Uniform Histories of the Patriots and Seahawks

By Phil Hecken

Today’s the big day — Super Bowl XLIX is on.

As in prior years, the focus of this post will be the uniform histories of the two combatants: AFL original member the New England (nee Boston) Patriots, and 1976 NFL expansion franchise Seattle Seahawks. Both of the teams have tasted super success in recent years, with the Seahawks having won it all last year, the the Patriots having won three times (losing four). This will mark the third Super Bowl appearance for the Seahawks (1-1), while the Patriots will be playing in their eighth.

I’ve relied heavily on the uniform history expertise of two of the fellows who run the Gridiron Uniform Database, Tim Brulia and Rob Holecko in the past for these uniform previews, and I’ll do so again today, with Tim doing most of the heavy lifting in today’s post. If you missed the prior matchups between these two teams (they’ve played 16 times previously, but never in the post season), be sure to check out yesterday’s column, where Rob had a great writeup of those games.

The Patriots last appeared in the Super Bowl in 2012, falling to the Giants, and they’re the designated “road” team today — they’ll be wearing their silver/white/blue uniforms, and the Seahawks will be in their blue/blue/blue (standard “home”) uniforms today. So we’ll start with the Pats, and then we’ll have the Seahawks.

Let’s go:

. . . . . . . . . . .

Patriots Uniform History
by Tim Brulia

1960: The Boston Patriots are one of eight charter members of the new American Football League. As would be expected given their name, they wear colors of red, white and blue. The helmets are white and feature two red stripes and a blue tri-cornered hat on both sides of the helmet. In the preseason, the Pats wear very generic jerseys, with red numbers on a white jersey and white numbers on a red jersey, nothing else on either top. The pants are white with two red stripes running down the sides. Socks are red and with white crew socks with two thin blue stripes near the top complimenting the look. Once the regular season starts, the Pats tweak the look a bit. The player’s number is added to the helmet in red, positioned between the helmet emblem and the ear hole. The jerseys take on striping, in the form of shoulder stripes, blue/red/blue stripes for the white jerseys, white/blue/white for the red jerseys. TV numbers are added to the sleeves of both jerseys as well. Names are added to the backs of the jerseys, but for some reason, not every player has them. The only plausible I have heard is that it could be that NOB’s were put on the starters and left off the substitutes. The pants get a separated blue stripe to go between the red stripes. The socks also get a facelift, with white socks going with the white jerseys, having a red/blue/red/blue/red stripe pattern, while the red socks accompanying the red jerseys featuring a white/blue/white/blue/white stripe combo. To cap it off, the Pats were crew socks with a thick blue band offset from the top of the sock.

. . .

1961: The Patriots change the helmet logo from the tricorn hat to what would become known as “Pat Patriot.” The logo is an image of a revolutionary minuteman in the center position, ready to snap a football. NOB’s are now on all players’ jerseys. The red jersey stripe pattern is changed to blue/white/blue. The pant stripe pattern is changed from separated red/blue/red to blue/red/blue. The red socks that had been worn only with the red jerseys are now worn with the white unis as well.

. . .

1963: The red jersey shoulder stripes go from blue/red/blue to red/blue/red. The sock stripes are altered to a seven stripe pattern of alternating whites and blues.

. . .

1964: The helmet stripe combo now includes a thin blue stripe between the red stripes, while being separated by white, in effect, creating a five stripe pattern.

. . .

1965: Crew socks return and replace the sanitary socks.

. . .

1966: The jerseys get a facelift. On the white jerseys, the shoulder stripes are now separated by white and at the sleeve edge a very thin stripe combo of red/white/blue/white/red is created. On the red jerseys, the stripes are reversed to a white/blue/white pattern with sleeve stripes added to the edge as well, with a very thin blue/white/red/white/blue pattern. Trim is added to each collar with a wrapover effect. Solid red socks replaced the striped socks and are worn with the crew socks. A side note: RB Jim Nance (and perhaps a couple of teammates), for whatever reason wears a red jersey with a shoulder stripe pattern of blue/white/red/white/blue.

. . .

