’s set (Addition by subtraction)
link
link
Andrew Farley’s ideas (I can see some of those uniforms in the NFL in 2091!). I especially like this (except for the color)
link
Josh Nelson dared try to use black, but I like the result
link
link
Travis Ness
link
link
Good job on the part of everyone who entered the contest.
After flipping around college football for the greater part of yesterday I have a few observations/questions:
1. Is Under Armour not capable of making jerseys with shoulders that don’t ride up to reveal the ends of the palyer’s shoulder pads? Even UA/Maryland had this problem…;
2. Adidas makes the most ill-fitting jerseys in football. If Adidas is going to make jerseys that are, basically, glorified stretchy T-shirts then they should not attempt to put stripes on them which are either just suggestions of shoulder stripes (UCLA) or where the sleeve stripes are stretched out and uneven (Nebraska);
3. Despite all of its corporate douchebaggery, Nike appears to produce the best uniforms of them all. Some of their designs test the soul, as discussed here ad infinitum, but their uniforms fit nicely and look to be well made; and
4. I really, really like Colorado State’s ram horns helmets. I know they’ve been around for years but I’ve come to appreciate them more and more…and the horns look perfect.
“Adidas makes the most ill-fitting jerseys in football.”
(link)
They’ve turned once hallowed football uniforms (lookin’ at you, UCLA) into a desecrated set of compression shirts and compression shorts to run around in while a more decently-dressed team stomps them into the ground (again… UCLA [sad, because my sister went there for her undergrad degree]). Thank God that Temple ditched Adidas before it was too late.
“Despite all of its corporate douchebaggery, Nike appears to produce the best uniforms of them all.”
And next year, the NFL will — at least in terms of templates, if not design — look like actual football players again, instead of romanticized nimrods that launch themselves into each other.
Matt Robida takes this round. Very nice job!
link
BC wears papal maroon, not crimson or burgundy. At least, they’re supposed to. If their color looks less like Texas A&M or Va Tech, and more like Alabama or SC or Fla State, that’s a problem that BC needs to take up with Under Armour.
I know. Was “rounding off” to catalog colors, just pointing out that what they wear isn’t as dark as maroon.
No reference to what they may call it. So no attempt at “precise-ness”, just a differention from what ASU wears.
And from the “Garnet” Florida State wears with their metallic gold, for that matter.
I think you could set up surveys (a la name of the year) to let the readership pick, but using the crack staff to pick finalists would be fine too.
Liked the Rockies tweak.
As for today’s Seahawks concepts,
Best-in-show: Provo (especially concept #1)
Close second: Seagraves except #9
Honorable Mention: Hatfield, MacNeil, Ness, Robida, Snyder, Stromwall
Missed it by that much: Hungry Hungry Hipster, Johnson, Mameli, McKenzie, Nelson, Ploenzke, Price, Sullivan, VanCleve, West
This is definitely going to be a hard contest to judge, however they decide to do it. Aside from a couple “what the…?” entries, I think almost everyone has a legitimate shot at winning.
/thanks for picking me at #1 today :)
Thanks! and #9 was meant to be a “WHAT THA?!?!?!?!?” More for humor and remembering my youth.
my biggest uni pet peeve is the “sleeve” stripes.
link
They looked good when uni’s had sleeves, but now it looks ridiculous. If you didn’t know a team had a history of sleeve stripes, you would wonder why in the heck someone would stick random blocks of color on guys shoulders. Imagine if teams took those same blocks and put them in random other places. They would probbaly start to look like these yahoo’s
link
Teams need to realize that their “tradition” no longer matches with todays uniform cuts and something needs to happen. Mandate sleeves or get ride of the silliness. Imagine what those color blocks would look like if football jerseys began to have shoulder widths as skinny as a basketball jersey.
Well, nobody probably cares, but to be fair, I wanted to give today’s submissions the same critiques as I did of yesterday’s, so here goes, from #1 through #18:
1. Bret Hatfield (18 points) – Really like the green color scheme, nelmets, pants… real nice.
2. Travis Ness (17) – These are good. The perfect combination of new style with original color scheme.
3. Mako Mameli (16) – Nice job. I like the green numbers with white outline on the current blue. Plus the silver numbers with the numbers on one side is a nice touch.
4. David Johnson (15) – Instead of Canucks, this reminded me of the Portland Breakers. (or Boston or New Orleans Breakers, if you prefer)
5. John Price (14) – Another nice, simple old school look that doesn’t feel the need to use five different colors when three will do the job.
