Greetings!! It’s good to be back after my August break. Big thanks to Phil and the rest of the Uni Watch team for keeping the site running smoothly during my annual month-long break from blogging.
Today is the day after Labor Day, which by longstanding custom is the day when we present the annual Uni Watch NFL Season Preview. This year, for the first time, it is appearing under the Sports Illustrated banner. You can check it out here.
Also, in case you missed the College Football Season Preview last week, that’s available here.
Meanwhile, here’s some of what I was doing over the past month, along with some announcements, reminders, and recent developments (forgive the redundancies on some of these, but I’m assuming there are some readers who didn’t pay close attention to the site during August):
1. I took a vacation: The Tugboat Captain and I spent 10 days in Ireland. I’ll have a full travelogue shortly, but here’s a very abridged version:
2. I appeared on a quiz show: On Aug. 21, I guest-wrote an appeared on a uni-themed episode of the app-driven trivia game HQ Sports. You can see the episode here (and there’s lots of additional info about my appearance on the show here):
3. We now have a Uni Watch pennant: We’ve partnered with the great Oxford Pennant to create the first-ever Uni Watch pennant! Not sure why I never thought of doing this before — it’s a natural. And man does it look great (click to enlarge):
You can order the pennant here.
4. We also have a new mini-helmet: As you may recall, back in 2017 I teamed up with Rocker T Collectibles to create a Uni Watch mini-helmet. We’ve now collaborated on a new design, and I love how it’s turned out (for all of these pics, you can click to enlarge):
You can order this mini-helmet here. For an extra charge, you can also opt to have it autographed by me and/or Phil (the extra $$ is for the additional shipping to send the item to us before sending it to you). Phil will be using a gold Sharpie, while I’ll be using silver, because I’ve always liked silver better than gold.
Meanwhile, if you missed out on that earlier mini-helmet from 2017 and want us to bring it back, let me know. If there’s enough demand, I’ll ask Rocker T about making it available again.
5. We also have a new camouflage shirt: Tired of all the lame-o teams dressing their players in camouflage clown costumes? So am I (click to enlarge):
The “Dress-Up Soldier” NOB and the G.I. Joke sleeve patch offer a pointed critique of the sports world’s use of camouflage uniforms. All profits from the sale of this item will be donated to the Peace Corps. You can order it here.
6. A reader wore his Uni Watch pin on TV: Uni Watch reader Jared Adkins co-hosts “Friday Football Frenzy” — a high school football highlights show — on Fox 4 in Ft. Meyers, Fla. For last Friday’s segment, he wore his Uni Watch pin on his tie! Check it out:
Jared is one of many Uni Watch readers who’ve shared photos of how they’re wearing their pins. You can see a full gallery here. If you want to show how you’re wearing your pin, please send me a photo. If you don’t have a pin yet, you can order one here.
7. It’s time for a new round of Question Time: It’s been eight months since our last installment of Question Time, the “Ask Me Anything”-style segment where you get to submit questions to me. If you’d like to submit a question for the next installment, send it here (please note that this is not the usual Uni Watch email address). One question per person. Questions can be about uniforms, sports, or anything else — nothing is out of bounds, although I reserve the right to not answer questions that are too personal. Thanks!
8. Labor Day recap: Yesterday I noted that MLB uses its uniforms to acknowledge lots of other holidays, but not Labor Day, so I asked readers to suggest some good ways to honor the holiday on MLB uniforms. Readers posted lots of good ideas in the comments — worth checking out.
Click to enlarge
Court date: At first glance, Coco Gauff’s U.S. Open dress looks like an abstract pattern. Take a closer look, though, and it turns out that all those rectangles are aerial photos of public tennis courts in New York City.
I like that — a tennis dress that’s about tennis courts. And public courts at that. Nice! You can learn more about the dress here (NYT link).
Sorry, no Ticker today, because the entire Uni Watch staff had the day off. We’ll get back to full-length content tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the NFL preview! — Paul
Some great video from Ireland Paul. Look forward to the travelogue. Been a while since I have been over there. Last time was south and southwest. Golf at Old Head and Waterville. Did you get to see the cliffs that were the Cliffs of Insanity in the movie Prince Bride?