1967: The pants stripes are altered, with a thin northwestern’esque pattern. An inner stripe of blue flanked by very thin separated red stripes. The plain red socks now feature white northwestern stripes that are feather striped in blue. Coupled with the crew socks and their thin blue stripes, the socks look totally bizarre with a mish-mash of uncoordinated striping patterns caused by the odd positioning of the socks.

. . .

1969: The shoulder stripes are removed from both jerseys. The edged sleeve stripes are a very thin blue/white/red/white/blue combo on both sets. The NOB’s are now larger and serifed on both jerseys. The socks go from crazy to plain. Just solid red socks and plain white “sannies.”

. . .

1971: With the impending move to a permanent home in suburban Foxboro, the team changes its name from the Boston Patriots to the Bay State Patriots for very brief period of time before changing to the broader based New England Patriots. The Pats again go with crew socks and the thin blue bands.

. . .

1972: For some warm weather games, the Pats introduce a set of mesh jerseys. The difference from their traditional garb includes no collar trim, a very thin blue outline around the numbers and an additional four very thin stripes to the pattern found on the durene jerseys. However, only the red jerseys see action in the regular season.

. . .

1973: The jerseys take on a new look…again. Collar trim is abandoned on both sets. On the white jerseys, the numbers are outline with thin blue and a stripe pattern of thin red/medium blue/thin red replaces the edged stripes. For the red jerseys, the numbers also have a thin blue outline and the sleeve stripes are now a thin white/medium blue/thin white combination. And again, the plain white sannies return to the fold. And finally, this look takes hold and in unchanged for some time.

. . .

1979: The Patriots add a pair of red pants, to be worn with the white jerseys. The side stripes are a thin white/medium blue/thin white pattern. The socks worn with the white over red look are white with the stripe combo matching the sleeve combo (see 1973).

. . .

1980: “Pat Patriot” is increased in size by roughly 25% on the sides of the helmet. Perhaps because the logo is so detailed, the Pats decided to enlarge him.

. . .

1981: The red pants/white socks are discarded and so the white pants/red socks are worn full time.

. . .

1982: The gray facemasks turn white.

. . .

1984: Perhaps to coincide with their 25th season, the Pats redo the unis. The jerseys re-institute the shoulder stripes on both sets, with a separated stripe pattern of red/blue/red on the white jersey and a stripe pattern of white/blue/white on the red jersey. NOB’s are now outlined in blue like the numbers. Red pants return to be worn with the white jersey with a similar thicker stripe pattern as with the 1979-80 red bottoms. The white pant stripes are changed to a triple separated equal width stripe combo of red/blue/red. White socks are worn with both sets of jerseys with a stripe pattern consistent with the stripes on the white pants. The Pats, like the other seven charted members of the AFL, wear a commemorative patch noting their silver “anniversary” on the upper left portion of their jerseys.

. . .

1988: The red pants are scrapped again and the white pants are worn for all games.

. . .

1989: The blue outline on the NOB’s are removed.

. . .

1990: After a two year hiatus, the red pants return to be worn with the white jerseys. The stripes are the same as before.

. . .

1991: The facemasks go from white to red and the blue outline returns to both sets of jerseys.

. . .

1993: The uniforms are totally overhauled from top to bottom. Helmets are now silver and the first appearance of the “Flying Elvis” logo comes aboard outlined in white and the facemasks return to a gray hue. The white jerseys have front and back numbers in red, double outlined in white, then blue. TV numbers move to the shoulders and are blue and the NOB is blue. The logo is placed on each sleeve. For the first time in team history, the color jerseys are blue. Front and back numbers are red outlined in white. The TV numbers shift to the shoulders and are white and the NOB is white. Flying Elvis adorns the sleeves with a white outline. The pants are silver with an unusual stripe pattern on the sides, starting at the hip, the stripe starts as blue, then fans out into three separate stripes, abruptly stopping and then turning into three separate red stripes, with the entire stripe package outlined in white. The socks are a solid blue, which ends in a thin red stripe.

. . .

1994: Some slight tweaks are made. The helmets now feature a red mask instead of gray. The torso numbers on the white jersey remain red but are single outlined in blue. Torso numbers on the blue jersey are changed to white outlined in red. Pant stripes are toned down to a simple two-stripe combo, blue back/red front. In Weeks 3, 5 and 7, the Pats don a white throwback uni in the style similar the 1961-1965 era white uniforms. The NFL’s 75th Season patch is worn on the left collarbone area of all jerseys.

