Proposed Packers Alternative Uniforms

[Smidgeon]

What do you think?

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/ic/blogs/outofbounds/2010/02/another-throwback-uniform-for-packers.html

Personally, I liked the uniform design that Ron Wolf nixed at the last minute when he first showed up in GB. He was going to bring a redesign in with gold helmets and a darker green. But at the last minute he decided to leave the uniforms the same design Lombardi brought in. Since then, GB hasn't really done much in terms of alternative uniforms or redesigning except for the occasional Thanksgiving game against Detroit. Personally, again, I like the idea of mixing it up every once in a while.

[channtheman]

I don't mind a one game type thing like on Thanksgiving or something, but I do not want to see a regular alternative uniform. One of the things I really like about the Packers is their great uniform.

[hurleyfan]

I'd like to see the uni's stay the same.. maybe the "throw-back" for a game or two... definetly not a black jersey..

[Gunakor]

I think we had this discussion once before, maybe last summer or 2 summers ago.

I like the uni's the Packers have now. They've been generally unchanged since the 60's, aside from the number of stripes on the sleeve and other very minor details. I hope that trend carries well into the future, with any changes to the design being very minor ones and the color scheme remaining exactly the same. Change just for the sake of change isn't a good thing IMO. Besides, these are the same uni's for the most part that the last Packer dynasty team wore. If I were a Packer player, there isn't another uniform I'd rather wear on gameday.

[red]

i wouldn't mind seeing the wolf uniform every now and then. i loved the design, and wouldn't mind a full time switch

but i absolutely hated the throwbacks we wore that one year. those were ugly has hell, i don't want to see anything like that again

[Smidgeon]

i wouldn't mind seeing the wolf uniform every now and then. i loved the design, and wouldn't mind a full time switch

but i absolutely hated the throwbacks we wore that one year. those were ugly has hell, i don't want to see anything like that again

Are you talking about those ugly yellow ones? If so, I completely agree with your post.

Personally (again), I think it'd be cool to have navy blue in any alternative jersey since it was one of the original GB colors...

[swede]

If the league wanted to do a throwback game, and I thought the example of Thanksgiving was a good one, I wouldn't mind the return to the colors of an earlier era; it would be a good history lesson.

My concern is making sure that the uniforms are safe for the players.

the idea of Riddel Revolution helmets painted to look like leather is pretty funny.

I guess I don't mind one, maybe two games a year in throwback uniforms. More than that muddies things up.

[red]

i wouldn't mind seeing the wolf uniform every now and then. i loved the design, and wouldn't mind a full time switch

but i absolutely hated the throwbacks we wore that one year. those were ugly has hell, i don't want to see anything like that again

Are you talking about those ugly yellow ones? If so, I completely agree with your post.

Personally (again), I think it'd be cool to have navy blue in any alternative jersey since it was one of the original GB colors...

i think it was the tan pants that i hated. you have a blue and yellow top, or white and yellow, and then you throw in ugly ass tan pants

yuck

[red]

actually, i think if you were to take the current uniforms and completely remove all stripes it would be a massive improvement

stripes are very 60's and 70's, and look very outdated now IMO

[Pugger]

I liked Wolf's design too. If we went with the one Johnny Blood is wearing the numbers on the jerseys don't show up very well...

[Smidgeon]

I liked Wolf's design too. If we went with the one Johnny Blood is wearing the numbers on the jerseys don't show up very well...

The article says that if that is the design GB wants to use as an alternative, modern uniform rules mandate the numbers would have to be larger. So it'd be based on Blood's uniform, but it would be different....sort of.

[Guiness]

I like that one in particular - I didn't think I'd like the idea, but that one is so different from the regular uniform. It's not just a change for change's sake, it's a tip of the cap to a different era. And it's not some space age thingee, I still shudder when I see the Bronco unis. I know they've changed, but essentially these ones

http://sports.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/denver-broncos-fire-mike-shanahan.jpg

I would want to see it as a one time thing, or maybe once/year though. A couple of games per season...well, when the regular season is only 16 games, 2 of them is a pretty good %age, and I wouldn't want an alt uniform affecting the identity of the team.

[CaptainD]

I also like the Ron Wolf uniforms, How about adding in dark Green Pants for Road Games as an option ?
I think the big thing about a uniform change is marketing.....could you get a better market share by giving the team a fresh look ?

