Back in October of 2010 Nike signed an apparel licensing deal with the National Football League to become the league’s uniform supplier. On Tuesday, Nike held an event unveiling their version of each team’s uniform.
According to ESPN’s Paul Lukas, there were a few changes to the uniforms.
First, the collars were switched to a fly wire collar, which has been used in college until now. Also, some teams like the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos have two different sections of colors in their collars. For those teams the front of jersey’s collar is the same as the primary color of the uniform and around the shoulders the collar turns into a different color.
Secondly, the piping where the belts go through the pants is now padded. The only reasons that I can think that they did this is an alternative for hip pads or it was included as a form of protection for those players who don’t wear hip pads.
Third, the pants striping panel is made of mesh instead of a stretch fabric now.
Fourth, teams that have a log on their pants is a little bit lower than before
The other news to come out from the event was the unveiling of the new design for the Seattle Seahawks uniforms since they are the first team to have their jerseys redesigned by Nike. The neon green that used for their alternate jersey is now incorporated into their main uniforms.
According to the Seattle Times, there is mixed emotions amongst Seahawk fans as some love the new design and some hate it.
Finally, one observation that Lukas made is that none of the team’s alternative jersey was on display for fans. In November of 2010 photos of what were thought to be Nike’s version of each team’s uniform were leaked out. So, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that some of those concept designs could be the alternate jersey for some teams.