. . .

1995: The jersey get another modernized facelift as on the white jerseys the numbers are italicized in red with a blue outline in a slight drop shadow. The NOB’s are also italicized on both jerseys. The TV numbers swap places with Elvis and the logo increases dramatically in size. The blue jerseys feature similar changes with the numbers in white with a slight red drop shadow. The Patriots wordmark is added just below the center front collar. Also around the midriff is a subliminal striping pattern on both sets of jerseys.

. . .

1996: A decal in tribute to the late former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle was added to the back of the helmets.

. . .

2000-01: The uniforms get another moderate overhaul to what is basically their current look. The shades of blue go from a rather straight blue to navy. The letter and number fonts change on both sets. The white jersey features the numbers in navy with double outlines of white and red. The TV numbers and sleeve logos again switch positions, numbers on the shoulders and Elvis on the sleeves. A thick shoulder stripe of navy is added. The NOB is a solid navy. Collar trim is silver. And side panels are added for the first time with a thick stripe of navy, flanked by thin red stripes. The wordmark remains, with the darkened blue feature. Navy pants, to be worn with the white jersey, feature a stripe pattern identical to the side panel of the white jersey, with an added extra pair of thin white stripes on either side of the red stripes. Socks worn with this combo are white with three thin separated navy stripes. As for the navy jersey ensemble, it features the same enhancements as the white jerseys. The numbers are white, with double outlines of silver and red. The Elvis logo on the sleeves is outlined in white and a thick should stripe of silver is added. The NOB is solid white. Side panels mirror the white jersey pattern (thick navy flanked by thin red stripes), which make them almost unnoticeable. The wordmark remains below the center collar. Silver pants, are worn with the navy top, with a thick navy stripe between two very thin red stripes. Socks are a solid navy. In Super Bowl XXXVI, the SB logo patch is worn on the left collarbone of the navy jersey.

. . .

2002: For two games, Week 6 vs. the Packers and Week 8 vs. the Broncos, the Pats go monochrome navy with the white striped socks. These are the only two occasions that the Patriots have gone monochrome. For (Week 13) the Thanksgiving Day game at Detroit, the Pats wear a throwback uni, in the style of their Super Bowl XX uniform, complete with Pat Patriot on the helmet.

. . .

2003: In Week 11 against the Cowboys, the Pats sport a silver jersey. It’s pattern after the white jersey with the only differences being the navy numbers outlined white (instead of silver) and red and the sleeve logos outlined in white. In Super Bowl XXXVIII, the SB logo patch is worn on the left collarbone of the navy jersey.

. . .

2004: For the Kickoff Game (Week 1) hosting the Colts, the Pats sport a patch on the left collarbone to commemorate their status as Super Bowl champions. Week 14 has the Pats wearing the silver jersey at home vs. the Bengals. In Super Bowl XXXIX, the SB logo patch is worn on the left collarbone of the white jersey.

. . .

2005: Again for the Kickoff Game vs. the Raiders, the Pats wear a patch to celebrate their victory in the previous Super Bowl. The silver jersey is worn in Week 4 against the Chargers.

. . .

2006: The silver jerseys makes its cameo appearance in Week 15 against the Texans.

. . .

2007: In the all but perfect season, a memorial sticker for DE Marquise Hill is placed on the back of the helmet and the silver jersey is worn for the last time in Week 3 against the Bills. In Super Bowl XLII, a game Pats fans wished never happened, the SB logo patch is worn on the left collarbone of the navy jersey.

. . .

2008: The league wide Gene Upshaw patch is worn on the white jersey for Week 1.

. . .

2009: The Patriots commemorate their 50th season with a special patch worn on the left collarbone area of both sets of jerseys. As part of the AFL Legacy tribute, for three games the Patriots wore uniforms of the 1961-1965 era team, twice in red, once in white. These jerseys featured the AFL insprired 50th anniversary season on the left collarbone area. The Pats also played a game in London, so the boring “International Series” patch was worn on the right collarbone area of the navy jersey for that one.

. . .

