The Temporary Tog Tweak:
It Worked for the Broncos,
But It Hasn't Worked for All
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Denver Broncos |
Last November, a temporary uniform change did the
Broncos good, when the Broncos donned the 1986 throwback
uniforms on Thanksgiving Day and snapped a three-game
road losing streak, defeating the Dallas Cowboys, 26-24.
Yet the trash bin of NFL uniform tweaks is littered
with failed experiments -- failures on levels both
stylistic and results-oriented. The San Francisco 49ers'
one-day flirtation with a helmet that ditched the
traditional "SF" logo in favor of one that read "49ers"
in 1992. The Detroit Lions' one-season dalliance with
Honolulu blue pants in 1998. The Jacksonville Jaguars'
numbers on their jerseys in the 1997 preseason, which
were so unreadable from television's perspective that
they had to be redesigned in time for the regular-season
opener. And then there was one that, thankfully, didn't
see the light of day -- an orange-pants/orange-jersey
combination from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which was
laid out in the locker room prior to a 1995 game but
rejected by the team's captains.
Based on the results of one- or two-game experiments
since 1995 -- the year after throwback uniforms were
used around the league to commemorate the NFL's 75th
anniversary -- a simple conclusion is clear:
The clothes do not make the man. Nor do they
necessarily make the man play better -- at least on the
road.
But at home, there might be a little mojo going on,
as teams that unveiled temporary uniform schemes are 3-2
this year, with victories from the New York Jets,
Jacksonville Jaguars (both of whom wore new pants) and
Cleveland Browns balanced by home defeats by the San
Diego Chargers and Carolina Panthers.
But maybe the color had something to do with the
Chargers and Panthers. Both displayed light-blue
uniforms, a color that hasn't been seen as a primary
jersey color since the then-Tennessee Oilers wore their
light blue jerseys in 1998, the final year in a
five-season run of non-winning seasons. The next year,
they switched to navy blue and went 13-3.
And since the change worked for the Broncos in
snapping a three-game road losing streak last year, why
wouldn't it work to provide some kind of charm to help
snap a three-game prime-time skid this season?
Here's a quick glance at the temporary changes of the
past eight seasons:
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS, 1995
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Indianapolis Colts |
The change: Blue pants, never previously worn.
The result: New pants and a new quarterback -- former
Buccaneer Craig Erickson, acquired in exchange for a
first-round pick -- were supposed to be the harbingers
of a turnaround from a disappointing 8-8 finish the year
before. But after a 1-2 start, the pants were history
and Erickson was on the bench, both of which would never
see the light of day for the Colts again.
Before September had ended, the traditional
white-on-white look had returned, Jim Harbaugh was at
the offensive controls and the Colts were on their way
to their first AFC Championship Game appearance since
1971.
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS, 2000 & 2002
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San Diego Chargers |
The change: Retro uniforms -- white helmets,
light-blue jerseys, white pants.
The result: As attached as Chargers fans -- and many
outside of Southern California, as well -- are to these
uniforms, the results in the team's one-game flashbacks
have been disappointing during the past three years.
San Diego has lost both of their recent games in the
powder blues -- in 2000 to the Raiders, when it was just
one of 15 losses, and this year to the Jets, when a 6-1
start went up in smoke during a 44-13 loss.
It is worth noting that while it seems as if the
white-helmet/light-blue jersey/white-pants look is the
defining Chargers uniform, it actually only had a
six-season shelf life, from 1960-65. In 1966, the
Chargers ditched the white pants with a yellow-and-blue
lightning stripe for yellow pants with a plain
white-and-blue stripe. The lightning bolt did not return
to the pants until 1979, by which time light blue had
been phased out for royal blue. The yellow pants
remained until the end of the 1984 season. The lightning
bolt was removed from the pants in 1988; by that time,
the pants were again white. In 1992, the lightning bolt
returned to the white pants, where it has remained.
And that is probably more than you ever wanted to
know about lightning-bolt stripes.
