By Phil Hecken, with Mike Goodman
The Big Weekend is here. As has been the tradition dating back to as long as I’ve been the Weekend (Deputy) Editor, I’ll be having a history of the uniforms worn by the two combatants in the Super Bowl — the Falcons and Patriots — and those will run tomorrow. For the past several years, I’ve been ably assisted by our friend and Gridiron Uniform Database co-founder, Tim Brulia. I’d normally run the two teams over two days, but since the Falcons are the only team who have not appeared in the Super Bowl since 2009 (and the Patriots have been in like three — we’ve run their uni histories before), we’ll get to the uniforms tomorrow.
Last Sunday, I ran a sub-lede, “Some More Super Trivia” (click here, scroll down), and in which I asked if anyone would be interested in doing an “analysis” of end zones and colors for the Supe. I received a couple responses, and the first one came from Mike Goodman, who offered up his services. I was honestly not expecting anything too in-depth, but Mike absolutely knocked it out of the park, and his rundown (more like a term paper, lol) is below. Yes, it’s a bit lengthy, but it’s incredibly detailed and well worth reading through, especially if you’re into the intricate details that Mike gets into. He’s also compiled “stats” for each game. You can click on any inline images to enlarge. I’ll now turn the rest of the lede over to Mike:
Hi all, Mike Goodman here.
First of all, massive credits to Austin Snelick and the rest of the crew at gridiron-uniforms.com for all the 2D images used, as well as the database I to remind me what happened in every Super Bowl, saving me hours of research.
Super Bowl fields were once more flavorful then they are now, showing team helmets, an awesome Super Bowl logo, even outlined 20 and 50 yard lines, and of course the conference logos. Sadly, know we get no more than the wordmark and team logo, with a bland NFL logo and an even blander Super Bowl logo.
The first ever Super Bowl, called the NFL AFL championship, showcasing the Chiefs and Packers. The field had both endzones in yellow, with the wordmark surrounded by NFL and AFL logos, respectively.
The yard lines were numbered by the fives, the outline switching between the NFL’s blue and the AFL’s red. The “flat” hashmarks on the fives as well were outlined, both red and blue. The grounds crew even colored the kickoff dots at the 40!
The midfield was very unique, showing a football with a crown with the writing NFL AFL separated by a star.
Endzones stats: Yellow and Secondary colors: 1-1
SUPER BOWL II
The leagues changed up the endzone template, including the team logos before the wordmarks. This template would run through Super Bowl III. The Raiders’ endzone was black; the Packers’ was again yellow.
The yard lines were numbered by the tens, outlined in red on both sides of the field. Flat hashmarks were still red and blue unlike the numbers.
The 40 yard kickoff dot was drawn as a football. A bit lame perhaps, but it looks pretty neat.
The midfield contained dueling helmets, making their first appearance.
Endzones stats: Yellow and Secondary colors: 2-1 Black and Primary colors: 0-1
SUPER BOWL III
The endzones were colored, Jets in green and the Colts in blue.
The yard lines were numbered by the tens, outlined in an alternating blue and red. The colored flat hashmark era had come to an end.
A white football was painted by the 40 yard line; its nose was where the kickoff dot would’ve been.
The dueling helmets at midfield were replaced by the Lombardi trophy with a 10 yard wide blue rectangle behind it.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 1-2 Blue 0-1 Green 1-0
The third endzone template in 4 years was introduced. The team logo was placed on a colored silhouette of the conference logo, white for the Chiefs, blue outlined in gold (more about that later) for the Vikings. This was followed by the wordmark, then the league logo. The NFL was celebrating 50 years, so the NFL logo in the Vikings endzone had a gold outline. The background of the endzones was purple for the Vikings, yellow for the Chiefs.
The yard lines were numbered by the tens, outlined in an alternating blue and red. The 50 number was colored in gold instead of white, but the red outline remained. The extra point line was outlined as well as the same football was painted on by the 40s as Super Bowl III, as well as the Lombardi trophy with a 10 yard wide blue rectangle behind it.
The dueling helmets returned, between the Lombardi trophy and the 40 yard line.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 1-3 and Secondary colors and yellow: 3-1 Purple: 0-1
The fourth endzone template was quickly brought in, used for three Super Bowls. The team’s logo was placed on a white circle, followed by the wordmark, followed by the conference logo on another white circle, very similar to the Colts current endzone. Both the Colts’ and the Cowboys’ endzone were in blue.