2010: The Pats broke out the red Super Bowl XX throwback for a Vikings home game and for the Thanksgiving game at Detroit.

. . .

2011: The Pats wore a memorial patch on the left collarbone area for Myra Kraft, the spouse of team owner Bob Kraft, who passed away in the off season. The red throwback was worn for Week 5 against the Jets. In Super Bowl XLVI, the SB logo patch is worn on the right collarbone of the navy jersey.

. . .

2012: The Pats don the trusty red throwbacks for Week 7 against the Jets. The next week, NE wears the icky “International Series” on the white jersey for the Wembley game with the Rams. Late in the season, the Patriots don a league wide Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary patch on the left collarbone of the blue jerseys only.

Seattle Seahawks Uniform History
By Tim Brulia

. . .

1976: The Seahawks enter the NFL as an expansion team. The helmet is silver with logo being the head of a seahawk with an homage to the native American totem style. The forward facing logo features a neck with blue on top and green on the bottom (separated by a thin strip of white) that wraps around the back of the helmet, with a break at the center ridge portion of the helmet. The masks are generic gray. The white jersey features quite large blue numbers on the front and back, and normal sized blue sleeve — or TV — numbers. The sleeve stripes are three separated stripes, with the outer stripes in green and the center stripe in blue. The blue jersey has large white numbers front and back and normal sized white numbers on the sleeves. Sleeve stripes have a thin white/medium green/medium white/medium green/thin white combo. Names on the backs (NOBs) match the number colors on each jersey. The Pants are silver with a five stripe combo of green/thin white/blue/thin white/green on the sides. The socks are blue and match the stripes on the sleeves of the blue jersey. The cleat colors buck the white trend and are black, perhaps Head Coach Jack Patera paying tribute to his previous employer, the black footed Minnesota Vikings.

. . .

1980: The Seahawks join the crowd and ditch the fogey black cleats for the sleek white footwear.

. . .

1982: The Seahawks add a blue lined V neck collar to the white jersey.

. . .

1983: There are some tweaks made to the helmet, jerseys and socks. The facemask on the helmet goes from gray to blue. The jerseys now feature thin green, blue and white trim on the collars. Also, the sleeve stripes are replaced by the helmet logo, which wraps itself around the arm, forming a bit of a striping pattern in itself. On the blue jersey, the logo/stripes are outlined in white. And the TV numbers are bumped up from the sleeves to the shoulders. The socks lose their stripes and are now plain blue.

. . .

1985: A special patch celebrating the Seahawks 10th season is placed on the left hip of the pants.

. . .

1991: The pant stripes sees a slightly thicker green striping and the white separating the inner blue from the outer greens getting even thinner.

. . .

1994: The Seahawks wear a NFL 75th Season patch on the left collarbone of both jerseys. The Seahawks also wear a semi-throwback jersey as do most other teams. They go with a blue jersey with the 1976-82 sleeve stripes, but the jersey features the 1983-94 collar trim! The socks are also of 1976-82 vintage.

. . .

2000: A patch for the Seahawks 25th season is displayed on the left collarbone area of both sets of jerseys.

. . .

2002: For the first time in team history, the Seahawks undergo a major uniform change. Helmets: The color changes from silver to a rather unique shade of blue that I prefer to call “gunmetal blue”. The logo does change ever so slightly, with the face of the hawk looking a little meaner. The top half of the hawk’s neck is the same shade of blue as the helmet and the lower stripe of his neck is more of a navy shade and now the logo is outlined in white. Jerseys: The white jersey has a navy and lime green collar, and the same stripe pattern on the sleeve edge (navy/lime/navy). The numbers (front, back, shoulders) are block gunmetal blue with navy outline. The front wordmark is new and in gunmetal, as is the NOB. The sleeve portion (or what’s left of it) is in gunmetal with the very small team logo that’s practically the same size as the Reebok mark. Meanwhile, the dark jersey changes from a straight blue to the gunmetal tint. The collar and sleeve edge stripes feature the same stripe combo as found on the white jersey. The numbers (front, back, shoulders) are block white with navy outline. The new wordmark and NOB is white. The sleeve portion is navy with the tiny team logo inside outlined in white and sharing space with the Reebok badge. Pants: There are two sets of pants, one is white with sides stripes of navy/lime/navy, and a gunmetal pair that feature the same striping. The socks are a solid navy. The jerseys and pants are supposed to be interchangeable, with a possible four combinations, but three combos see the light of the gridiron; white/white, white/gunmetal and gunmetal/gunmetal. Oh, yes. Black cleats make a comeback and replace the white shoes.