I can’t wait for the travelogue! Ireland is amazing. Wish I could move there. Makes me miss it and want to go back.
I don’t know exactly what this might mean for your NFL preview, but the Browns are teasing a major announcement tomorrow, and the popular consensus is that the league has authorized the color rush as the primary unis. I was also at the team shop this weekend and they definitely have a large number of them in stock, which they haven’t before.
link
I get that it is an improvement with the jersey and pant striping, but my major beef with that is the Browns will be wearing a lot of mono-brown. Can’t wait until 2020 until we can get some improved uniforms.
Yes, I am aware, and this will be mentioned in the preview.
Ok, I have to ask. What’s the story with using the Swooshified NFL logo at the top of the entry?
Playfulness, or oversight?
Phil created that logo when Nike took over the NFL uniform contract in 2012. We’ve used it on the site quite a bit since then.
Ah ok, I must not have noticed, or it’s just too early.
Thanks Paul, and welcome back.
NFL preview is up:
link
Great job as always, Paul. So glad you were able to get on with SI.com so these annual previews will continue.
Thanks, Dan. The previews would have continued anyway on the blog, but it’s obviously better/nicer/etc to have them on a larger platform. The SI crew is great to work with, and I’m really happy to be part of the SI family.
Typo in the 3rd line of the Dallas section, pants not paints.
Yup, just got my editor to fix it.
“I like that — a tennis dress that’s about tennis courts. A public courts at that. Nice!”
Should it be “AND public courts at that.”???
Yes, thanks. Fixed.
Solid NFL preview. Looking forward to the games next week. There are aways little changes and variances as the games count and the regular starters (who demand more customization) are on the field.
That Coco Gauff dress is very reminiscent of the shirts the US team wore on Sunday at the 1999 Ryder Cup.
In the SI column, under New Orleans…the Twitter embed showcases the perma-memorials instead of the blank nose bumpers. Great to see you with SI, glad to see you had a nice vacation
Yup, already asked my editor to fix that. Thanks!
I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed that the design on Coco Gauff’s dress featured tennis courts. I feel like my Uni Watch card should be revoked.
Waaaay down at the bottom of the NFL preview, in the section regarding sock rules, this line appears: “At least one time, the Browns, took full advantage of this during the preseason”
I assume that should be “At least one team”?
Yes, thanks. Will get my editor to fix it.
It’s sad that the only significant note for the Lions is about their perma-memorial. Then again, they already have a good throwback in their rotation.
Still, I really don’t like that perma-memorial. Halas, at least, was a major player in building the NFL, while Hunt founded the AFL. All Ford did was turn a championship-level team and turn it into a decades-long running joke that occasionally gets an outstanding player to tease its fanbase before inevitably faceplanting year after miserable year.
whooda thunk Bobby Layne was an optimist? and it’s not like they’ve lacked talent: Sims, Sanders, Calvin Johnson, etc.
. . . also FWIW his middle name should have been Thomas, so the jerseys would say WTF
Thanks for putting the pins on teespring so I was able to use paypal.
You’re welcome!
Paul, Great work as usual on the college and NFL season previews! Always look forward to these and the MLB preview every year. Quick question regarding the Packers being the now lone holdouts wearing the “Reebok” template. Considering players these days typically like to wear the newfangled uniform technologies, I find it odd that they would continue to wear an outdated jersey and pants template and material versus the rest of the league. I’ve seen this referenced numerous times over the years including in your preview this year, but never seen an explanation why. Has anyone from the Packers provided an explanation? If this has been covered and I’ve failed to catch it, I apologize in advance.
Thanks, and as always keep up the great work!
Jason
I’ve asked to speak with the Packers’ equipment guy several times over the years (not just about this), but they don’t like to make him available for media access, unfortunately.
Andrew Hammond is with the Wild this season? Then why is his mask in Sabres colors? I also seem to see a sabre/saber at the edge of the mask.