NFL Color vs. Color — Part III: A Modest Proposal

By Phil Hecken, with “THE Jeff” Provo

Back again today with THE Jeff as we take one (hopefully) final look at color vs. color in the NFL. The first article of the series looked at past teams who’ve played in color vs. color, while the second article looked at possible future uses of color vs. color for teams wearing their current uniform selections.

With Nike taking over the NFL uniform contract beginning in April 2012, we would assume there might be some uniform changes in the works (although, unlike the colleges, swooshie will hold far less sway over possible changes). With the recent reaffirmation that the NFL does allow color vs. color games (with the permission of the Commissioner), THE Jeff, who is the major proponent of color vs. color on Uni Watch, wanted to further explore the possibilies.

Now, while I do support a very limited use of color vs. color, I’m not sure I’m in total agreement with what you’re about to see. The reason is it would require the creation of new jersey colors. However, I would certainly look upon this proposal more favorably if it were to be enacted along the lines of what THE Jeff has proposed — that is — for teams whose *official* colors clearly don’t include white, allow them to substitute a light colored jersey in place of their current white one. This way, no new jerseys are needed — simply a swap of the current *mandatory* white jersey for an acceptably light-colored alternative.

Here’s THE Jeff:

As the resident color-on-color advocate, I thought I should say something for today’s post – but there’s really not much left to say. I think both the pros and cons of color vs color have been addressed fairly well over the past couple weeks, and at this point you’re either with me or you’re with the terrorists not. Essentially what today’s concepts represent is the idea of “no team forced to wear white” taken to its ultimate conclusion. Last week we tried to limit the teams to using jerseys that actually existed, and while there were many combinations that work – there are some that don’t. No one wants to see black vs navy or red vs orange.

Today’s concepts introduce a whole batch of new alternates using lighter colors to replace white. Basically these serve 2 possible purposes — either as a solution to those unplayable matchups, or as simply a different way to approach color vs color. As an example, last week featured a red vs black 49ers/Raiders matchup. With today’s ideas, that game could be played as red vs silver or black vs gold instead.

Now then… on to the pictures!

Thank you THE. Between us, we identified about half the teams in the league as candidates for “light” jerseys. This is not to say that all, or even a handful, could or should adopt them. We’re simply saying that as the Rams, the Saints and the Patriots have already shown, the contrast between the two jerseys is more than sufficient.

With this in mind, we’ve prepared the following “possibilities” for your consideration. Some would work much better than others — some are probably awful — some are pretty good. Keep in mind, there is historical precedent for some of these. Not only have the Packers worn monochrome green in their past, they’ve also gone gold-monochrome, as well as mixing tops and bottoms. Granted, this was long ago and probably didn’t look great (unless it was green over gold), but it has happened.

We’ve identified the candidates for a “light” jersey to replace the white by breaking them down into two categories: gold/yellow and silver/gray. Clearly, some will be “more palatable” than others; some might look terrible if the team only has one pair of colored pants (causing the dreaded monochrome look). In such cases, we’ve altered the pants to give two perspectives.

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Rams: One obvious candidate. They could use their current vegas gold and pair it with either the white or the navy pants. They could also bring back their old school yellow, which they resurrected for the 1994 75th Anniversary games, which would work very well.

Steelers: The first of the “one color pants” teams. Giving them a gold jersey probably won’t fly with the gold pants. That would likely necessitate the addition of black pants in order to make the combo palatable. However, the Steelers are black and gold, no?

Packers: Another team for whom one set of pants is all they have (or need). But, a gold/yellow jersey does look right. Logistically, however, and historical precedent notwithstanding, a monochrome gold outfit is just too much gold. Adding green pants is an option. You do run the risk of turning the Packers into the Edmonton Eskimos with that however.

Chiefs: I don’t really consider the Chiefs a “red and gold” team (not in the way the Pack is green and gold or the Steelers are black and gold), but they do have gold in their color scheme. Still, you’d have to at least consider the Chiefs with a gold jersey in THE Jeff’s world (or at least against the Raiders).