Sadly, nothing, not the numbers or the extra point line, was outlined.
A new, properly colored, football appeared with its nose on the 40.
The Lombardi trophy was placed at midfield without a blue background.
Dueling helmets didn’t appear for this game.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 2-4 Blue: 1-2
The endzones were green for Miami and blue for Dallas. The only slight change to the template had Dallas’ circles in grey/silver not white.
Once again there were no outlines on the field of play, but there was an extra line at the three yard line, right on top of the extra point line. Also, flat hashmarks appeared on both sides of the regular ones.
Nothing was painted on the 40 yard line.
The NFL logo appeared at midfield. It would stay there until Super Bowl XXIX.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 3-5 Blue: 2-2 Green 1-1
The endzones were yellow for the Redskins and green for the Dolphins. Since both logos had circles in them, neither was placed in a circle.
The number’s outline returns, red leading up to Washington’s endzone, orange toward Miami’s.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 4-5 Secondary Colors and yellow: 3-2 Green 2-1 2
This new endzone template, the fifth, would last a while, not to be replaced until Super Bowl XXXI. The team’s helmet appeared to the left of the team wordmark. The right of the wordmark contained the team helmet, just with the conference logo in place of the team logo. Dolphins were again in green, the Viking, due to their purple helmet, were in yellow.
Both the hashmarks and the numbers were outlined, purple for the Vikings, orange for the Dolphins. The kickoff X on the 40 was colored as well, purple and orange respectively.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 5-5 Secondary colors: 3-3 Green 3-1 Yellow: 3-3
SUPER BOWL IX
Steelers and Vikings both had yellow endzones.
Only the extra point line was outlined, purple and black respectively.
Sadly, nothing was painted at the kickoff location, and a plan NFL logo was at midfield.
Endzones stats: Secondary colors: 4-4 Yellow: 4-3
Steelers once again had yellow endzones, the Cowboys in their blue.
No outlines in the field of play. The kickoff X was given an elaborate white box, outlined in red.
The NFL shield was given a white outline.
Endzones stats: Secondary colors: 5-4 Primary colors: 5-6 Yellow: 5-3 Blue: 2-3
Vikings had a yellow endzone, Raiders a black one.
The yard lines were numbered by the tens, the outline switching between the blue and the red. The flat hashmarks on were outlined in purple. The outside hashmarks (by the sideline) where outlined alternating red and blue opposite of the numbers.
A Super Bowl logo appeared on both 35s, staying there until Super Bowl XXXI, expect for XXV.
The NFL shield on midfield lost its white outline
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 6-6 Secondary colors: 5-5 Yellow: 5-4 Black: 1-1
The Broncos endzone was in orange, the Cowboys in blue.
Numbers were plan white, but the arrows were given a team colored extension. Orange pointed at the main team helmet, blue at the conference helmet. Extra point line was outlined same as the endzones.
For the 2 Super Bowls the NFL tried coloring the Super Bowl logo on the 35 team colors. Thankfully they dropped it after Super Bowl XIII.
NFL shield on midfield again had a white outline.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 7-7 Orange: 0-1 Blue: 3-3
SUPER BOWL XIII
Cowboys had a blue endzone, Steelers a yellow one.
Numbers were outlined in blue and red for the conferences, going toward their representatives. Extra point line was outlined as well, red and blue respectively. 20s were outlined in both red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 7-8 Secondary colors: 6-5 Blue: 3-4 Yellow: 5-5
Rams and Steelers both had yellow endzones.
Numbers were outlined in yellow, but the 50 was outlined in blue. The arrows were outlined black on the Steelers’ side, blue on the Rams. Both 20 outlined in both red and blue.
Endzones stats: Secondary colors: 7-6 Yellow: 6-5
Eagles were in grey, Raiders in black as far as endzones.
Only the extra point line was outlined in team colors, black for both. 20s were outlined in both red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 8-8 Secondary colors: 7-7 Grey:0-1 Black:2-1
49ers were in red, Bengals in black as far as endzones.
The 20s were outlined in team colors, orange and black for the Bengals, red and gold for the 49ers. The 50 was in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 9-9 Black: 2-2 Red: 1-0
Redskins in yellow, Dolphins in blue for endzones.
20s were red and yellow for Washington, blue and orange for Miami. 50 in the classic red and blue
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 9-10 Secondary colors: 8-7 Yellow: 7-5 Blue:3-5
Redskins in yellow, Raiders in black for endzones.
