Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The Emperors' New Clothes

The Nike/NFL uniform unveiling is happening right now in my home borough of Brooklyn. The Seahawks have taken advantage of Nike's design department, opting for a total-overhaul with nothing left untouched. Other teams accepted minor changes, mostly appearing to be influenced by Nike's standard design template and construction considerations.

Here's our first glimpse at what your Green Bay Packers will be wearing in 2012:

Uni Watch

And a glimpse of the back, as seen through the rows of display mannequins:

Uni Watch

Wow, huge changes, huh? The Reebok vector has been replaced with the swoosh, and the "NFL EQUIPMENT" patch is gone. And... that's about it.

I'm relieved to see that there are almost no changes. The Braisher stripes still run all the way up to the top of the pants, Forrest Gregg's collar stripes are uninterrupted by the Nike Flywire design, and the general construction seems to be very similar to previous jerseys, unlike the new jerseys of many teams.

As we thought, the swoosh now faces the players' front on each side, resulting in this "backwards" logo.

The best news so far is that they've scrapped the silly "NFL EQUIPMENT" patch, returning to a simple NFL shield at the throat and on the right hip. A massive upgrade, if for that alone.

The backwards swoosh on the right sleeve looks odd.

Nike's website has this to say about the Packers:
The Green Bay Packers have chosen to stay with their traditional design aesthetic as well as their former uniform fabrication for the coming season.
The Packers were one of five teams to so decline Nike's makeover (the others being Atlanta, Philadelphia, Carolina and Oakland). And good for them all.

2 comments:

Packerfan4ever said...

I would love to see the throwback uniform you referenced in your Feb. 25th article. Incorporating the Holstein Heisman along with the Braisher stripes and gold flake helmet would look awesome.
I actually sent an email to some buddies with the picture of that uniform, telling them that was the new look. They were extremely disappointed when I told them I was kidding.
Maybe it's time to petition Mark Murphy???

Chad from Madison

Chance Michaels said...

I'd be totally on board with the gold helmet. The Seahawks have a custom finish from Hydro Graphics Inc. on their new helmets, why not the Pack?