. . .

2004: The Seahawks go with just two uni combos, all white and all gunmetal.

. . .

2005: For Week 1 in Jacksonville, the Seahawks go with a gunmetal/white combo, but the rest of the season go with mono white and mono gunmetal. The Seahawks were all set to wear the Super Bowl XL logo patch on their white jerseys as the “away” team as designated by the NFL, but then Steelers coach Bill Cowher stuns all by announcing that the “home” Steelers would wear white instead of their customary black. So, the Seahawks slap the SB XL patch on the gunmetal jerseys instead.

. . .

2006: Back to mono whites and mono gunmetals for two seasons.

. . .

2008: The league wide Gene Upshaw memorial patch is worn on the white jersey for Week 1.

. . .

2009: In Week 3 (9/27), the Seahawks pull off a stunner by wearing a lime green alternate jersey at home against Chicago. The jersey follows the template of the usual white and gunmetals, same neck and sleeve edge trim, white numbers with navy outlines, white wordmark and NOB, and navy sleeves. Overlooked in the neon green hubbub are the equally new navy pants, with gunmetal/lime/gunmetal stripes, certainly the first time such a color combo was used in an NFL game. The Seahawks, in addition to the aforementioned lime/navy, also wore the usual monos (white and gunmetal), but also white over gunmetal and – for good measure – gunmetal over navy!

. . .

2010: The Seahawks return to a sense of normalcy with only the monos (white and gunmetal) worn during the regular season and post season (making the playoffs with a 7-9 record).

. . .

2011: For Week 1, played on 9/11, the Seahawks (as do other teams playing on 9/11) wear a ribbon patch observing the 10th anniversary of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks.

. . .

2012: Ten years after the last uni overhaul, comes another one. Out goes gunmetal and lime. Navy stays, joined by gray, and a more neon style of green. Helmet: navy is now the color, with the logo now having a thick upper navy stripe and a thick lower gray stripe still separated by a thin layer of white, with the entire logo outlined in white. And, at last, the wraparound neck is now connected in the back, coming to a point instead of a break at the center as had been the case since the original logo was formed in 1976. The helmet also features a subliminal pattern on the center portion that also comes to a point at the point of the logo on the back of the helmet. Jerseys: Navy has gray patterned numbers outlined in neon green in the usual places (front, back, shoulders) with a striping pattern that really can’t described, basically gray slants from the collar, with the wordmark placed on the left front stripe. A neon green section on the “sleeves” is the perfect location for the Nike swoosh and lastly, gray NOBs. White is dominated by navy patterned numbers outlined in neon green, navy stripes, navy spaces for Nike and navy NOBs. And an alternate gray jersey is a part of the mix, which is an exact duplicate of the white jersey. Also, a tiny bit of feathered trim can be spotted on a three jerseys. Pants: Navy has a neon green stripe on the sides with 12 navy “feathers” to honor the “12th man.” White has navy side stripes with 12 white feathers. Gray pants also have the navy stripe adorned with 12 gray feathers. Socks: a snoozer, plain navy worn with all combinations. Cleats: Neon green and navy. The uniforms are meant to mix and match, and six combinations are used; navy/navy, navy/gray, white/white, white/gray, white/navy and gray/gray. In weeks 14 and 15, the Hall of Fame 50th anniversary patch is worn (as with all NFL teams), and the Seahawks see this patch on the navy jersey (Week 14) and the solo season appearance on the gray jersey (Week 15).

. . .

2013: Five uni combinations are used for the regular and post season. They are: navy/navy, navy/gray (once), white/white, white/navy (which was the Super Bowl XLVIII combination), and gray/gray.

2014: The Seahawks wore six different uni combos, including all navy (11 times and which will be the Super Bowl XLIX uniform), white/navy (3 times), gray/gray (twice), navy/gray, white/white and white/gray (each worn once).