20s were red and yellow for Washington, black for LA, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 10-10 Secondary colors: 8-8 Black: 3-2 Yellow: 7-6
SUPER BOWL XIX
49ers were in red, Dolphins in orange.
20s were orange and blue for Miami, red and gold for San Francisco, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 11-10 Secondary colors: 8-9 Red: 2-0 Orange: 0-2
Patriots in red, Bears in orange for endzones.
20s were red and blue for New England, orange and blue for Chicago, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 12-11 Red: 2-1 Orange: 1-2
Giants in red, Broncos in orange.
20s were red and blue for New York, orange and blue for Denver, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Numbers were red for the Giants with blue arrows, Orange for Denver with blue arrows. The 50 was colored blue
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 12-12 Secondary Colors: 9-9 Red: 3-1 Orange: 1-3
Redskins in yellow, Broncos in orange.
20s were red and yellow for Washington, orange and blue for Denver, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Numbers were red for the Redskins with yellow arrows, Blue for Denver with orange arrows. One 50 was colored blue, the other red.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 12-13 Secondary Colors: 10-9 Orange: 1-4 Yellow: 8-6
49ers in red, Bengals in black.
20s were red and gold for San Francisco, orange and black for Cincinnati, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Numbers were gold for the 49ers with red arrows, orange for Cincinnati with black arrows. The 50 was colored blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 13-14 Red: 4-1 Black 3-3
SUPER BOWL XXIV
49ers in red, Broncos in orange.
20s were red and gold for San Francisco, orange and blue for Denver, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 14-15 Orange: 1-5 Red: 5-1
Giants in red, Bills in blue.
20s were red and blue for New York and Buffalo, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Numbers were red for the Giants with blue arrows, Blue for Buffalo with red arrows. The 50 was colored like the rest.
Super Bowl logo and NFL logo swapped places.
Endzones stats: Secondary Colors: 11-10 Red: 6-1 Blue: 3-6
Redskins in yellow, Bills in blue.
20s were red and yellow for Washington, blue and red for Buffalo, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Super Bowl logo and NFL logo swapped places back to the usual spots.
Endzones stats: Secondary Colors: 12-11 Yellow: 9-6 Blue: 3-7
Cowboys and Bills both had blue endzones.
20s were blue and silver for Dallas, blue and red for Buffalo, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Numbers were blue leading to the Cowboys’ endzones, red to the Bills’. One 50 in red, one in blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 15-15 Secondary Colors: 12-12 Blue: 4-8
Cowboys and Bills both had blue endzones.
20s were blue and silver for Dallas, blue and red for Buffalo, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 16-15 Secondary Colors: 12-13 Blue: 5-9
SUPER BOWL XXXIX
49ers in red, Chargers in yellow, but the NFL logo replaced the NFC/AFC logo on the right helmet.
20s were red and gold for the 49ers, blue and yellow for the Chargers, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Numbers were blue on one side of the field, red on the other.
NFL’s 75’s anniversary logo was on a diamond at midfield. Super Bowl logo is moved to the 30.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 17-15 Secondary Colors: 12-14 Red: 7-1 Yellow: 9-7
Steelers in yellow, Cowboys in blue.
20s were blue and silver for Dallas, black and yellow for Pittsburgh, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Numbers were blue leading to the Cowboys’ endzones, black to the Steelers’. One 5 in red, one in blue, one 0 in red, one in blue, not matched.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 18-15 Secondary Colors: 12-15 Blue: 6-9 Yellow: 9-8
And our sixth endzone template, taking us to Super Bowl XXXIII was used. The dueling helmets were gone; rather the conference logo would be out of helmet, followed by the wordmark, followed by the NFL logo. Patriots in red, Packers in green.
20s were yellow and green for Green Bay, blue and red for New England, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Dueling helmet were placed on the 35s were the NFL logo was.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 19-15 Secondary Colors: 12-16 Red:7-2 Green: 4-1
SUPER BOWL XXXII
Broncos in blue, Packers in green.
20s were yellow and greed for Green Bay, blue and orange for Denver, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 20-16 Blue: 7-9 Green: 4-2
Broncos in blue, Falcons in red. Also team logos were changed for conference logos in the endzone. This 7th template would last until Super Bowl XXXVIII.
20s were black and red for Atlanta, blue and orange for Denver, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 21-16 Secondary Colors: 12-17 Blue: 8-9 Red: 7-3
SUPER BOWL XXXIV
Titans in blue, Rams in yellow.