Redskins: Unlike the Chiefs, the Redskins already have a pair of gold (and white, and burgundy) pants, so the Redskins in Gold is not a terrible option.

Vikings: OK, moving from the ridiculous to the sublime here, but how much worse could the Vikings look if you took away their white jersey and substituted a gold one? The answer: even worse than you feared.

Chargers: The bolts definitely have yellow in their color scheme. THE Jeff thinks either gold or powder blue are viable alternatives to white (of course that shows them with a blue helmet). They’d definitely need to ditch their current helmet if they were to make the gold jersey work.

Saints: Easily a team for whom the light jersey could work (as they proved in 2002 when they wore gold for one game against the Vikings). In fact, aside from the Rams, I would say the Saints could make the gold jersey a signature look. THE Jeff even likes the monochrome gold.

49ers: Once again, we have a team with pants in only one color. So adding a gold jersey without adding new pants yields the dreaded monochrome beast. Still, adding red pants isn’t really an option, is it?

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Moving onto the gray/silver teams, there are a few viable options, and some probably not so much.

Patriots: They’ve already showed their silver alt will work. Personally, I hate the current uniform and don’t think the silver improves it any. However, in THE Jeff’s world, it would be just fine.

Raiders: Moving on to THE Jeff’s favorite team, he’d prefer to keep the black and silver, well, in black and silver, especially for those intradivisional rivalries. I’d agree that those are certainly Raider colors, but black pants, something not an option in the Raider uniform locker, are probably necessary.

Lions: They probably don’t need a silver alt, but here’s one anyway.

Cowboys: They’d never wear one, since white jerseys are their identity, but it would at least give them the excuse they need to fix the different hues of blue/green/silver that don’t match. That wouldn’t be bad, right?

Panthers: Although they currently have two pairs of pants, silver and white, neither would look good with a silver jersey would they? I didn’t think so. But THE Jeff’s made a pretty convincing case with that mock. Personally, I’d rather they ditch the silver altogether and stick with the white/white, and go with their “Carolina” blue over white pants the rest of the time.

Giants: Yeah, right. Well, just for shits & giggles, with blue socks or with red socks, it doesn’t work.

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This concludes the “color vs. color” series. Unlike THE Jeff, I don’t terribly mind white jerseys, although I will admit that a few of the teams (like the Rams, Saints and possibly the Raiders) could pull off the “white for color” swap.

If the NFL were to permit more color vs. color, I’d prefer they do it the way it was explored last week — by simply allowing teams to wear their “standard” color jersey against another standard color jersey, so long as the contrast is sufficient. I’d also only like it in very limited instances. THE Jeff, well, he’d pretty much like to have every game color vs. color and eliminate all white jerseys entirely.

I would be on board for the two or three teams who could probably pull off the color swap for doing it — but I’m totally opposed to having teams, even those like the Steelers and Packers who probably don’t belong in white, but whose uniforms are total NFL classics now, from introducing a light colored jersey to replace the white.

What say you all? Does THE Jeff’s “white swap” idea have merit? Or would the “regular” color vs. color be more viable. Of course, there will always be those who will always want one team in white tops, and that’s fine too. We’re just exploring some options. The floor is yours.

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Colorize This!

Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.

Last weekend, reader Paul Bielewicz provided four great photos — Powell (1961), Musial (1941), Redwings (1932), and Mize (1933), all shots of the Rochester Red Wings of varying years.

I wasn’t certain what kind of response I’d get, but it was great.

• George Chilvers wrote, “Hello chaps. Greetings from a very cold England (again). Hope you like these.” and sent along these colorizations of Boog Powell and Johnny Mize.

• Michael Ferry checked in with this:

Hi Phil,

As always, many thanks — with the holidays was a bit busy, but wanted to get at least these two to you. I saw in today’s post that you’ve got other submissions, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing them.

