The NFL is Seeing Red

On Sunday night's game against the Detroit Lions, San Francisco cornerback Tarell Brown made what undoubtedly to most seems like an innocuous fashion statement. Several of his teammates were wearing undershirts to ward off the Northern California evening chill, but only Brown's was in the Niners' famous crimson.

The League noticed the discrepancy, and the next day sent him this greeting:

It begins:

Tarrel Brown
c/o San Francisco 49ers
4949 Centennial Boulevard
Santa Clara, CA 95054

Dear Tarrel:

     During the Detroit Lions-San Francisco 49ers game on September 16, 2012, you were in violation of NFL Uniform and Equipment Rules.

     Specifically, you wore red undergarment sleeves. Your team designated undergarment color is white. Rule 5 Section 4, Article 5(a) of the 2012 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League states that all members of the same team who wear approved undergarments with exposed necks or sleeves must wear the same color on a given day.

     NFL policy on uniforms and equipment and the "On Field" program is disseminated to players through playbook inserts, locker-room posters, and training-camp videos. In accordance with the document entitled "2012 GAME-RELATED DISCIPLINE", which was among the playbook materials distributed to you earlier this season, the League is imposing on you a fine of $5,250.

The remainder of the letter explains the process for appealing the fine, but that's the part I'm most interested in.

You can see that the other 49ers were wearing their League- and team-approved white undershirts in that game:

I wasn't aware that teams had to designate an undershirt color, although that makes sense.

I do with the Packers would make a change to theirs, though. The contrasting undershirts have long bothered me.

Contrasting undershirts needlessly clutter up the uniform, and matching them to the jersey color would at least give a hint of the old long-sleeve aesthetic.

Even if the Packers won't incorporate the compression shirts into their uniform design, at least the team could ensure that they don't work against that design. It would look something like this photo of AJ Hawk at training camp a couple years ago:

Maybe for 2013.