20s were light blue and dark blue for the Titans, blue and yellow for the Rams, 50 in the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 21-17 Secondary Colors: 13-17 Blue: 8-10 Yellow: 10-8
Giants in blue, Ravens in purple
20s were blue for the Giants; purple for the Ravens, the 50 was in the classic red and blue.
Numbers were blue for the Giants with red arrows and a red 50, purple for the Ravens with black arrows and a black 50.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 22-18 Blue: 8-11 Purple: 1-1
Pats and Rams were both in blue.
20s were blue and silver for the Patriots, gold and blue for the Rams.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 23-19 Blue: 9-12
SUPER BOWL XXXVII
Buccaneers in red, Raiders in black.
20s were black and silver blue for the Raiders, black and red for the Buccaneers, 50 in the yellow and black.’
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 24-20 Red: 7-4 Black: 4-3
Patriots in blue, Panthers in black
20s were red and blue for the Pats, blue and black for the Panthers, 50 in the classic red and blue. Team helmets replace NFL logo in endzones, but the conference logo remains outside of one. This template remains until Super Bowl 50, with an excepction fo XXXIX and additions for XL and XLI.
NFL logo is back at midfield, in remains there next week.
Super Bowl logo is on the 25 remains there next week.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 25-21 Black: 4-4 Blue: 10-12
Eagles in green, Patriots in blue.
20s are green for the Eagles, and blue for the Patriots. The 50 in its the classic red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 26-22 Blue: 11-12 Green: 4-3
Super Bowl XL
Steelers in yellow, Seahawks in blue. A grey “banner” was added around the conference logos for this version of the Super Bowl, and the team logos appeared not a helmet. This template lasted until Super Bowl 50.
The 20 and 50 yard lines weren’t outlined.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 26-23 Secondary Colors: 14-17 Blue: 11-13 Yellow: 11-8
Bears and Colts both in blue. The banners are blue this year and end before the end of the endzone, thus better resembling banners.
The 20s were blue for both teams, the 50 was in red and blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 27-24 Blue: 12-14
Super Bowl XLII
Patriots and Giants both had blue endzones. The banners are gone, so the conference logo matches the team logo.
The era of painted 20 and 50 yard lines is over.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 28-25 Blue: 13-15
Super Bowl XLIII
Steelers in yellow, Cardinals in red. The Cardinals are the first and last team to include their city in the endzone.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 28-26 Secondary Colors: 15-17 Red: 7-5 Yellow: 12-8
Saints in gold, Colts in blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 28-27 Secondary Colors: 16-17 Gold 1-0 Blue: 13-16
Steelers in yellow, Packers in green.
The generic silver Super Bowl logo begins its run, replaced in Super Bowl 50.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 29-27 Secondary Colors: 16-18 Yellow: 12-9 Green: 5-3
Patriots and Giants both had blue endzones.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 30-28 Blue: 14-17
49ers in red, Ravens in purple.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 31-29 Red: 7-6 Purple: 2-1
Seahawks and Broncos in blue
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 32-29 Secondary Colors: 16-19 Blue: 15-18
Super Bowl XLIX
Patriots and Seahawks in blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 33-30 Blue: 16-19
Panthers in black, Broncos in blue.
Endzones stats: Primary colors: 33-31 Secondary Colors: 17-19 Blue: 17-19 Black: 4-5
FINAL STATS
Primary Colors: 33-31
Secondary Colors: 17-19
Gold: 1-0
Purple: 2-1
Yellow: 12-9
Green: 5-3
Red: 7-6
Blue: 17-19
Black 4-5
Orange: 1-5
Grey: 0-1
Thanks, Mike — that was an incredibly researched and technically stat-heavy review! Thanks for taking on the challenge.
SPRING (Training) Is In The Air…
We’d already seen the home Yankees Spring Training cap (which looks awful with the pinstripes on the brim), but late Thursday night the Mariners released a beaut.
By yesterday morning, most of the rest of the remaining caps had been released. This includes the New York Mets, who’ve removed “Mr. Met” from the cap (they also removed Mr. Met from the sleeve of their blue alternate jerseys for the 2017 season).
Paul did a nice breakdown of the caps over on the Mothership.
Here’s also a gif showing all the jerseys (from Robert Hayes). Of course, at least one team seems to be tone deaf (via Bart Mihailovich) on the caps. As was pointed out by Paul the other day, some teams have more caps than others.