. . .

Thanks, Tim! Wonderful, wonderful stuff!

If you’d like to read more on the Seattle uni & logo history:

• Read how the Seahawks were almost named the ‘Sockeyes’

• Here is a great article describing what inspired the Seattle Seahawks logo.

• Uni Watch friend Mike Princip has also done an in-depth study of the logo design.

• Uni Watch reader and contributor Mickel Yantz has his own Seahawks uni history blog that is quite in-depth.

Want even more? Here’s an article explaining how the Pats & Seahawks got their nicknames and logos.

EPL Tracker

Each Saturday or Sunday, Alex Gerwitz will be tracking the kit combinations (shirt/shorts/socks) of the teams in the English Premier League from the previous weekend and the current weekend.

Here is the EPL tracker for Week 23 – Part I:

Breakfast of Champions

You guys are occasionally entertained by the awesome stories of Jimmy Corcoran, who as you know is the son of WFL Star King Corcoran. He’s been featured on here a few times, and most recently regaled us with many tales of his father’s college exploits with a colorization.

But Jimmy also likes to dabble with photoshop and creates cereal boxes using his pop’s image. I told him I liked one so much, he thought he’d create a Uni Watch version. Enjoy (click to enlarge):

Thanks, Jimmy! To paraphrase Jim Vilk, “I’d eat that!”

Uni Watch News Ticker:

Baseball News: We’ve seen this before, but we can always have another look at this gorgeous satin jersey worn by the 1946 Boston Braves (tweet at me by Tyler @THN4AU). … We love helmet carts on UW, and they need to come back. Especially these Pirates & Orioles carts. Says submitter Douglas Ford, “Checkout the gloved headlamps.” … Val Kilmer (who was recently hospitalized with throat cancer) has his own customized “VAL” cap (via Dave). … Reader Mike Vamosi went to Royals fan fest and picked up two jerseys of former players that were discounted. He adds, “Interesting is the royal blue top wasn’t worn during the World Series, they also had the powder blue with the same.”

NFL/College/other Football News: The local grocery store in Jeff Stark’s neighborhood has gotten into the “Deflategate” action. “Thought this was a pretty hilarious way to advertise their Super Bowl sale,” he adds. … The folks who run this website had a representative at the live shoot of PTI on Thursday’s show in full cheddar Rams gear (thanks to Douglas Ford). … Here are some great shots of Clark Hunt’s luxury sky box at Arrowhead Stadium/Chiefs stained glass. If you scroll down, you’ll see a beautiful stained glass window. Submitter Kurt Esposito asks, “Any idea who the other team is in the stained glass window?” Gotta think those are the Cardinals (probably the St. Louis version). … More screwed up helmets by major news outlets: here’s USA Today all over the place with the Pats & ‘hawks (thanks to chargersfan_73 @chargersfan_73). … We were all 99.9999% certain the Seahawks would be going mono-blue today, but here’s additional confirmation (from Payton Berens). … Think the neon craze has played out? Think again. Jesus. Here’s a closeup (h/t Ryan Campbell). That’s apparently from a company called Phyxius. No, I never heard of them before. But Ricky Watters endorses them, so… … Apparently Baylor is going to have another uniform set (h/t Our Daily Bears). Sigh. … There’s dedication to your team, and then there’s insanity (screen grab by John Nissan). And then there’s dedicated insanity (via Ken Lambert). … The Host Committee Logo for Super Bowl LII is really, really awful (nice find by @bruins_lou). … Here’s new HOFer Mick Tingelhoff’s 1969 Pro Bowl helmet (via UniformCritic). … Oooohhh, check out these great photos of 1904 Howard University Football and 1906 St. John’s College Football (great find by Kevin Zdancewicz).

