Some Idle Thoughts on Throwbacks, Alternates, and the Dreaded “Color Rush”

Contrary to some people’s opinion, I am NOT anti-uniform innovation or improvement. But like all of us, I have my likes and dislikes, and general sense of taste.

That said, I know few people who actually LIKE the NFL’s new Thursday night holiday money grab… er… “seasonal alternates”…. of tone-on-tone, “Color Rush” jerseys.

This week it was the Jags looking like a Chinese mustard packet, and the Titans looking like the Smurfs.

Or, maybe it was an ode to Star Trek. I dunno.

@czabe pic.twitter.com/kRKYHsjgWv

— Robert Tony Berry (@RobTonyBerry) November 20, 2015

Next year, there’s a dirty rumor that the Packers will be volunteers in… er… subject to?… the “Color Rush” phenomenon. This is where my noted and accomplished logo-design buddy Dave Mann picks up the story..

To: Czabe
From: Mann, Dave
RE: Color Rush

I think the Packers are already “in” for 2016 color rush. I heard that somewhere….on twitter? I think. And while that obviously scares the heck out of me…some smart and likeminded uniform historians have pointed out that the Packers COULD elect to….not HAVE…but COULD… do color rush AND stay true to their actual uniform history at the same time. How?

They could throwback to the 1950-53 seasons and go green over green.

And no, I had no idea that they had ever dressed like that either.

http://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GUD/packers.shtml

All of this is, speculation and presumes that Color rush even makes it to next season.

Sincerely,
Dave

Ah yes… the “good ol’ days” of simple uniforms, where teams had ONE home and ONE road unif…. oh.. hey wait. Holy crap! Look at that! The 1953 Packers had FIVE different schemes that year! Incredible.

Naturally, replicating the “green-over-green” from ’53 would look like utter shit now, what with shiny modern helmets and high tech fabrics. But if it does happen, then I suppose being able to cling to a historical reference may ease the visual pain.

If I had my way, each NFL team would be allowed ONE “throwback” uniform per season, and ONE “alt.” That’s it. That’s more than enough. I would let teams change their “throwback” from year to year to reference different historical touchpoints in team garb – but I would insist that the league verify the throwback has an actual antecedent look, and is not just a “second alternate.”

This way, we could reign in stupid shit like “Color Rush” and still let teams dabble in their OWN desired “alt” on a year-to-year basis – IF THEY CHOOSE. And some may not. Which would be fine with a lot of people.