It's That Time of Year...

Playoffs this weekend, and that means the Packers are dragging out the captaincy patches again.

Sewing on the playoff captain patches. https://t.co/lcHzfD67D4

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 7, 2016

For those just joining us, the Packers select captains on a week-to-week basis, so they don't wear these League-approved patches during the regular season. But one slate of captains is selected before and for the postseason, so we get extra ugly uniform clutter for the biggest games of the season.

I'm definitely ready for this to stop being a thing.

The "Captain" Patches Revealed as Even Dumber Than I Thought

Well, I was wondering what the Packers would do with Aaron Rodgers's captain patch now that he's topped the five consecutive seasons it was designed to represent. Thanks to the Packers' naming their postseason captains early, we now know: absolutely nothing.

Gold C above four gold stars, the exact same as last season.

Originally, the whole point was to honor multiple years of "service". The more years as a captain, the more gold stars. Then when they ran out of gold stars, they colored the C gold to match. Now... I guess Rodgers has topped out, and there are no more honors to bestow upon him.

I can't tell you how stupid I think this whole thing is.

Saying Goodbye to 2013

And that'll do it for another year.

San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis (85) can't hang on to the ball as Green Bay Packers strong safety Morgan Burnett (42) defends late in the fourth quarter of their Wild Card game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI on January 5, 2014. The 49ers beat the Packers 23-20. (Todd Rosenberg/NFL)

The Packers' quest for a fourteenth World Championship ended on the Frozen Tundra last night, as the visiting 49ers did just enough to win.

Uniform-wise, it was another very good-looking game. San Francisco has a classic look that compliments the Packers'. Loads of Braisher stripes to go around (although the Niners don't have the "steroid stripe" problem).

Green Bay Packers fullback John Kuhn (30) dives into the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Despite Saturday's report, there were many bare arms on display at Lambeau Field.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) runs against Green Bay Packers inside linebacker Brad Jones (59) during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

One other interesting uniform note came up during this game:

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) scrambles during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Aaron Rodgers is in his fifth consecutive year as a team captain, which means he's the first Packer ever to wear the all-gold version the silly "C" patches introduced in 2009. Rodgers has been a captain in every game he's played this year, but the Packers only wear the patches in post-season play, so this is the first time we've seen the solid gold version in Green Bay. Makes me wonder what the NFL will come up with for sixth-year captains to wear.

Well, thanks again for another season. Tough loss to take, as I was holding out hope that I'd get to see the Packers in my local Super Bowl. But this is not our year.

I'll continue to be here throughout the playoffs and then the off-season. An end to 2013 still leaves us with nine decades of Packer glory to explore.

The First Cover of the 2013 Season

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is on one of Sports Illustrated's regional covers, his first cover appearance of the season.

How nice for Bellin Health that they're getting just a little payoff from their sponsorship agreement.

This is SI's fantasy preview, and they list Rodgers as their top-rated fantasy quarterback.

He's also well-covered inside the magazine, in an article entitled "Aaron Rodgers: The Voice of Wisconsin". Money quote:

Rodgers grew up in California and wasn't initially happy when he was chosen by Green Bay with the 24th pick in the 2005 draft since he expected to be drafted higher and Brett Favre was still the starter (and a legend) in Green Bay. And yet Rodgers now says, "I’m a Wisconsin guy. I’m here nine months out of the year. This is home for me." He adds, "People enjoy being able to see you at the Piggly Wiggly and say hello."

Outstanding.

Deck the Hall, Part II

On their way to winning another NFC North Division Championship yesterday, the Packers participated in the NFL's second week of commemorating fifty years of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That meant another jersey patch, this time on the white roads.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) and linebacker Clay Matthews (52) talk while warming up before an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Seeing elite players like Matthews and Rodgers wearing the patch is one thing, but I can't help but wonder if other men on that field have mixed feelings about it, knowing that the vast majority of them will need a ticket to enter the Hall?