6. Jeff Provo (13) – Hard to critique as a whole, because the three separate submissions are so disparate, but I do like the basic concepts of submission #1, including the kelly green alternate.
7. Matt Robida (12) – This set also has a nice look. I like all four combos, especially the mono-gray/silvers.
8. Michael Sullivan (11) – I like this set, too. With full UCLA hoops, not dashes.
9. Pat West (10) – Another nice classic look on the color combo, but the mono-white and the neon w/ blue pants really set these apart.
10. Corey Snyder (9) – The details on the helmet and the armour-plated look are nice features. Again, not a fan of the “fancy” fonts.
11. Josh Nelson (8) – Very nice, I actually like how the black alternate looks with these colors.
12. David VanCleve (7) – Another nice basic look, but with a green third jersey.
13. Andrew Seagraves (6) – Don’t care so much for the number font in the first set, but the second set with the Seahawks on the shoulder is a unique concept. (Not sure about the plaid jersey, however)
14. C.K. McKenzie (5) – Very Nike-ish, almost Chicago Bears style numbers.
15. Rich Stromwall (4) – Minimalism is a plus, but this shade of blue looks more like the Carolina Panthers than the Seattle Seahawks.
16. Shaun Ploenzke (3) – A real unique look. The shade of blue in the numbers on the silver jersey/blue pants combo looks a little off-putting, and I don’t care for the high contrast of the neon green stripes on the dark blue pants.
17. James MacNeil (2) – This looks like the love child of the Denver Gold and the San Antonio Gunslingers.
18. Hungry Hungry Hipster (1) – Well, it’s bright, I’ll give you that. Nice use of city flag (cough..cough..Maryland influence?) Reminds me of a WLAF team.
I hope the powers that be consider your analysis, seeing that you spent time looking at each one and provided a nice write-up.
“Nice use of city flag (cough..cough..Maryland influence?)”
I redesigned every NFL team’s jerseys using each city’s flag in 2009 and Paul was kind enough to link to them on Uni-Watch. I also designed an Arizona Cardinals jersey using the Arizona state flag for the Uni-Watch “Design an NFL Jersey” contest in 2010. If anything, Under Armour/Maryland was influenced by me.
Hipster speaks the truth. Both about his jersey design and the possibility of someone at UA going to school on it.
I mean, we already know the split Maryland helmet was flat-out “borrowed” from the Charm City Roller Girls.
Also, I can’t believe Nike wasn’t somewhat influenced by people like Chance Michaels, Phil, me and others talking about putting stripes on the compression sleeves.
It’s easy to think UW is some obscure little corner of the cyberspace, but I don’t believe it’s anything of the kind.
Not anymore.
I’m totally with you regarding your first choice, but I also like the minimalism of Rich Stromwall’s design. Also, I really think the contest should have been limited to one submission per person, i.e., a home and an away uniform. Many of the multiple submissions seemed to be variations of a theme. If someone has enough confidence in his submission, he should stick with it rather than submitting us to a sort of tyranny of choice. This is not to say that I don’t appreciate the efforts; maybe it’s just that there’s too much effort!
My admiration goes out to all those who submitted their work. However, the only concept that truly made me stop and look was Rich Stromwall’s. No green? Another blue/blue team? No problem. The design is easy on the eyes, it flows, it’s not trying so hard. That’s what makes it stand out.
Or maybe it’s that awful nike “combat” template. Honestly, I can’t look at that thing. It is so dark and bleak and sad and it makes everything look like dungeon wear.
I dug Rick Stromwall’s design too. Nice and simple and easy on the eyes.
– After watching the Kentucky vs. Louisville game, I discovered something: look at this shot of the mono-blue (although it was from their game against Central Michigan). The pant stripe goes up-and-down the mesh insert on the blue pants, but the stripes on the white pants from their first game against WKU wrap around the back of the knees Pro Combat-style. Kentucky… Y U NO HAVE CONSISTENT PANT STRIPING? ಠ_à²
It looks to me lime Kentucky has exactly the same pants stripes on both uniforms – single white stripe on blue checkerboard. It’s just harder to see it that way on the blue pants.
Jon, I think you’re right. The checkerboard on the blue pants is in the same place as the blue striping on the white pants. If you look closer, it’s (front-back) blue stripe, white stripe, blue stripe that wraps around the back, on both pants.