Basketball News: Bit of a rip at yesterday’s game, as Auburn’s Cinmeon Bowers had a fairly big tear mark on his jersey (thanks to Clint Richardson). … Wisconsin and Iowa went color vs. color yesterday (via Scott Eldridge). … For the first time all season, Marquette busted out the gold beauties yesterday, which resulted in a color vs. color game. More photos here. … St. John’s (in red) and Providence (wearing black) was also color vs. color yesterday. … The Iowa Hawkeye fans had a black and gold stripeout yesterday (from Aaron Blau). … It’s a bit hard to see, but one Bowling Green player is wearing an adidas headband and the other has a swoosh (nice spot by Joe MacQuarrie). Also from Joe, the BGSU men went color vs. color against Akron. … On Friday night, the Suns and Bulls went color vs. color. It was also the first time the Bulls paired their new black shorts with the sleeveless tops. … The Atlanta Hawks have won so many games in a row, their Twitter avatar used to say Ha. Now it’s HaW — Because they have used up all their character space listing the number of W’s in a row (they won their 19th straight last night). … Interesting: the University of Miami (Ohio) Redhawks use the same font as the Miami Heat (h/t Ben Orner). … According to David Steinle, this photo is something rare — a color vs. color high school basketball game from Kansas. He explains: “The schools are LaCrosse (black) and Hoisington (red). This was a tournament hosted by Hoisington, but LaCrosse was the designated home team since it was on top of the bracket. Don’t ask me why the Kansas State High School Activities Association doesn’t let the higher seed be the home team (which LaCrosse was in this case) or let the tournament host be the home team for all of its games, but the KSHSAA does things weird.”

Hockey News: In an effort to endear themselves to their fans gin up support (as if it were needed) for the Patriots in today’s game, last night the Bruins wore Patriots hats during warmups (from Timmy Cross). … The Indy Fuel broke out red alternate jerseys last night for the first time (h/t Patrick O’Donnell). … Last night the Flyers wore the Pat Quinn memorial sticker versus Leafs (from Mike Slavonic). … While NHL Commish Gary Bettman apparently has no problems with uni ads on the World Cup uniforms, he’s in “no rush” to see them on NHL unis #NoUniAds.

Grab Bag: “The Lauderdale Bombers of the Tasmanian State League hosted an elimination final in August 2014 of the Southern Football League between the East Coast Bombers and the Dodges Ferry Sharks,” says Graham Clayton. “Unfortunately the club was unable (or unwilling) to put the names of both teams on the scoreboard. Many scoreboards in Australian country towns are like Lauderdale, with the home team listed, and the opposition team referred to as ‘Visitors’.” …”This is not sports related in any way,” cautions Dustin Semore, but my Dad is helping me build a library with his old books. Including this one with beautiful page edged. I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s not some sort of mold or any other kind of funk because all four volumes have the same pattern and the pattern is repeated on the inside covers.” … Do you remember the ’80s? Do you remember outrageous ski gear? Good. But do you remember outrageous 80s ski gear? I may or may not have had a suit similar to one in there (thanks, Brinke). … “There is a unique business on the Upper West Side that sells nothing but rice krispie treats (yes, I would have liked to have seen that business plan proposal.),” writes Robert Brashear. “Here we see their Super Bowl specials –a rice krispie treat football and individualized Patriot and Seahawk treats…great job on the logos.” … More from Graham Clayton, “When Phil Narkle played for Swan Districts in the WAFL between 1978-1983, he wore a protective helmet which was painted in the club’s colours of black and white.” … Bright neon is also a thing in golf shirts (oh, wait, we already knew that). … Ohio State Highway Patrol put deflate gate together with some creativity and came up with this campaign to keep our highways safer on Super Bowl Sunday (from Leo Strawn, Jr.).

And that’s going to do it for today! HUGE thanks to Tim for those tremendous, in-depth uni histories. Big hand! Thanks also to Alex for the EPL tracker, Jimmy for the cereal boxes, and to all you fine readers who tweet & submit. You guys are great.

For the first time in ages, I’ll probably be missing more of the game than I see today; since I’m in this curling league now (and I have about an hour commute each way), I’ll miss at least the first half and the halftime show — although that’s not much of a loss. Good thing most of the ads have already been previewed before the game. If the pundits are right, should be a close game (could we get the first overtime ever???). Everyone enjoy it, and be sure to give Tim a huge hand for his efforts in putting together the uni histories. I’ll catch you guys next weekend, so until that time

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

.. … ..

“Does anyone else really hate the Patriots’ current set?”
–jwl3

“I guess I’m in the minority here, but I never liked Pat Patriot.”
–Timmy Brulia