In Case You Missed It…
Earlier this week (Wednesday, in fact), with Super Bowl LI on the horizon, Paul had his Uni Watch’s annual Super Bowl column over on ESPN, in which he took look at all the uni-related nuances and subtleties regarding the big game.
While it’s not my most favorite column Paul does on the Mothership (that honor still goes to the Annual MLB preview), it’s definitely up there.
If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, here ya go. As always, it’s a great one!
Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil
Baseball News: Whoa — check this out: Yesterday in 1961, Charlie Finley burns a bus marked “Shuttle Bus To Yankee Stadium” as a symbolic end of the A’s sending players to the Yankees (from Bruce Menard, of course). … That didn’t take long — The Score has already ranked the 3 best and 3 worst spring training caps (from Josh Hinton). And hot on their heels, SI’s Extra Mustard has its own rankings. … More from Bruce Menard: check out this awesome 1970 Cincinnati Reds Spring Training Program, featuring Sparky Anderson, a “Big Red Machine” & the new Riverfront Stadium. … Stance is still having problems lining up the stripes on MLB socks (from #MultipleSauces). … You gotta love MiLB: “NEW in 2017: Casual Fridays! The (Daytona) Tortugas will be the best dressed team in MiLB, wearing a different speciality jersey EVERY Friday!” (from the Daytona Tortugas). … Single digit pitcher alert (from Ethan Kassel). … Do you have a favorite FSU throwback? (h/t Christy). I think those gold numbers with the pillbox caps fall into the “so bad they’re great” category, myself. … Tweeter Thomas Mims notes this picture doesn’t convey the color as well as it should, but, this is a Majestic Reds hoodie with Bengals colors. … How great is this Mizzou baseball poster (from Poster Swag).
NFL/College/Football News: “Even with all of Brinke’s Collector’s Corner mentions of Technigraph helmets over the years, I didn’t realize (or recall, if he has mentioned them) that there was such a thing as a “mini” Technigraph helmet,” writes Leo Strawn, Jr., “but I ran across an eBay seller with a few. Most notable among them is this black 1969 preseason Saints helmet!” … Justin 4-F was watching old NFL Films highlights & noticed the 1990 Falcons replaced a TV number w/an anniversary patch. … Tweeter Austin Perry notice that in Friday Night Lights, a movie set in 1988, Under Armour apparel can be seen. Under Armour was founded in 1996. … HAH — check out the “LAme” Chargers shirt behind Mike Tirico (from Bris Kreider). … For many Supe fans, building a “Snackadium” has become a Super Bowl tradition (h/t SonsOfJohnnieLe). … According to this article, which quotes heavily from Paul’s UW piece yesterday, the Rams unis are “likely returning to blue and white.” … Here’s a bunch of great Old School stuff from Ray Hund: “They called him SuperPatriot…and yes, he’s standing on a phone booth;” More from Ray “First Uni-Consciousness? All this uni-stuff in the same issue. Previous issues…not so much.” Examples here, here and here; and one more from Ray: “Old School New Uniform Rollout — First two are from Prolog ’75. The second from a ’72 issue of Pro!. The third is from the book 25 Years: The NFL Since 1960.” … More Mary Tyler Moore: “Check out this behind the scenes video on shooting the show’s opening,” writes Anthony Juliano. “I saw the article on figuring out Mary’s purple No. 10 and whether it truly was a Vikings jersey, etc. Well, this video around minute 11 shows a few more of the production staff wearing replica Vikings jerseys and also some commentary on tucking or not tucking it in (as opposed to the 49ers according to one producer).” … You cannot make this stuff up: a Tom Brady helmet tattoo covers head of Patriots superfan wanted by Florida police. … After Sports Authority went belly up last year, the Broncos were left without a “sponsor” for their stadium. That may soon change. … Hmmm. Check out these Houston Texans sweatshirts with the Houston Oilers logo for the “eye” (great spot by Fifth Liner). … The Salt Lake Screaming Eagles, the first professional football team run entirely by its fans, have implemented fan input in choosing the team’s location, name, uniform design and more. Next, they need a name for their Eagle mascot (from the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles). … “While looking for something else, I came across this photo of Charley Johnson in his New Mexico State football uniform,” writes Joanna Zwiep. “I didn’t remember seeing stripes like that on a football uniform before. (Although that could just be my ignorance of college football–I don’t watch a lot of games, plus I wasn’t alive in the ’50s & ’60s when these were worn.)” More pages with photos are here, here, here, and here.