[red]

I also like the Ron Wolf uniforms, How about adding in dark Green Pants for Road Games as an option ?
I think the big thing about a uniform change is marketing.....could you get a better market share by giving the team a fresh look ?

i don't think its about getting a bigger market shares

its about selling all kinds of new stuff to your existing fan base.

all those fans would have to go out and get new jerseys and shirts, jackets, hats, etc

[Smidgeon]

I also like the Ron Wolf uniforms, How about adding in dark Green Pants for Road Games as an option ?
I think the big thing about a uniform change is marketing.....could you get a better market share by giving the team a fresh look ?

i don't think its about getting a bigger market shares

its about selling all kinds of new stuff to your existing fan base.

all those fans would have to go out and get new jerseys and shirts, jackets, hats, etc

You bet they would. They'd also buy more of the old stuff because retro is "in".

[Packgator]

The following website shows (and tells) all there is to know about Packer uniforms..........

http://www.packersuniforms.com/

[Lurker64]

I really don't like it when throwback uniforms change the team's colors. It's okay with the Chargers where you change a darker shade of blue to a lighter shade of blue, but I really would prefer to see the Packers wearing Green instead of Blue.

Just my opinion, though.

[swede]

I really don't like it when throwback uniforms change the team's colors. It's okay with the Chargers where you change a darker shade of blue to a lighter shade of blue, but I really would prefer to see the Packers wearing Green instead of Blue.

Just my opinion, though.

I think that when you are very young you are open to new ideas. When you get just a bit older you get more conservative about things like the storied tradition of green and gold. Then, when you get to be a fossil like me, you realize that there WAS a storied era in the Green Bay Packers history before the age of green and gold, and thus I wouldn't mind a game every few years in the old colors.

[Smidgeon]

I really don't like it when throwback uniforms change the team's colors. It's okay with the Chargers where you change a darker shade of blue to a lighter shade of blue, but I really would prefer to see the Packers wearing Green instead of Blue.

Just my opinion, though.

Well, Blue was an original color way back when...

[Maxie the Taxi]

I hate the idea because I want those 1929 uniforms to be the regular uniforms of the Packers, not some regular alternative crap.

Furthermore, why simulate leather? Bring back the actual leather helmit WITHOUT the facemasks.

And don't make the circled G on the front larger. Make everything the same now as it was then.

Maybe McStubby would get the message and run the damn ball all the time too!

[Joemailman]

I hate the idea because I want those 1929 uniforms to be the regular uniforms of the Packers, not some regular alternative crap.

Furthermore, why simulate leather? Bring back the actual leather helmit WITHOUT the facemasks.

And don't make the circled G on the front larger. Make everything the same now as it was then.

Maybe McStubby would get the message and run the damn ball all the time too!

Actually, in 1929 the Packers had 14 rushing TD's and 12 passing TD's. A very balanced offense! :D

[Maxie the Taxi]

I hate the idea because I want those 1929 uniforms to be the regular uniforms of the Packers, not some regular alternative crap.

Furthermore, why simulate leather? Bring back the actual leather helmit WITHOUT the facemasks.

And don't make the circled G on the front larger. Make everything the same now as it was then.

Maybe McStubby would get the message and run the damn ball all the time too!

Actually, in 1929 the Packers had 14 rushing TD's and 12 passing TD's. A very balanced offense! :D

Amen, brother!

[red]

ok i was at the packer pro shop today and they had a full mockup of the new uniform

it looks ok until you see the helmet

it's shit brown

i shit you not

gold pants, navy socks, navy jersey with a yellow circle on it and a solid shit brown helmet with a gray facemask

who the hell is the uniform guy for the packers? the last throwbacks were horrible looking and now this. it's beyond ugly

i know the originals were brown leather, but come on. you guys can come up with something much better then what they have

yuck

[Fritz]

Bring back Arnie Herber!

And make the guys wear those crazy shoes.

[vince]

I can see Rodgers making the patented Herber running jump pass in those throwbacks.

Herber to Hutson (http://packers.fandome.com/video/101643/Top-Ten-Pass-Combos-Arnie-Herber-and-Don-Hutson/)

"Rodgers gets ready to hurl it, and Jennings streaks down the field to receive it. Here it comes! Look out fellas!"

[Fritz]

Okay, the similarities between Herber and Favre are almost weird. Besides Herber originally wearing #4, there's the gun for an arm, the throwing off the back foot, and the crazy jump pass (though Favre just faked his).

Wow.

[vince]

And the similarities don't stop there.

According to the above video, "In 1930, Arnold Herber was working as a handyman in the Packers clubhouse..." before he signed on with the Packers.