If I can make some time, I’ll try to work on the other two as well.

Regards,

Michael Ferry

Michael colorized Boog Powell and Stan Musial. (He also checked back in with Johnny Mize and the 1932 Red Wings, and that was a difficult one due to the quality of the newsprint.)

• Chris Bieniek was kind enough to respond as well:

Hi, Phil:

I enjoy reading the Uni Watch blog and I wanted to do something to give back. Here’s my attempt at colorizing Boog Powell. Hope you like
it!

– Chris Bieniek
Chicago, IL

Chris took on Boog Powell as well.

• Finally, Dylan Buell answered the call with these:

Hey Phil. Here’s the Red Wings recolors.

Mize
Musial
Powell

I couldn’t finish the last one due to its poor picture quality.

Speaking of colorizing, check this out.

Simply amazing. My family just bought the version on Blue Ray. Can’t wait to get back home to watch.

Thanks

Dylan Buell

Great job fellows. And finally, I got one late Bronko Nagurski submission (which was from the week previous to last) from Ian Carr. Ian didn’t realize I’d be taking the Friday post, so, better late than never, here is his Bronko Nagruski effort.

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Really nice effort on all fronts. I particularly enjoyed the Boog Powell shots. Speaking of that b&w, Paul Bilewicz actually sent me a follow up note on that:

Phil,

Thanks for posting those Red Wings images on Uni Watch! Terry Proctor pointed out one minor inaccuracy in my color description — in the Boog Powell photo (1961), the batting helmet should be navy with a red brim. My original note said it was all navy. I don’t know if it’s too late to make that correction, but I figured I’d give it a try. Thanks again!

— Paul

Since I didn’t know ahead of time who’d be participating, I didn’t get to any of the colorizers before they sent in their pics. I don’t know how easy it would be to make those corrections, but if anyone wants to resubmit the Powell (or if anyone else wants to take a shot at it), please feel free to do so. All submissions can be sent to me. Please indicate somewhere in the subject line: “colorization”. Thanks.

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For next week, I had originally thought about this pic of Johnny McNally, in honor of today’s Green Bay Packer throwback game, but it’s not terribly hi-res and I had partially colorized it myself. But if anyone wants to give that one a shot, feel free.

Instead, I found this tremendous shot of Al Bridwell & Jimmy Archer. That comes from Shorpy, and the description is as follows: “Al Bridwell and Jimmy Archer of the Chicago Cubs. July 21, 1913. View full size. 5×7 glass negative. George Grantham Bain Collection.” According to baseball uniform historian Marcus Okkonen, in 1913, the Cubs unis would have looked like this. So, what say we give this one a try for next weekend. OK? OK!

Thanks again to all the colorizers, and if you find a hi-res shot that’s just crying out for colorization, send me an E-mail and I’ll post it in the future.

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Trackin’ the Ducks

UW #1 Seahawks Fan Michael Princip has been tracking the Oregon Ducks and all of their 2,456 possible uniform combinations this season. He’ll be updating it after each game.

12-0 — the perfect season and a trip to the BCS game in Glendale. It couldn’t end any better for the Ducks unless they win their 13th game. But that’s a month or so away, so today, Mike is just going to relish the beatdown delivered by the Ducks over the Beavers in yesterday’s Civil War. Here’s Mike:

Some observations from yesterday’s ‘Civil War’ game, both teams looked great in their Nike designed unique threads and gear. I really thought the Beavers looked pretty cool in their matte black lids, and bright orange kicks. The Ducks answered back with the neutral gray faux carbon silver kicks. As suspected, the white ‘O’ decal looks much better on the carbon helmets than the yellow ‘O’. Just a great game to watch uni wise. The Ducks prevailed and looked sharp winning the day, albeit no school colors in their ensemble, yet I could only imagine what they could have worn, so I took the liberty of coming up with some throwback mocks.

Now, if only the Seahawks could go back to using some silver in their uniforms…sigh.

