A few years ago the NFL announced that Nike would take over the outfitting for the NFL at the beginning of the season, following the termination of the contract between the league and its now former supplier, Reebok.
Today was the big day, as the NFL and Nike joined together to present the new threads in New York. Tensions were high for most football fans, as Nike's history of progressive and sometimes questionable designs have been a headline in the college football universe over the past year or so.
Fans saw some underwhelming results when the uniforms were finally unraveled at approximately 11 a.m. this morning. Most teams looked the same, but some subtle differences in Nike's tailoring patterns have led to some aesthetically bothersome elements--causing complaints.
There was one team that stood out however, and that team was the Seattle Seahawks. The 'Hawks had confirmed weeks ago that the team would be unveiling new uniforms, to the delight of uniform gurus who absolutely despised the old get-up.
The Seahawks new look is very Oregon-esque, and hands down the most progressive uniform the NFL has ever seen, if not football in general.
I have to say, I can't not like the new look. I'm a traditionalist--so much that my favorite NFL uniform is Kansas City's. But, Seattle's new look shed new light on my willingness to accept change. The uniforms are definitely different. The new color scheme of a deeper blue and more green makes the uniform much more interesting.
The most noticeable element is the offset "SEAHAWKS" script on the left side of the chest. Traditionally, team scripts have always been small and centered underneath the collar, above the numerals. Another element I absolutely love is the v-shaped design that is a theme in the sleeve, pants, helmets, and numbers. It represents a wing design of a seahawk on a totem pole, coinciding perfectly with the team's culture-specific logo.
The design is sublimated in the numbers, and on top of the helmet. That might be a little too much overkill there, but in the past, Nike's sublimated patterns have been significantly more visible in their photo shoots, as opposed to action.
My only complaints with the new uniforms is the goofy number font, which reminds me a lot of the Oregon font used in the Rose Bowl, and the grey alternate jersey. I will say, the gray pants go perfectly with the navy jersey. Hopefully the birds choose to wear that combination often, finally ridding us the torture of having to watch them in monochrome denim (which had been going on in Seattle since 2002).
As for the other 31 teams, none had any design changes except the St. Louis Rams, who slightly modified their sleeve stripe, Kansas City, who made the sleeve stripes bigger, and the Denver Broncos, who have made their orange jersey their primary. At first glance, this all looks fantastic, but upon further inspection--as the photos rolled out onto the interweb today--everyone began to notice one of the most jarring issues we've ever seen on a uniform.
Take a look at the collars. What's going on here? It doesn't make sense, does it? It might, to Nike. The reason for the truncated collar striping is the material switch that happens at the seams. Nike uses some gimmicky "flywire" technology at the point of the neck area.
It appears that teams were given the option to color both areas the same, or color the collar area and leave the flywire with the regular jersey color. Why anybody involved with any of the organizations thought the latter would be a good idea is beyond me, but surprisingly, nine teams decided to sport the popped-collar look. I can't imagine myself being okay with that protruding aesthetic flaw any time soon. Teams like Buffalo really screwed up their looks with it.
Houston managed to make the biggest mistake of all, however. The Texans chose to make both collar areas red. What we found out is that the lack of roundness and traditional collar size makes for one one, big, hideous red blob.
New England, Carolina, Atlanta, Green Bay, and Philadelphia actually were smart enough to refuse the flywire collars, making for much more normal looking jerseys. The other teams that have flywire, but all in unison, color wise, look completely fine.
I did notice that Indianpolis is apparently returning to striped socks, which is a nice move. Also, the Panthers, despite not changing their uniform design, have switched over to their subtly different logo.
Green Bay, Carolina, Atlanta, and Philadelphia were also so stubborn that they aren't wearing Nike's speed machine template, but rather templates that are seamed to replicate the Reebok jerseys worn last year.
Teams that bought into all of Nike's new elements, such as the flywire and weird belt loops, ended up with cut-off pants stripes and--again--horrid collars.
Overall, it was disappointing to see that some teams like Atlanta, Arizona, and Cincinnati did not take these opportunities to make updates to their designs. However, there are rumors that 2013 could bring as much as five redesigns from teams and Nike.
Jacksonville had a photo leak of a black jersey they will wear this season, but has already confirmed there will be a redesign for 2013. Also, we still have to wait and see if any teams took this restock opportunity to introduce alternate colored jerseys or pants, so not everything is out of the bag yet.
Although, I'm more concerned with teams giving their collar color fixes before kickoff of 2012 rolls around, or I might lose it.
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