Hockey News: Wisconsin hockey wore patches to honor former coach Jeff Sauer, who passed away Thursday, during last evening’s game (h/t Jerry Nitzh, via Paul). Here’s a look at the jersey from the stitcher’s point of view (also from Jerry). … Did you ever want to see Ric Flair (Nature Boy) in a Flyers Stadium Series jersey? Me neither but there you go — but wait, there’s more! (from A Man Called Sting). … The Toledo Walleye will wear these really…REALLY… pink sweaters for their annual “Pink in the Rink” games on March 4 & 5 (h/t Paul). … The San Jose Sharks are doing a Golden State Warriors-crossover shirt giveaway today. More details here. … First my Islanders moved away from me (I live about 10 minutes from the Nassau Coliseum) to Paul’s neighborhood (he lives about 10 minutes from Barclays). Now, there’s talk of the Isles moving to Connecticut. If they do, they better just become the Hartford Whalers “again” (assuming Carolina would give up the rights — and they’ve done nothing to indicate they want any part of that history). From Paul Friedman. If you’re going to move my Isles off the Island, just put me out of my misery. And I can’t think of a better logo (and unis) that no longer exists. … From Will Scheibler, comes lots of “Peter Puck & hockey sweaters from old department store catalogues” goodness: from Library and Archives Canada – 1975 Eaton’s catalogue (in french) some Peter Pucks items; from the same catalogue: In with the NHL jerseys, WHA 1974 Team Canada jersey, and blank jerseys there is one Peter Puck jersey in a Montreal Canadiens pattern; 1939-40 Eaton’s with these NHL styled sweaters (only Toronto has a crest); 1945-46 Simpson’s; 1950-51 Eaton’s has these NHL replicas; And if you want to go way back for hockey sweaters 1915-16.
NBA News: “Jahlil Okafor forgot to take off his Black History Month warm up shirt before entering Wednesday night’s Sixers/Mavs contest,” writes Neil Vendetti. “It was quickly pointed out to him and he remedied the situation.” … Now this here is an outstanding pennant from the Boston Celtics vs. Buffalo Braves 1976 Eastern Conference Semifinals round, notes Sports Paper. It would be difficult to agree more. … Check it out: Here is a 2017 Derrick Rose All-Star jersey, (from Fernando Oyarzun) who goes on to point out, “only issue is.. he isn’t an All-Star. At an Adidas Store in Barcelona, Spain.” … The Houston Rockets retired Yao Ming’s jersey last night. … The Kings and Suns went color vs. color last night (from Rich).
College Hoops News: Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue had his Nebraska Cornhuskers jersey retired Thursday night. … Looks like some new uniforms for North Dakota State University (via Paul). … More MLB than college hoops, but the Major League World Series trophy made a stop in front of the Pat Summit statue while the Tennessee Smokies (MiLB AA affiliate of the Cubs) had it in their possession (from James Gilbert). … “Sports Illustrated ranks UK’s checkerboard uniforms among the best in college basketball (Yes, really)” writes Josh Hinton, who adds, “here in Lexington, we despise our checkerboard uniforms. We think they’re too much like Tennessee, and we all know their faults. However, some guy who gets paid to talk actually thinks ours aren’t just good, but Nike’s best this year.”
Soccer News: From our pal Conrad Burry: “We’ve got an actual photo leak of the new USA 3rd kit“; of course, Conrad has mad skills and he did a full render of how the kit will look here. I’m liking it — unless the shoulders are black (can’t tell if they’re just dark navy there). But if they’re BFBS, then I’m not a fan — well, it looks like those shoulders may just have gradients (not sure that’s much better tho). From Footy Headlines). … If the “football” club Juventus had an American Football uniform here’s what it might look like (from Tony). They’ll play the winner of the Pats/Falcons Supe next weekend. LOL. … The good folks of St. Looey may have lost out on the Rams, but there are some St. Looey’ians determined to finance a soccer stadium for a MLS team. … Here are some new kit numbers for the Bethlehem Steel (from Thom D). .. Here is an interesting explanation on how player numbers work in the Premier League (from Terry Mark).
Grab Bag: Check out all the one-off jerseys for this weekend’s Auckland Nines rugby league tournament (from Josh Gardner). … “I can’t stand flip flops,” writes noted mandal fan Jimmer Vilk, “But I dislike these Surrey Cricket ones less than others.” … Dale Earnhardt Jr. is already outdoing every other driver with his new helmet.
