National Football League - Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals - A Fresh Look
Cardinals' uniforms receive major update
Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
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Larry
Fitzgerald and Kurt Warner |
The
Cardinals are the oldest continuously run team in the
NFL and have always dressed the part, updating their
wardrobe slightly every few decades or so. To them,
every week was throwback week.
That changed Wednesday, when the team debuted a
drastic uniform redesign that maintains its traditional
color scheme of red and white, yet gives them an
entirely new look.
"Anything is better than the old one, for me," said
defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, minutes after making
his runway walk to model the new threads. advertisement
Dockett was one of eight Cardinals players to strut
his stuff in a conference room at the chic James Hotel
in Scottsdale. Lights flashed and music blared as the
players preened and posed, and then began waiting
eagerly for offers to roll in from modeling agencies.
Dockett checked his look in a mirror provided by
outside linebacker Karlos Dansby. Defensive end Bertrand
Berry pretended to brush dust off the shoulder of safety
Adrian Wilson.
Quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Josh McCown did some
nice quarter-turns, but played it fairly straight.
Warner, who signed with the team this off-season,
said the new uniforms indicate the team is trying to
change its image.
"I think it's a good example of how we're trying to
turn the corner and change things up," he said.
Michael Bidwill, the club's vice president and
general counsel, called the day "historic," and given
the Cardinals' resistance to change, it was an apt
description.
The club has been wearing Cardinals red since the
early 1900s, and the uniform changes since were akin to
lowering hemlines a half-inch.
That's what makes the new look so different.
The white jersey now has red on the shoulders. Black
has been added as an accent to the numbers. The changes
were dramatic but not garish, which seemed important to
fans.
"In the fans' terms, they didn't go too far," said
Philip Tabla of Glendale, one of a handful of fans
attending the fashion show. "Most all the fans were
scared they were going to come out like the Bengals, too
flashy, too many stripes, too many colors."
Creating the design took months, and the Cardinals
listened to the advice of several fan focus groups,
which didn't want the team to go too far.
Then there was owner Bill Bidwill, who had some
opinions, too.
"There were some things I put my heels down on," he
said.
Keeping a mostly red jersey was one. The team
will have a third set of uniforms, its classic red
jersey with white pants, that it can wear on special
occasions.
According to the team's press release, the materials
in the new uniforms include the latest in
"performance-enhancing technology," which can only help
a franchise that's won one playoff game since 1947.
Michael Bidwill promised that the new materials in
the uniforms, made by Reebok, will help the players "run
faster and reach further for a ball."
While new uniforms always help apparel sales, the
Cardinals' reasons are more about image than cash.
But fans can buy replica jerseys for about $80 at
Sports Authority, the club's team shop or at its Web
site,
azcardinals.com.
Each uniform will be custom fit to the player, and
the uniform will cost as much as $1,000. No NFL team
will spend more on its uniforms.
The Cardinals don't expect the jerseys to help them
win, increase ticket sales or vault them to the top of
the NFL in apparel sales. To the players, however, the
uniform redesign does represent that the team's
ownership is willing to change.
"We need to give Michael and those guys credit
because they made good on their promises," McCown said.
"They weren't lying when they said it was a
revolutionary change in uniforms."
Dockett reminded everyone, however, of one of
fashion's truisms. "Like I said, man, the uniform don't
make the player. The player makes the uniform."
Fans' reaction
"I like them. They look nice. I like the colors. They
fit them - they look good in them." Desiree Muldrow, 14,
Phoenix
"I think it's a good change. It's always nice to see
new uniforms come in. It's like when we get new clothes.
It's always nice to get new ones." Mark Love, 45,
Phoenix
"Not bad. Yeah, this is an upgrade. They're going
through a lot of changes with the new stadium, so they
might as well." Rudy Soto, 19, Phoenix
"The red one looks pretty good. The white one is
missing something, but I can't say what. If they were
going to change the uniform, they should have changed
the name." Mark Jordan, 42, Houston
"I think it's got a great look. I think it gives them
a new look, something unique that the others don't
have." Rachelle Fliehman, 66, Albert Lea, Minn. "They
look better than the other ones. I'd rather wear that
kind of jersey than the old ones." Garrett Gishie, 18,
Phoenix
This article was taken from
www.azcentral.com. All rights
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