Here is your 2010 Duck Tracker.

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5 & 1

And now, the part of the post you’ve all been waiting for: The 5 & 1.

We had less than a full slate of games yesterday, so Jim had slimmer pickin’s than usual. Now, I never read his choices before I post them, so I’m not operating on any insider knowledge when I say what I’m about to say. Two predictions: One, despite being one of the greatest looking college games in recent memory, Jim won’t pick the Civil War as one of his top 5 games; Two, UCLA/USC will be #1.

Will I be right? Let’s find out. Here’s Jim:

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5. Nevada/La. Tech — A lot of mono white vs. mono color this weekend, including this one.

4. Oklahoma/Nebraska — Gonna miss this rivalry as much as I miss the wishbone.

3. Florida State/Virginia Tech — Best all-white uni I saw yesterday.

2. Troy/Florida Atlantic — Sooooooooo close to putting this in the #1 spot…

1. USC/UCLA — …but even with the UCLA “stripes” this color palette special is a winner.

And the bad one: Utah State/Boise State — I pity this photographer.

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See? You can never understand the Mothervilker, but with patience and practice, you can anticipate his moves with reasonable precision. Of course, your REAL #1 was this gorgeous game. I just hope my BCS Bowl prognostications are as good as today’s 5 & 1.

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Uni Tweaks

Lots and lots of tweaks keep pouring in, so obviously this is a popular feature. A bunch new to get to 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 a keeping to that, and it’s much appreciated!

Now, on to today’s tweaks:

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Starting off the show is Matt Locatelli, who was so taken in by THE Jeff’s recent “2+2+2” concepts that he added one of his own:

Phil,

I loved Jeff Provo’s NFL concepts.

Attached please find a demonstration of my lack of self-restraint, artistic ability and decent graphics software. It’s a little tweak to Jeff’s Broncos concept. The change should be obvious. Feel free to share, though I would certainly understand if you don’t.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for everything you guys do on the site.

Matt L.

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Next up is David Browning, who has a Texasenators concept:

Since the Texas Rangers 40th Anniversiary is comming up (in 2012) I figured I would jump the gun and create a uniform that harkens back to our days as the Washington Senators. First, due to the similarity to the Senators script logo, I used the 1984-1993 Rangers script logo and re-colored using the Sens colorscheme. Secondly, I went NNOB with just a basic number font to give it that retro feel. Finally, I went with the same basic font for the “T” on the hat.

Also as you can see I have included a simple 40th Anniversiary patch instead of the Texas flag, Included here in the second picture I have done the patch along with a secondary anniversiary logo with the ballpark as the backdrop. Hope the rest of the rest of the Uni-Watchers approve seeing as this is my first mock-up.

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And closing down the show today is Andrew Lobeck who has some conceptualizations for the Bengals and the Broncos:

Broncos — I took away the ugly streak that runs down the side of the jersey and also added more alternate jerseys which play off the 1968-1996 jersey.

Bengals — I changed the sleeves on the current jerseys and also added a new alternate jersey which has a flat black helmet like Oregon.

Thanks!

–Andrew Lobeck

And that will do it for this week. Fear not, we’ll have more tweaks next weekend.

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Wow. Big one today. In the league where they play for pay, three special uni’s will be worn — the Chargers will be breaking out their powder blues … the Buccaneers will be sporting their creamsickle orange, and in the biggun … the Packers will be donning their 1929 throwbacks. Sweet.

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BCS Bowl Selection Predictions:

BCS Championship: Oregon vs. Auburn

Sugar Bowl: Arkansas vs. THE Ohio State University

Orange Bowl: Va Tech vs. Stanford

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Connecticut

Rose Bowl: Texas Christian vs. Wisconsin

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Everyone have a fantastic Sunday.

Are you trying to figure out mothervilker again? Might as well try to push Mt. McKinley into the lower 48 states, as it would be easier. — Tod Hess