DALLAS COWBOYS, DENVER BRONCOS, DETROIT LIONS AND
GREEN BAY PACKERS, 2001
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Denver Broncos |
The change: Retro uniforms for all as a part of the
NFL's "Thanksgiving Classics" promotion, which will be
reprised next week with the Lions, Cowboys, New England
Patriots and Washington Redskins.
The result: For Green Bay and Denver, success -- in
the form of hard-earned two-point wins. For the Lions
and Cowboys, the results were disappointing, but not
that much different from their results in their regular
uniforms; they combined for a 7-25 record that season.
For the Lions and Packers, the uniforms were exactly
the same as the ones they wore on throwback days during
the 1994 75th anniversary season. Dallas wore a modified
version of their early uniform, while Denver copied the
look from their 1986 AFC-championship team
stitch-for-stitch.
NEW YORK JETS, 2002
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New York Jets |
The change: Green pants, which were last previously
worn during the 1-15 season of 1996.
The result: The color of money was money in the bank
for the Jets in their first game with the pants; they
snapped a four-game losing streak by defeating the
Minnesota Vikings 20-7 on Oct. 20. A week later, they
tried the combination again when the Cleveland Browns
visited, but an early 21-3 lead turned into a 24-21
defeat.
The Jets had previously worn green pants off and on
from 1991-96 -- however, they had done so only with
their white jerseys. Those two games marked the first
time the team had gone with green from shoulders to
knees.
CAROLINA PANTHERS, 2002
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Carolina Panthers |
The change: Light-blue jerseys, never previously
worn.
The result: Carolina changed quarterbacks --
inserting rookie Randy Fasani -- and uniforms for their
Week 8 game against the Bucs, but it didn't help stop a
losing streak; Carolina fell 12-9 in spite of a sterling
defensive performance.
Going back to the traditional uniforms hasn't helped,
either; since the one-week appearance of the blue
uniforms, Carolina has lost twice more, extending their
losing streak to seven games.
However, a tweak of the uniform combinations did work
once for Carolina; in the final game of the 1998 season,
they wore silver pants with white jerseys -- the first
and only time they have ever done that (typically, they
wear silver pants with black jerseys, and white pants
with white jerseys). That day, they closed an otherwise
depressing 4-12 campaign by defeating the Indianapolis
Colts, 27-19.
CLEVELAND BROWNS, 2002
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Cleveland Browns |
The change: Orange jerseys, never previously worn.
The result: Cleveland donned them for a home game on
Oct. 20 against the Houston Texans and promptly snapped
a three-game losing streak, winning 34-17. The orange
jerseys haven't come out since, but the success has
remained, as Cleveland has now won three of its last
four and is within a half-game of the AFC North lead.
The jerseys were brought out in part to pay tribute
to the franchise's title-winning 1950 edition and its
2002 Legends Class, both of which were honored at
halftime of the Texans game.
The 1950 Browns, who won a world championship in
their first NFL season after four years in the
All-America Football Conference, wore uniforms with
shadow trim on the numerals, just as the Browns wore in
their AAFC days And one of the legends honored at the
game was quarterback Brian Sipe, whose success coincided
with the Browns' use of orange pants -- which they
donned from 1975 to 1983.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS, 2002
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Jacksonville Jaguars |
The change: Black pants, never previously worn.
The result: In their debut on the road, they didn't
help reverse the mojo of a four-game losing skid, as the
Jaguars fell 24-17 to the New York Giants on Nov. 3. At
home the following week, however, the Jaguars combined
them with their teal jerseys and dominated the
Washington Redskins, winning 26-7. The white pants
returned for their win at Houston in Week 11.
POSTSCRIPT: It is worth noting that other teams have
crossed up their uniform schemes -- the Bears wearing
navy blue pants at home last month against the Packers,
for instance. But because the navy blue pants have been
a regular part of Chicago's white-jersey ensemble since
1982, that doesn't qualify as a change in the same way
these others do.
This article was taken from
www.denverbroncos.com. All rights reserved.
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