And contrary to popular belief, Favre (whose real name really is Bert apparently) was actually a janitor’s assistant in the Packers clubhouse before being discovered.

You got a pretty good arm, don't you? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjFX_jJ0QMA)

[ThunderDan]

There is no answer for, "They look like shit."

If we had alternative unis that looked good I'd support it. But these are horrible.

[Pugger]

ok i was at the packer pro shop today and they had a full mockup of the new uniform

it looks ok until you see the helmet

it's shit brown

i shit you not

gold pants, navy socks, navy jersey with a yellow circle on it and a solid shit brown helmet with a gray facemask

who the hell is the uniform guy for the packers? the last throwbacks were horrible looking and now this. it's beyond ugly

i know the originals were brown leather, but come on. you guys can come up with something much better then what they have

yuck

The helmet is supposed to represent the old leather helmets from that era. What other design would you propose, just for kicks?

[digitaldean]

Just my opinion, but I really don't care for this retro uni at all.

[Fritz]

When did the team go to the green and gold? In the fifties?

What about a retro uniform that looks like what the team wore just before they converted to green and gold?

[vince]

They officially went green and gold in 50 when Gene Ronzani took over for Lambeau.

Here is a pic from '49.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/Image135.jpg

Here are some throwbacks that are modeled after the 40's look from 1994.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/1994favre_preview.jpg

[red]

ok i was at the packer pro shop today and they had a full mockup of the new uniform

it looks ok until you see the helmet

it's shit brown

i shit you not

gold pants, navy socks, navy jersey with a yellow circle on it and a solid shit brown helmet with a gray facemask

who the hell is the uniform guy for the packers? the last throwbacks were horrible looking and now this. it's beyond ugly

i know the originals were brown leather, but come on. you guys can come up with something much better then what they have

yuck

The helmet is supposed to represent the old leather helmets from that era. What other design would you propose, just for kicks?

i have no clue. maybe just use our current helmet but change the green to blue

brown IMO, is off limits for uniforms. it always looks horrible

when they were discussing uniform options, as soon as someone said we have to have a dark brown helmet for this uniform, then they should have moved on to the next one.

i understand they are trying to be historical, but they already made the circle on the front to a size that makes that look stupid, and there's a facemask on the helmet thats'a now made of hark plastic instead of leather. so the thing has already been changed up enough to not make it accurate

why not do something to make the helmet look better, and not like someone took a shit on our players heads

maybe make it the same color as the pants?

[vince]

Sure they're not as attractive as the modern uni's. I like them as much for what they represent as their simplicity.

I tend to agree that the helmets need work, although I like the idea of representing the leather from the early days. Chance Michaels of The Wearing of the Green and Gold (http://packersuniforms.blogspot.com/) blog came up with this for an alternative.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/2010_ProposedPackersThrowbackHelmet.jpg

Fritz, regarding different throwbacks from different eras, here's footage from the 50's (click on the image) when the Packers first went with Green and Gold as their regular team colors. Not too tough to figure out why the Packers and fans want to forget these uni's - and just about the whole decade to boot.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/1950PackerUnis.jpg (http://vimeo.com/10528673)

[Fritz]

The unis don't look bad. But the team sure did. Doh!

[pbmax]

They officially went green and gold in 50 when Gene Ronzani took over for Lambeau.

Here is a pic from '49.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/Image135.jpg

Here are some throwbacks that are modeled after the 40's look from 1994.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/1994favre_preview.jpg
According to http://www.packersuniform.com, those gold shouldered uniforms were blue, not green.

http://images.packers.com/pg/hinkle_clarke/photo3.jpg

But they agree with you on the date, 1950. But his green uniform (there were alternate blue ones as well as a white one) did not have the gold yoke (color on shoulders) and looked like this:

http://images.packers.com/pg/canadeo_tony/photo2.jpg

[vince]

I was a little unclear. Sorry about that. That's what I was trying to convey PB.

They went to the green and gold as the standard in '50. Fritz was asking about a retro uni from just before that, which was the black and white pic of the blue uni's with gold shoulders. That throwback style has already been done back in '94.

[Fritz]

Maybe we just all need to acknowledge that the uniforms from way back in the day were just butt ugly.