I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but there can't be many more appropriate events to commemorate the Hall of Fame than a game between these two clubs. As strong as the connection is between the Hall and the Packers, it might even be more so for the Bears. They currently have 27 players enshrined in Canton, more even than the Packers. For now.

Is it just me, or do the Bears save their throwbacks for when the Packers come to town? You can dress like the Monsters of the Midway, boys, but you'll have to work harder to play like them.

Cornerback Casey Hayward (29) of the Green Bay Packers intercepts a Jay Cutler pass during week 15 action between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL on Dec. 16, 2012 (Todd Rosenberg/NFL)

Games at Lambeau Field and Soldier Field, against the Bears and the Lions. Traditional rivals from football towns. Regardless of what the rest of the league did, this was a great way to honor the Hall of Fame.

Deck the Hall

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers waits to be introduced before an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Last night, on Sunday Night Football, the Packers and Lions joined the NFL's league-wide commemoration of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 50th anniversary.

In the spirit of the occassion, Lambeau Field was festooned with Hall of Fame logos and there were pre-game festivities. In attendance was former great Willie Davis, representing the twenty-one players and coaches (second in number only to the Bears) who are enshrined in Canton.

On the field, both teams wore a Hall of Fame patch over their hearts:

Green Bay Packers' Randall Cobb leaps over Detroit Lions' Don Carey (32) as he runs back a kick during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

This made for some crowded real estate, especially amongst players like Ryan Grant who cut their jerseys down, impinging on the neck stripes:

Green Bay Packers' Ryan Grant runs during the second half of an NFL football game Sagainst the Detroit Lions unday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 27-20. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

I can't help but wonder why the NFL waited until December to commemorate this anniversary, since induction ceremonies are held in August. The dedication and inaugural class enshrinement was held on September 7, 1963. Perhaps they thought that saving it for late in the season, separating it from the regular season-kickoff hoopla, would allow for greater focus.

I will admit that Lambeau Field in December lends itself to conditions entirely appropriate for remembering the game's glorious history:

Green Bay Packers' Randall Cobb reacts after catching a pass for a first down during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

A Banner Year to Come

Per Uni Watch, we now know that the Packers will be partaking in at least three league-wide uniform promotions this season.

First up is the NFL's annual Brest Cancer Awareness festival. Every week in October, as they have since 2009, players will wear pink accessories on the field. Stadiums will be draped in pink banners, and helmets will be festooned with NFL shield/pink-ribbon decals. For the Packers, that means October 7th in Indianapolis, October 14th in Houston, October 21st in St. Louis, and home on the 28th against Jacksonville. I expect pink gloves and shoes to continue to play a major role in this promotion, as they have been a particular point of focus since Nike took over the contract.

The next event will be the "Salute to Service", held in November. For Weeks 9, 10 & 11 (that's November 4th against the Cardinals and November 18th at Detroit; week 10 is the Packers' bye week), NFL stadiums will pay tribute to the troops. In addition to a fundraising initiative, we can expect goal post wrappers, end zone paint, players will be wearing a special NFL shield/digi-camo ribbon decal on the back of their helmets. The "Salute to Service" promotion was introduced last season, but didn't extend to the helmets. That changes in 2012.

Finally, the NFL will be marking the 50th Anniversary of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. During Weeks 14 and 15 (with the Packers hosting Detroit on December 9th and at the Bears on December 16th), teams will wear a commemorative Pro Football Hall of Fame patch. By this, I presume they mean on the left breast, the traditional spot for a jersey patch. The Packers have a special connection to the Hall of Fame; although not represented at the original formation of the League in 1920 at Ralph Hay's auto showroom, Curly Lambeau's men joined the League in its sophomore season and have been fixtures ever since. The Packers currently boast twenty-one players and coaches enshrined in Canton, more than anyone save the Bears, and that inaugural Class of 1963 included four men of Green Bay.

And there you have it. Of the thirteen remaining games on the Packers' 2012 schedule, nine of them are scheduled to involve uniform markers as part of one of these league-wide events.

