Kicking It Old School: Part 1
September 15,
2008 | Kevin
Zdancewicz
Throwback jerseys have become a huge hit in
sports
in recent
years, on the field as well as in the streets where old
school gear has
become a major fashion trend. Originating in Major League Baseball with
“Turn Back
the Clock” nights, there are now plentiful examples of retro uniforms
from all of
the major sports leagues. In an effort to give a rundown on the
throwback
phenomenon, JOTW is going to take a look at each league one at a time
in a
multi-part series which – sort of like the Iraq war – has no real
timeframe for
completion.
With the National Football League just
getting
started, we’ll
begin with professional football throwbacks. The featured photo is of
the
beautiful Buffalo Bills throwback to the 1960s. You gotta especially
love the
simplicity of the helmet
for a retro jersey, given how complex and detailed some helmet logos
have
become in sports nowadays. There have even been rumors that the Bills
might go
back to these jerseys full time, though that seems unlikely since their
current, ugly uniforms
(honestly, what the hell is going on with those?) were only redesigned
in 2002.
One of the other interesting related facts
in the
NFL is
that in the last two decades, the two New York teams have gone back to
previous
logos and uniforms as their standard sets: the Jets
in 1998 and the Giants
in 2000. Somewhat similarly, the San Diego Chargers started wearing
powder blue
throwbacks and liked them so much that they changed their regular
helmets from
navy to white so that they could rock the throwbacks
more easily.
For the whole 2002 season, the Redskins wore
1960s-era
jerseys at home to commemorate their 70th anniversary
and last
year rocked throwbacks
modeled after the uniforms their wore in 1970 and 1971. That has been
much more
of the custom in the NFL: teams wearing throwbacks once or twice a year
as an
alternate uniform set. Some of the other teams that have donned
throwback
jerseys in recent years include (but are by no means not limited to)
the Eagles, Steelers, Cowboys,
and Jets
(wearing uniforms from when they were called the Titans).
Photo Courtesy of BuffaloBills.com
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