And that’s it for today. Big thanks to Mike for that tremendous end zone research.
I’ll be back tomorrow with the annual (and hopefully eagerly awaited) uniform histories of the two Supe combatants, from the always awesome Timmy Brulia, plus lots of other good stuff, so make sure you check back then. Until tomorrow, then…
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.
Peace.
“I’ve got three rules for jersey wearing:
1) NEVER tuck your jersey in
2) Don’t wear counterfeit jerseys ”“ especially Seahawks fans
3) If you wear something underneath your jersey, make sure it at least somewhat matches ”“ like don’t wear a red shirt underneath a Vikings jersey”
— Chuck
The Cardinals are the first and last team to include their city in the endzone
Well technically – state, as opposed to city.
Super Bowl XL….Seahawks beat them to it
Shoot! Missed that one..
I’ll go off the board for the Screaming Eagle mascot name: Faceclaw
Isn’t the photo for Super Bowl XIII actually from Super Bowl X? The Orange Bowl still had artificial turf in 1976, and the field looks so polished.
Loving that 1974 Team Canada jersey!!
I would tip my hat to any fan I saw wearing that jersey, as it is a rare Team Canada jersey and would be hard to find.
Another great Team Canada jersey that is rare to find this days is the National Team/Olympic jerseys from the 1980s and early 90s. I wish I had one of these to strut around in:
link
A little off topic, but not too far, I liked the black end zones for both teams at the college championship game- it was a little more uniform and tied in with the series black and gold color scheme and branding. I didn’t think I would like it, but I was at the game and it looked good.
Proofreading: Super Bowl XII numbers should be plain white, not plan white. Super Bowl XXXII 20s should be yellow and green, not yellow greed.
Same with Super Bowl IX: “… and a plan NFL logo was at midfield.”
Should be: “… and a plain NFL logo was at midfield.”
@Brett Pasternack: if this was the present, I wouldn’t put it past Nike to come up with a color called “plan white.” I mean, they have a color called “barely volt”…
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I like those three rules for jersey wearing much better than yesterday’s.
I get a little bit cringy with people who breach rule 2 and buy knock off jerseys when I see them wearing loads of different fakes. They should just buy one genuine one. Or a different item of merchandise.
And that Mariners cap is amazing.
I always loved this rule on wearing jerseys from the book “Sh*t my dad says”.
“….my dad is from Kentucky, he is a Chargers fan. He moved to San Diego in 1971 and fell in love with the team. He won’t wear a jersey, and the first time he saw me in mine he said, “I would never wear a goddamn jersey that belongs to a grown man. That’s for children and the woman who is currently fucking that man.”
Thanks to Mike for the endzone project. I have always loved the dueling helmet look (if Commissioner I would make it mandatory).
My favorite paint job is for Super Bowl IV. Too bad it was ruined by such dreary weather in New Orleans.
I love when teams use their secondary color in the end zone. As for the jersey rules I agree with those: With Packers jerseys I tend to wear green, yellow, gray, white, or black shirt/thermal underneath.
I think the counterfeit jerseys served a purpose. I want to say prices to jerseys fell a bit, the Cooperstown Collection jerseys that were in the hundreds I see around $80 now. I like the way the counterfeits cut out the middle man and expose jerseys for what they really are; fabric sewn together mostly in Chinese sweat shops for pennies. Aside from that, they usually look like complete garbage and I’d be too embarrassed to wear one in public.
One thing I find interesting is that college football fans, including the players parents, can’t get jerseys with their kids names/#s and resort to knockoffs. link
I’m going to be honest I don’t really understand how the NCAA amauter status really works so I can’t really comment but I think it’s a shame athletes can’t profit on their image Especially where jerseys used to be sold with numbers that belonged to star players but no nameplate.
The Spring Training hats should be used past end of March. Seattle Mariners beats anything the have now. ATL needs to lose the wood chipper.
Oh man, to go back in time and buy all the hockey items in those catalogs… Heck, I’d like to see some catalogs from the 1980s.
I’d be more than happy with just the Team Canada ’74 sweater, but it looks like they didn’t have anything bigger than XL. :-(
some 1980s Sears Wish books and other catalogues on this Flickr album:
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1. End zone project: the Dolphins don’t wear green. It’s aqua. Always was. More blue than anything.