[Pugger]

Yes, the uniforms back then weren't all that lovely but I like the fact that the team is honoring and acknowledging its history by wearing these unis from 1929 for a game or two this season. It isn't like we are chucking the green and gold, folks. :roll:

[red]

Maybe we just all need to acknowledge that the uniforms from way back in the day were just butt ugly.

yeah, there is a reason why they changed in the first place. and why the team only wore those, what, one or two seasons

[Fritz]

Yes, the uniforms back then weren't all that lovely but I like the fact that the team is honoring and acknowledging its history by wearing these unis from 1929 for a game or two this season. It isn't like we are chucking the green and gold, folks. :roll:

Well, Pug, that's a positive way to see it. And it makes some sense. But it is hard for me not to think that this is more about making some more money with new merchandise.

[Gunakor]

Ain't no fan gonna buy those ugly ass jerseys. Absolutely hideous is about the nicest thing I can say about them. Chryst, at least get rid of the yellow circle. Try to look professional at least, rather than some pee wee team from bumblefuck Egypt. My god those things are awful.

[Patler]

I like the jerseys.
They remind me of my younger days!

[vince]

Fritz, you say that as if it's a bad thing.

I bet they sell a bunch of these jerseys. If you look around the net, it seems to me that more people like them - or at least don't mind them, than hate them.

Celebrating the most storied and successful history in the NFL, and promoting what many believe is the greatest success story in all of sports - and making a few dollars in the process, which ultimately benefits the fans - is a good thing for everyone.

[Fritz]

Ah, Vince. Young children will go shoeless in the bitter winters of the midwest, wives will be feeding their hungry children gruel, grandparents will shiver in the cold and die in the angry heat of summer, just so Packer fan Daddy can go buy (yet another) jersey for his collection.

It's a cruel and bitter world.

[vince]

:lol: I'm getting a Matthews 52. Screw the kids. Their feet will callous up. That way, we can all pay homage to '29 together. I hear it was a very cold year.

[Gunakor]

Fritz, you say that as if it's a bad thing.

I bet they sell a bunch of these jerseys. If you look around the net, it seems to me that more people like them - or at least don't mind them, than hate them.

Celebrating the most storied and successful history in the NFL, and promoting what many believe is the greatest success story in all of sports - and making a few dollars in the process, which ultimately benefits the fans - is a good thing for everyone.

There was a reason those hideous things were retired so long ago. They are even MORE hideous in their return.

This specific design looked better with the smaller circle IMO - it was enlarged for TV purposes, something not given much consideration when the design was first worn. That enlarged circle is every bit as gaudy and ridiculous to me as the clock Flava Flav wears around his neck on TV.

I don't think throwback jerseys are necessary or even reasonable, to be honest. Honor the past, sure, but don't try to replicate it on a football field. The Packers have a HOF where fans if they choose can go relive what it was like a century ago. That's where history belongs, in a HOF, in a museum. Not on an NFL football field on Sunday afternoons.

[Fritz]

Hey, I like Flava Flav!

Fight the Powers that Be, Baby!

[swede]

Wouldn't it be more in keeping with the spirit of retro to purchase a Curly Lambeau, a Mike Michalske, or a Johnny "Blood" McNally jersey?

[Fritz]

I want a Don Hutson jersey...except they didn't put names on the back in them days.

[vince]

Good point, swede. Maybe I'll go with a Jug Earp or Cal Hubbard - one of the beefy guys in the trenches who were so important but never got the accolades. The game's a lot different today, but some things haven't changed.

Here are some excerpts from a book which is available free online in a bunch of different formats (http://www.archive.org/details/greenbaypackersp010233mbp) called, The Green Bay Packers - Pro Football's Pioneer Team by Chuck Johnson, published back in 1961. It covers each of the formative years - at least since 1919 up to the Lombardi era in some detail. Since the players from those days were still alive back then, it's probably the last and best historical chronicle of the earliest years of the Packers in the NFL.


Lambeau had trouble disguising his own enthusiasm as he assembled the 1929 team. He had reason for optimism. For all purposes, Lambeau was through as a player himself, but he was coming into his own as a coach and organizer. He pleaded and he cajoled; he paraded up down the sideline, shouting encouragement and instructions; he and he gestured. He inspired his men and he drove them, at times ruthlessly.

One of his leading players, Hubbard, said later of Lambeau, “They’ll have trouble finding six men to bury the so-and-so.”

But Lambeau got results. His Packers in the next three seasons accomplished the unprecedented.

In 1929, the Packers won their first National Football League championship.

Practice opened September 8 at Joannes Park with 2,000 spectators on hand. Within a man or two, Lambeau had his squad for the year. Few rookies tried out. Expenses were kept to a minimum.

Lambeau invited only players he figured would make the team. If they weren't good enough, neither was the team. The squad rarely numbered over thirty men and no more than twenty-five on trips.