Yeah, I think Nike just got lazy/cheap and decided to use the same fabric for both pair of pants instead of reverse coloring for one set.
Vilk and Terry, awesome jobs!
While watching OU/FSU with my Mom (who I’ve turned into a uni watcher!) I realized that Oklahoma is another of the classic looks and that shade of red is beautiful.
Also commented on twitter Friday night that I’m normally not a fan of shell, jersey, pant being of three different colors, but that look from Boise is HOT. And I agree Vilk, should be the way Denver goes in the big boy league too.
agreed douggie
back when i was doing my own pro combat concepts for the nfl, i thought this was how the broncos should look
Does it bother anybody else that Tennessee’s white jerseys have a black outline on the numbers, but they don’t use black anywhere else on the uniform? I’m sure it’s for visibility’s sake, but why only outline the numbers in black? Why not add some very small outlining on the helmet and pants (or, of course, just remove the outline on the numbers). They’ve been doing it for years and it’s bugged me just as long.
Long, long time ago, Tennessee had no white jerseys. Wore the Tennessee orange both home and road.
Then, back around the time of Condredge Holloway in the early ’70s (or before) they finally added a white. But the numbers were so light they added a darker border on them for, as you noted, visibility purposes. For a time the border actually was a dark gray, not black.
Then, during the time of Willie Gault and others, they abandoned the dark border. This was due, I would reckon, t the greater number of color televisions in homes (the orange on white was really miserable on B&W).
Lately, for some reason, they have gone back to the borders. Given HD and all, it really doesn’t make much sense. Then again, BFBS just won’t go away.
No throwbacks in Pittsburgh today. smh It’d be nice if we got word when they will wear them this year.
I think we need two categories for voting, one for unis that basically follow NFL guidelines, and one for those that don’t. Some of the unis that have small or odd number placements are nice, but don’t follow the No Fun League’s rules.
I missed the deadline and know I won’t be considered in the contest, but I did some tweaks myself you can all look at: link Also, did I miss anyone mocking up a helmet with a neon green facemask? I had thought about doing it, but went with the green belt instead.
Anyone else thinking maybe BS is going to go with the single stripe at home (maroon/burgundy jerseys, whatever) and the new 3-stripe with the white jerseys? That’s what it seems like so far.
BC* not BS, sorry about that
not 30 seconds into the jets/jags game, and before the kickoff (jets wearing titans throwbacks) greg gumbel points out how “ugly” the throwbacks are
i won’t say they’re a top ten uniform, but they’re a LOT better than some of the crap that’s on the field today…if they could make the numbers more legible (the gold fades into the blue somewhat), it would be a solid uni for sure; decent shoulder looping, nice gold pants…not a bad look, if nondescript, for sure
I heard that too, and it p!ssed me off. Gumbel’s entitled to his opinion but he should not state it as if it’s a fact. Not only that, but he said that they Jets players and coaches “know they’re ugly,” which (1) may not be universally true and (2) is not something he’s qualified to say. Bad job by Gumbel.
Those uniforms are NOT ugly. I think they’re beautiful. They’re a lot more attractive than what, for example, the Cardinals, Broncos, Vikings, Bengals, Tennessee Titans, and Jaguars are wearing these days.
Saw quick highlight of Jets Titans throwbacks during halftime of Browns game.
I always liked that early Titans uniform.
Cuz it’s the wrong gold. Only the first year AFL Titans (no shoulder loops or white trim) wore Old Gold.
For ’61 and ’62 (which is the uni the Jets are wearing) they changed to Athletic Gold. Much better contrast. Like West Virgina these days.
See?
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1960…
Old Gold. No trim.
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After that, Athletic Gold…
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Two more to compare…
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True, but I like it this way.
Big props to all the Seahawks submitters. You’ve got the guts to put it out there, I’ve got no criticisms.
A couple comments:
– Josh Nelson, I love the idea of adding the copper as an accent, even if Seattle fans have grown to love the neon green. I would have made the copper more prominent, using it as a jersey number outline and part of pants stripes, in addition to using it in the sock stripes.
– Andrew Seagraves, I love the large Seahawks on the jersey. It’s a simple design tweak that makes the uniform unique.
Both ideas would be incorporated if I were the King of the World, or at least King of the Seahawks unis.
Thanks so much!
