There are some things that I unabashedly geek out over, and football uniforms is one of those things. And baseball logos, but we’ve already covered that ground. Football uniforms are, and have always been, a subject of some fascination with me. I don’t know where it started. Doodling football helmets as a kid, maybe. Or realizing, also as a kid, that Ole Miss, unlike most schools, had three game jerseys (red, white and blue) instead of the usual two. But I’ve always played close attention to them.
As with many things, I blame the ’70s. That’s when a wave of uniforms “updates” came along in the NFL. Notably, the New York Football Giants and the Jets. I guess the idea was to “modernize” the look, but the result was terrible. So much so, that, as the uniform redesign craze took (with more than a little help from Nike, Under Armor, et al.) both NY teams eventually went back to their original look.
Some teams along the way drastically improved. The Denver Broncos for example. The “never can win a Super Bowl” look was decidedly atrocious. But the “new” look is far better and sort of set the standard for teams looking to improve their look (like the Patriots and Falcons).
The Denver Broncos before …
…and after
The latest team to get on the makeover bandwagon seems to be the Miami Dolphins. I have no real problem with the current uniform, other than the colors are a little … fey for a football team, but there seems to be a groundswell of support for a new look. At least, there is over at ESPN. The guys at UniWatch held a reader contest to see who could design the best “new” uniform for the Dolphins. Check out all the entries here, but this is my personal favorite (and a great Photoshop job to boot):
Don’t freak, Dolphins fans, it isn’t real
Check out more designs at ESPN’s “UniWatch” blog.
And speaking of football helmets, my geekiness led me to a great site if you’re a complete football junkie (like me) and think that when it comes to uniforms and looks, more is better (Oregon, I’m looking at you). Check out MG’s helmets — especially his “alternates” section. Some pretty clever and cool looks for your favorite teams. You might even find your old high school helmet there (I did).
Phillip Thompson 