The regulars on offense were also the regulars on defense. In close games, fifteen or fewer played. The starters usually were out only because of injury or exhaustion. Sixty-minute performers were the rule rather than the exception.

"We had to pace ourselves to go the distance and still have left at the finish," he said.

"We didn't throw too many passes, although Curly believed in the pass more than the other coaches of the time. All the backs could throw the ball, and did, but the passer had to be at least five yards behind the Ike of scrimmage.”

"In those days, there wasn't as much scoring. If a team scored a touchdown, the philosophy was, 'Well, we got ours, now you try to get yours.' There was more punting, often on third down or sooner.”

The rules on placing the ball were different. Unless you went out of bounds, the ball wasn't moved in toward the middle of the field. If you were tackled a yard or two inside the sideline, that's where the ball was put in play. "We had special sideline plays for such occasions, often with no one lined up on side of the center because there wasn't room.

"We had plays to run the ball out of bounds to get it moved in, but sometimes we'd fake to the strong side and try to go over the weak side, even if there was barely room for the runner to maneuver."

The Packers of 1929 played their five home league games first and won them all. The difficult part of the schedule, however, remained - eight straight road games. A crowd of 2,000 gathered to see the team off at the Chicago and Northwestern depot. Departure of the train was delayed for forty-five minutes because Johnny Blood was late. Then the team left for Chicago, first stop.

In Green Bay, a few hundred fans the team followed the progress of each road game with a "grid graph” at the Columbus Club. Wire reports provided scoring and information as to which team had the ball and where.

The Packers won their first four road games, then met the Giants in the Polo Grounds at New York. Both teams were undefeated and the game, it turned out, decided the championship. Before divisions were formed in 1933, all teams competed in one group. There was no playoff at the end of the season, season, unless there was a tie for first place.

Green Bay beat the Giants, 20-6, even though quarterback, Joseph (Red) Dunn and halfback Eddie Kotal were out with injuries. The Packers were alone in first place. They had won with an almost complete iron-man performance. The starters played without help until the last minute, when Paul Minnick replaced the injured Jim Bowdoin at right guard. It was Green Bay's only substitution.

"Oh, how we hated to see the substitute come in," center Jug Earp recalled, "We had wanted to go all the way without help. We told Curly, ‘We don't need him. Jim'll be all right. He just got a bump.' But Curly sent Paul in, anyway."

The Packers were held to a scoreless tie by Frankford, but whipped Providence (in their third game in eight days) and the Bears to clinch the title.

The Packers of 1929 allowed 13 league opponents a total of 24 points. In five home games, they did not permit a touchdown. The opposition scored six points in Green Bay, on three safeties.

Some 20,000 persons turned out to welcome the team home. The crowd waited for more than an hour in freezing weather before the train came in from Chicago. Five miles from the depot, rooters lighted the train's way in by burning red fuses.

Soldiers and policemen ran interference for the engine, permitting the train to reach the station platform. Signs and banners of gold and blue were waved aloft, proclaiming "Welcome, Packers" and "Hail Champions."

An automobile parade took the Packers to city hall where Mayor John V. Diener presented keys to the city to Lambeau and the players.

The next night, a victory dinner was held at the Beaumont Hotel. Each player received a watch and a check for $220, from a special players' fund sponsored and collected by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

The Packers were champions.

[vince]

Here's one of the few available game-action pics from '29.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/photo1.jpg

Your '29 Green Bay Packers
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/1929.jpg

Article on the First NFL-Championship-Securing Victory in Packer History
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/1929PackBeatBears25-0.gif

[Fritz]

In many ways it sounds more like rugby than today's football.

I would like to have seen one of those games.

[vince]

Me too Fritz. Lambeau seems to have been the biggest innovator who was largely responsible for transforming football from its close ties to rugby into the game it's become. He made the passing game an integral part of offense and the game's popularity took off from that.

[swede]

The original Railbirds.



Practice opened September 8 at Joannes Park with 2,000 spectators on hand.


The original Paul Hornung.

Departure of the train was delayed for forty-five minutes because Johnny Blood was late. Then the team left for Chicago, first stop.

The original Packerrats.

In Green Bay, a few hundred fans the team followed the progress of each road game with a "grid graph” at the Columbus Club. Wire reports provided scoring and information as to which team had the ball and where...

This had to have been, literally, more than a third of the city.

...Some 20,000 persons turned out to welcome the team home. The crowd waited for more than an hour in freezing weather before the train came...



Thanks for sharing that, Vince.