Patch a Rising Star

The Packers have just given us our first look at the jerseys to be worn in the Super Bowl, as Marge Switzer and her team prepare the uniforms for the game.

That's a great sweater.

I particularly like her "G" logo earrings:

These little number patches find their way on to sideline gear, caps and jackets.

The Super Bowl logo looks pretty good; silver's a nice accent color with the green and gold. One of the things I like about the new Super Bowl "logo system" is that the Lombardi Trophy patch will look good on just about every uniform. We won't have the color clashes we've seen in the past.

Are those patches heat-applied?


Photo credit: Duke Bobber/Packers.com

UPDATE 1/28: Paul Lukas has confirmed with the NFL that the patches will be heat-sealed to the jerseys, not sewn. This appears to be a departure from NFL norm, although baseball has done this for years, which has led to some interesting "wardrobe malfunctions":

Hope they don't end up scattering little silver patches across the Cowboys Stadium turf.

C You in the Playoffs

Once again, as the Packers enter the playoffs, they sew Captain's patches on the jerseys.

The patches are standardized across the league, but not mandatory. The Packers don't wear them during the regular season, as captains are selected on a week-to-week basis without enough time to add them to the uniform (team seamstress Marge Switzer has enough to do getting the team ready each week). Green Bay selects one set of captains for the entire playoffs, so we're treated to this æsthetic blot in January.

I still oppose the whole idea - the patches are unnecessary, they clutter the uniform, and the standardized design doesn't match anything else in the Packers' scheme. Time to scrap the program.

Camel's Nose, Meet Tent (Part Two)

Packers guard Daryn Colledge models the new practice jersey patch during training camp practice at Ray Nitschke Field on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010.

A little over a year after announcing that they would seek a jersey sponsor for practice uniforms, the Packers have announced that a deal has been reached with Green Bay-based health care provider Bellin Health.

As reported yesterday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Packers to wear advertising patch
Team follows trend of other NFL organizations

By Don Walker
Posted: July 28, 2010

Beginning with the first practice at 2 p.m. Saturday, members of the Green Bay Packers will wear an advertising patch on their practice jerseys.

That is a first for the franchise, and follows a trend of other National Football League teams that have signed deals with major sponsors that involve the addition of an advertising patch on practice jerseys.

The Packers' advertising partner is Bellin Health, a major health provider in northeast Wisconsin. The patch will be worn on the player's left side near the shoulder.

Bellin Health and the Packers have been partners for several years. The introduction of the patch on the practice jersey - allowed under NFL rules - is part of a multi-year agreement with Bellin Health.

The patches will not be worn in preseason games or the regular season.

...

Craig Benzel, the Packers' director of marketing and corporate sales, said the team wanted to select a sponsor that was community-minded.

"It was important for us to align with a partner we have worked closely with in the past," Benzel said. "It was important that they are so community minded."

The patch itself, he said, is tasteful. "We think the size is perfect," Benzel said.

A local sponsor makes sense, since the practice jerseys don't see much press outside of the immediate area.

UPDATE: Now we've seen it (above). Not sure I'd call it "tasteful" myself, but so long as it remains confined to Nitschke Field I'm okay with it.

You Still Don't Look a Day Over Eighty-Nine

Following up on my Packers 90th Birthday logo post, the Packers have started selling branded merchandise, including a patch.

The design reproduces pretty well in embroidery.

Still no word on whether the patch will make the uniforms, but now that they're selling them I'm leaning towards believing that it will.

Camel's Nose, Meet Tent

Greeted this morning by some disturbing news courtesy of the Associated Press:

Packers could sell ad space on practice jerseys

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP)—The Green Bay Packers are hoping to take advantage of a new NFL rule allowing teams to attach a small patch with a corporate logo to the jerseys players wear in practice.

Packers senior vice president of marketing and sales Laura Sankey called the possibility of selling advertising space on practice jerseys a “very meaningful” way for a sponsor to link itself with the team.