2. The Reds hoodie looks like it’s in Reds colors, unless this is a black/gold v blue/white dress perception thing.
3. The Mizzou poster is actually a schedule. Read the baseballs in the canton of the “flag”.
Was this supposed to have a hotlink in it?
” You cannot make this stuff up: a Tom Brady helmet tattoo covers head of Patriots superfan wanted by Florida police.”
Here is one if you need it
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What a joke you’re going to call the Braves “tone deaf” because they used a tomahawk on their hat. It’s a weapon. Like how can a weapon be offensive? It’s no different than a spear or a trident. It’s unbelievable how much people just want to complain.
Not only that, but the idea that things like tomahawks and arrowheads are exclusively American indigen imagery is silly and inaccurate.
I’m not sure about how actual Native American Communities feel about the Braves current use of Native iconography, but in my opinion they have done a good job of distancing themselves from offensive usages like the screaming Indian logo (scrapping it when there was an outcry a few years ago) and chief noc-a-homa and sticking to more historic (if somewhat stereotypical) images. I could be missing something, but I see the Braves being closer to the patriots (a tone deaf look on history) than the football team in Washington who’s name is a straight slur.
The “tomahawk chop” on the other hand really needs to go, even though it brings a special electricity to a braves game that I as a fan would miss.
I think it’s because the tomahawk is a direct reminder/reference to the tomahawk chop, which is the worst.
My complaint with Braves ST hat is the tamahaac is waaaaay to big for the front.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE that Mariners trident cap. It was one of the best designs ever and I was disappointed when they abandoned it. I’d love to see this become the M’s primary cap.
I think the record for red endzones should be 8-5, because the buccaneers won Super Bowl 37 but it was put down as a loss.
This is a fantastically researched and presented post. Thank you for digging in so deeply, Mike. I enjoyed the fruits of your labor.
1. The Super Bowl field project was a great read. I grew up in the early 90s watching old NFL Films Super Bowl highlights win my dad and loving seeing the end zone designs with team helmets and field logos.
2. The Yankees road spring training cap is fantastic. It’s as good as the home one is terrible. I still can’t believe they weren’t with that instead of a pinstriped crown and blue bill.
Is the Super Bowl 13 pic actually SB 10? It’s definitely the Orange Bowl, but it looks like turf and not grass.
It is.
The Bills had blue end zones for all four of their Super Bowl appearances, which is their primary color, but Mike’s counting them all as secondary color appearances.
Probably because they had red helmets at the time.
The whole primary/secondary color thing gets really iffy with some teams.
I counted red as the Bills primary, as The Jeff said they had red helmets, as well as red socks.
Why doesn’t MLB just go ahead and do what they clearly want to do and that’s put the gigantic FL/AZ patches on the front of the cap and the team logo on the side?
Was looking at the Boston Herald site earlier- had seen pics of a white on white Jets-Patriots game before- can’t recall if that was ever addressed here or not
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I can narrow it to 1970-72.
Carl Garrett played with the Pats from 1969-72 and Len St. Jean played with Boston/NE all those years and then some.
Roger Finnie (#61) played with the Jets from 1969-72 but John Ebersole’s first year was 1970 (played thru ’77).
So, it’s either Boston/Jets from 1970 or NE/Jets from 1971-72, and if it’s Harvard Stadium it’s 1970, but I don’t know enough about the stadiums to know if that’s Harvard, Schaefer or Shea.
According to the mighty GUD, that was an exhibition on 9/10/71 in Memphis.
Nice job, BurghFan! I knew they had some game-by-game archives but I didn’t know where to look.
Jets won that game 38-9.
Stadium would have been the Liberty Bowl (Memorial Stadium).
“but since the Falcons are the only team who have not appeared in the Super Bowl since 2009”
I’ve been puzzling over this all day now. It’s obviously a typo of some sort, but…
I think it means Uni Watch starting running this particular feature for the Super Bowl in 2009 and this is the Falcons’ first SB appearance since then, while the Patriots have made several appearances.
USMNT third kit is trash. I wish USMNT fans would quit spending their cash on Nike trash. Stupid templates. Lazy. Unoriginal.
A little late to the party, but in regards to the Islanders/Whalers/Hurricanes bit, to my knowledge, the city of Hartford owns the rights to the Whalers, not the Hurricanes. I don’t think the Canes have much of a choice in not acknowledging the history.
For Super Bowl 42 you have a picture of Super Bowl 46