Also, to the other entrants – love the styles! Hipster – the flag was a neat look. Mr. Provo – enjoyed your styles! The metallic green helmet from Hatfield is one I kept going back to: Just a tasty look. David VanCleve, the look is nice and crisp!
This is my first look at live action at the Bills andthey really do look good. I guess there might be some things they could have done differently, but this is a vaaaaaast improvement. And frankly I have always thought the Raiders look better in the road whites.
just getting the end of the game, now that the jets/jags are over…love the uni, but i really am NOT liking the tapered helmet stripe and the buffalo on the jersey above the NOB is just…stupid
but other than that?
fanfuckintastic uni
Agreed; the stripe widening at the back is just pointless. I also think (and this is a trend I’ve been noticing) the numbers on the front of the jersey are too low; almost on the abdomen instead of the chest.
Low front numbers? Gotta leave room for bumper stickers.
I keep thinking they could have set the sleeve stripes, one stripe lower…if you know what I mean. Would have looked more like the old Bills and less like the Colts.
Then again, the Colts now have stripes up under their ears and they’ve been shortened to look like First Lieutanants’ bars, so…
Yea, I noticed that; kind of the Chargers’ sleeve/shoulder bolts; are they on the sleeves or the shoulders?
The Jets should also move their shoulder stripes down; either move the inserts down a bit, or reverse the inserts so they’re green-white-green on the green jersey, and white-green-white on the white jersey.
Does PSU away unis qualify as storm troopers? Or does that fancy dark blue stripe say no?
TCU’s purple helmet looks lighter in color. Or was it just the picture?
Actually I like the purple. Maybe not the middle whatever they call it.
link
I kind of like the TCU uni. Not crazy about a black stripe on purple helmet.
Not sure why TCU and Northwestern go for purple and black.
TCU has had so many different looks the past few years.
That game *almost* made the &1. TCU looked so much better last year, even with the frog skin look.
re: PSU as storm troopers…i would say “no” only because it’s their only uniform — to me, storm troopers would best be defined by a team having multiple jerseys, pants and helmets, wearing their “all white” look…because they could have other looks; thus, when we refer to ASU or UO in their “storm troopers” we know it’s white/white/white…penn state is simply wearing their road uni
YMMV
Same for Texas, for one.
and Wisconsin, Auburn, Stanford…
If anything, George Lucas modeled the storm troopers after Penn State, their look long pre-dates Star Wars.
The PSU all-whites are neither Stormtroopers nor an A++ uniform. I love the home uni, but that road uni needs something. Bring back the trim, at least.
Redskins wearing burgundy over yellow today, two weeks in a row. Good luck charm perhaps?
Maybe, but it looks awesome anyway.
Funny, back when they started wearing those they just looked like Packer knockoffs (“Vince is HERE now!!!”).
Time changes things, I guess.
Being honest, changing to the burgundy helmets made them a lot easier to like, though.
I agree, great look.
I agree, great look. I hear a lot of folks complain about the inconsistency between the stripes on the pants, sleeves and helmet. It doesn’t bother me though.
Doesn’t bother me either. It looks good.
How about Texas Tech with the white helmets and white vs New Mexico and the red.
I thought that game looked nice.
Actually, Kentucky has perfectly consistent striping. The striped panels are exactly the some on both colors of pant, but the blue vs. white gives it a different look. The same is true of the shoulder panels. The checkerboard does not show up on white, so they stick with blue.
I know this has been mentioned before, but Boise had worn blue helmet/white jersey/orange pants before this week. Anyone else remember that Fiesta Bowl?
I hadn’t noticed this until they focused on him after the fumbe recovery, but Jabal Sheard wears his eyeblack tape vertically. Anyone heard of this sort of thing before?
Great work by all of the entrants from both days. Some of the designs were way off the beaten path, but that’s what makes it fun; no point in having 35 entries that are all slight variations on the same theme.
From today’s batch, I really like Matt Robida’s entry. Love the template too. Like some others I’m not a big fan of the template suggested. I just don’t like its…attitude. Nothing to do with the company, just the presentation.
Despite what I designed, what I’d probably most like to see the Seahawks wear is if you took what the Redskins are wearing today, sub in royal for burgundy, green trim for the gold trim (socks included), then go with silver lids and pants. Unimaginative? Probably. But I think it would look good.
somewhere in cowlumbus…a play station just got thrown thru a tv
como?