“It’s always exciting when the league opens new categories for sponsorship, particularly one that is so closely linked to our players and our jerseys,” Sankey said. “A practice jersey patch is a very unique and visible way for a sponsor to be involved with training camp, the team and our fans.”

The Houston Texans also have indicated an interest in taking advantage of the rule, which applies only to jerseys worn in practice.

Sponsor logos already are widespread during U.S. auto racing and golf events, and the Phoenix Mercury announced this week that they will become the first WNBA team to put a sponsor’s name, Lifelock, on their jerseys.

Such deals are considered commonplace in Europe, where soccer giant Manchester United announced Wednesday that it had reached a four-year sponsorship agreement with Chicago-based insurance broker Aon Corp.

The club did not announce financial terms but British newspapers reported that the deal, which begins in the 2010-11 season, was worth 80 million pounds ($131.2 million) over the four years.

What would this look like? We already have a pretty good idea - the Titans have been doing this for the past few seasons.

A little hard to make out in this photo, but the patch reads "Baptist Sports Medicine". Apparently, they are the "exclusive healthcare provider" of the Titans (click patch for link).

ProFootballTalk.com provides us with some background on the Titans' patches:

Titans Wore Practice Jersey Patches Without League Approval
Posted on June 3, 2009, 4:47 p.m. EDT

We’ve tracked down more information regarding the fact that the Titans have been, for at least a couple of years, wearing a “Baptist Sports Management” (sic) patch on their practice jerseys.

With the league adopting in March a rule allowing teams to rent space on the shirts they wear while practicing, we perceived the implication to be either the Titans were breaking the prior rule or the league had bent the rule for the Titans.

Actually, the Titans were simply winging it, since there previously was no league rule addressing the situation, one way or the other.

“There was no policy prohibiting what the Titans did with their practice jerseys,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told us via e-mail. “Then the concept was discussed by our Business Ventures Committee, which decided that there should be a set of rules for this opportunity.”

So, basically, the rule passed in March validated the Titans’ approach, and formally extended the opportunity to every other team.

Ugh. Obviously, this raises the specter of ads on game uniforms, highlighted by the recent Phoenix Mercury deal. And as the AP notes, shirt sponsorship is common in world soccer.

Shirt sponsorship made its United States team sports debut via Major League Soccer in 2007. Currently eleven of the fifteen clubs have shirt sponsors, if not necessarily the big, prestigious electronics conglomerates or international airlines you find in European soccer:

So how should we react to this news? My fear is that it will be looked at as a new revenue stream, and of other teams tap that stream then the Packers might feel they have to adopt it as well, to stay current with the Joneses. Sort of an embroidered version of luxury boxes or personal seat licenses.

Personally, as much as I dislike the idea (I don't even like to see manufacturers' logos on uniforms, much less sponsor logos), so long as it remains restricted to practice gear I suppose I can live with it. Maybe.

I'm also a little distressed that the Packers were so quick to jump on this new NFL rule. This wasn't a Press-Gazette or Journal Sentinel piece on how the local teams are reacting to the rule, but a national story on wire services promiently featuring the Packers salivating over the prospect. I do wish that the team was more interested in protecting the integrity of its visual identity rather than "open(ing up) new categories for sponsorship, particularly one that is so closely linked to our players and our jerseys". But perhaps that's just me, I'm old-fashioned that way.

Besides, how much exposure would this really bring to a sponsor, especially given that the Titans have been doing this for a couple years without anybody outside Nashville noticing? Practice games aren't widely covered. The Packers don't merchandise practice jerseys. It's doubtful that these patches would be seen outside the team's local market.

Quick test - do you even know what the Packers' practice jerseys look like? No Googling, now.

Answer: just like the regular home and road jerseys, only without TV numbers and sleeve stripes.

