NEW ALT. UNIFORMS

Originally posted by LoneWolf:
http://www.businessinsider.com/check-out-these-insane-nfl-uniform-redesigns-2010-11

Many fans are taking it as a given -- some with dread, some with glee -- that Nike will give the NFL a wholesale makeover when it takes over the league's uniform contract in 2012. Speculations on what a Nike-fied NFL might look like, cooked up by some enterprising Photoshoppers, have been circulating for nearly a year now. Although the league and Nike confirmed that those designs are not legit, they still represent some people's worst fears (or fondest dreams, depending on whether you're an old-school or new-school kind of fan).

Uni Watch's position is that all this fretting and fantasizing is largely moot, because the NFL is likely to look pretty much the same next year as it does now. Here's why:

• It's a long way from the NCAA to the NFL. People's perceptions of Nike, whether positive or negative, are driven primarily by the company's college football uniform designs. But the NFL is very different from the NCAA. For one thing, colleges are using newfangled uni designs as recruiting tools to attract 17-year-olds and to sell merch to 20-year-olds. But the NFL doesn't need to recruit anyone (players play for the team that drafts them), and the league's consumer base is, on the whole, older and less trend-driven than the NCAA's. Also, many top colleges change their uniforms every season, while NFL teams aren't even allowed to change their uniforms more than once every five years, so there's a lot more design stability in the pro ranks.

• It's the dog, not the tail: Nike (or any uniform company) can't just walk in and change everything on a whim. Nike, like any vendor, can only do what its clients agree to. And in this case the clients are NFL team owners, a bunch of very conservative businessmen who have enormous investments in their successful brands and who, in many cases, have owned their respective franchises for generations. These are not the kinds of guys who are going to put their teams into the Nike design centrifuge. Can you really see the Rooneys letting Nike give the Steelers a major face-lift? Or the Maras? Or the Hunts? No way.

• Historical precedent. It's easy to forget this now, but Nike outfitted many NFL teams back in the 1990s, and the world kept right on spinning. Now, it's true that Nike came up with the Broncos' current look, which was revolutionary when it was introduced in 1997. But think about it: Nearly 15 years later, not a single other NFL team looks anything remotely like the Broncos, which just proves the point that most NFL franchises prefer to stick with tradition. Will a few teams come out with wacky designs next year? Yeah, probably. But there's nothing new about that. Most teams will still stick with what they've got.

• Hints have already leaked. Jaguars equipment manager Drew Hampton recently posted a series of tweets about the Jags' 2012 uniforms. The gist: No design changes, just a few tweaks in the tailoring. That's gonna be the story for most NFL teams.

• Potential new rules are a shot across the bow. Word came out over the summer that the NFL was considering new rules limiting alternate jerseys to non-prime games prior to Week 10, because the proliferation of alternate looks could "potentially compromise a club's national brand equity." Does that sound like a league that's planning to go bonkers with crazy uniform designs to you? If anything, it sounds like a pre-emptive move to ensure that Nike will have little effect on the league's look.

Add it all up and you have a league that you'll have no trouble recognizing as the NFL in 2012. A few teams will no doubt go for a face-lift, and we'll hear the usual claims about space-age fabrics that are lighter, faster and so on (seriously, can the anti-gravity jersey be far behind?). But a large-scale redesign? Ain't gonna happen.

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:
old as f**k article

Originally posted by ruthless49er:
f**k....those unis from the playoffs was perfect. our stadium was blood red. we finally get great unis and then nike takes over.

Originally posted by LoneWolf:
Somewhere I read Seattle wants something similar but not as extreme as the wings on the Oregon uni's.

Originally posted by mayo49:
Thanks, mods. I didn't see the other threads.

Originally posted by mayo49:
Can you imagine the Bears, Steelers, Packers, us all with classic uniforms, giving Nike authorization to make changes to anything. They should just stick with the design of their shoes.

Originally posted by Dr_Bill_Walsh:

Originally posted by mayo49:
Thanks, mods. I didn't see the other threads.

i bumped the old ones so thank me