I believe the in reference is to a certain Raider fan.
Not positive, but that’s my guess.
I like Hass’s #17 espresso design and Price’s #27
Some nice looking games today:
Indy-Cleveland
Chicago-NO
SF-Dallas would have been today’s winner, if not for…
Buffalo-Oakland. THAT is what a football game is supposed to look like!
Was saddened, dare I say depressed, that Florida/Tennessee wasn’t on the 5&1. I thought it looks really nice, aside from UT’s black accents.
link
It was in the running until the last minute. Some surprise picks added to my list, so the black accents ended up dooming the Vols. Had the game been played in Knoxville, they might have had a better shot.
Washington/Nebraska was also on the list until the end. They were probably #6.
And just for fun, here’s my “You’re a tweak or two away from the Top 5” Top 5:
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Castrol just did an ad saying that the Falcons’ home winning percentage is 20% higher since they switched to black helmets.
Having better players has helped, too.
Bret Hatfield’s is probably my favorite so far. I hadn’t considered how distinct the combination green helmet and blue jersey is, but it does meld the sea coloring in such a way to assure the Seahawks cannot be mistaken for any other team.
I used to be a silver helmet proponent, until realizing that a silver or gray helmet is boring as hell.
The white helmet in David Johnson’s was really great, but as it stands that design will resemble the sweetness of the Chargers’ unis. Which is not exactly what the Seahawks should be looking for.
Still, you can rarely beat a white helmet, in my opinion.
RE: Tennessee uniforms.
Ricko wrote: Lately, for some reason, they have gone back to the borders. Given HD and all, it really doesn’t make much sense. Then again, BFBS just won’t go away.
The black borders are not a recent addition. They have been around since 1994 or 1995, well before the BFBS trend. You mentioned that the border doesn’t make sense with HD. Some of us do still attend games in person. Having seen games with and without the trim, I am definitely in favor. Consider it BFVS–black for visibility’s sake.
“They have been around since 1994 or 1995, well before the BFBS trend.”
I’ll tell you man, I feel like 94-95 was when BFBS was heating up. I remember UT doing this and thinking, “They added black cuz everyone else is.”.
Just my two cents.
“The black borders are not a recent addition. They have been around since 1994 or 1995, well before the BFBS trend.”
link
Idaho had a new look for their drubbing at Texas A & M. I don’t like them – and it didn’t work, so hopefully they’ll go back to the usual.
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Useless change. You can’t even see the Vegas Gold shoulder panels on the white jersey. Why not black? Dumb.
I always thought they looked good – a classic “no frills” look… I agree, this was dumb.
While looking for pic of apparently new Idaho Vandal football uniforms, I found something else… there are ass stamps, and then there are link stamps.
“While looking for *pics*”
HOLY CRAP, I think Joe Maddon is a UniWatch reader! In tweeting a picture of his team wearing the letterman sweaters he wrote “Our guys just get it!”
link
I pulled out an old media guide to see exactly when the black outline was added to Tennessee’s numbers. It was 1995. It was a controversial move at the time. Tradition vs practicality. Rumor was it was done to help longtime radio broadcaster John Ward see the numbers.
Back then, Oregon wore green and yellow, there were no Nike Pro Combat jerseys, UA didn’t exist, and black was for Vanderbilt. I was in school in Knoxville then and I just don’t remember “trendiness” being part of the equation.
I can see the use for it, but does it have to be so big?
I can see the use for it, but does it have to be so big?
~~~
that’s a sentence you’ve never heard mrs. vilk utter, I’m guessing
hey-o
Who needs black outlines when the numbers are this big? :)
This is 1994: link
As a kid I liked the Seahawks back in ’76 because of their uniforms, but I have to say there’s something to them having a unique color helmet that I find appealing. Teams with silver helmets and blue jerseys? Yeah, like there’s none of those in the NFL.
Clearly there is no hope for that team no matter how their unis might change…
Sort of suprised the Seahawks tweakers picked the silver or gray helmet the majority of the time. Personally I have always thought the blue helmets were completely awful. This leads me to wonder. The Hawks went to the trouble of having a public vote on blue or silver helmets, when they did the worst makeover in their short history. Blue was said to have won by a landslide. I’d suggest the blue helmet paint salesman has or had naked pictures of someone in the front office there in Seattle. Great work by the tweak community, and I love this site.
Travis Ness gets my vote