If the "sponsorship opprtunitity" has a decidedly local cast, then, who might buy it? Thinking along the lines of the Titans' deal, the Packers have a whole slew of official healthcare providers from which to choose. Perhaps we could see a Touchpoint Health Plan or St. Vincent Hospital patch. Or perhaps they would select one of the Lambeau Field gate sponsors, already well-associated with the Packers in the minds of locals - Miller Brewing, the Oneida Tribe, Mills Fleet Farm or Verizon. I suppose the NFL wouldn't look favorably on an alcohol sponsorship, so Miller (potentially the deepest pockets) would be out. Other local companies (and sponsors) off the top of my head include Associated Bank, ShopKo, American Family Insurance, and maybe Kohler. Do you think the Packers would mind a plumbing company's logo on their practice jerseys?

The risk team runs is that the sponsor company's circumstances change, and the association turns out not to be exactly what they were hoping for when they originally signed the contract, as Manchester United recently discovered:

Whoops. Way to project an image of strength and stability there.

Then again, that sort of morning-after regret isn't exactly exclusive to shirt sponsorship:

Hope the Packers can avoid this pitfall, if it comes to it.


UPDATE 06/05: Sure enough, the Bears are publicly considering this as well. If one team starts taking this money, which teams will refuse it?

UPDATE 06/12: The Texans have been approached by a potential sponsor, an adult video company. As Paul Lukas said, lie down with fleas....

UPDATE 06/18: And the first team to actually sign a deal under this new rule... The New York Football Giants, who as part of a larger sponsorship deal will wear the Timex logo on their practice jerseys. Giants quarterback Eli Manning has a six-figure personal endoresement deal with Timex competitor Citizen, so he'll reportedly have to remove his jersey before giving any post-practice press conferences. Awkward.

You Don't Look a Day Over Eighty-Nine

Today, the Packers released a logo to commemorate the team's "90th Birthday" (hat tip: Ryan):

From the press release:

Team Turns 90 Aug. 11; Logo, Contests To Mark Occasion

As the story goes, George Calhoun had a chance meeting with Earl 'Curly' Lambeau on a Green Bay street corner in the summer of 1919 and the two discussed starting a football team. A few weeks later, on Aug. 11, the two called a group of young athletes together to organize a team...the gathering marked the beginning of the Green Bay Packers.

This summer will mark the 90th birthday of the Packers, and the organization will celebrate the occasion with a "90 Years" logo, an online trivia contest and other fan activities.

"As the team marks its 90th birthday on Aug. 11, we look forward to celebrating nine decades, 12 world championships and several generations of Packers fans," said Craig Benzel, Packers director of marketing and sales. "We have a number of ways for fans to participate throughout the season."

The online aspect of the birthday celebration will feature a special page on Packers.com that will greet fans and invite them to participate in a trivia contest with questions that will span the 90 years of the team's history.

This summer's Packers Family Night will help celebrate the occasion with a 90th birthday party theme. The night will feature a special fan giveaway item, birthday-related activities and on-field promotions that incorporate the birthday party theme. More details about Family Night, including the date of the event and ticket sales information, will be announced this month.

Among the other team areas that will feature the logo include game tickets, Curly's Pub and the Packers Hall of Fame. The Packers Pro Shop also will offer a number of items that feature the logo.

More highlights of the team's birthday celebration will be detailed in the coming months.

The article doesn't say, but if they're going to market merchandise with this logo I'm presuming that it will also see service as a jersey patch. We'll see.

There's some real good in this logo. I've long been an advocate of the Packers promoting (heck, acknowledging) 1919 as the date of founding. Few things bother me more than the stupid "Est. 1921" that they put on merchandise. The Packers have a long tradition that pre-dates the NFL; why pretend otherwise? So that does my heart good to see.

On the whole, the design is pretty good. Clean and easy to read, team logo prominent, no superfluous elements. It's not perfect - I'm not a fan of multiple outlines around anything, and three outlines around the numbers is way too much - but it's not bad at all.

Presuming that this will become a patch, it provides us with an excellent excuse to look at the way the Packers have honored other milestones on their uniforms.

The first milestone to make the uniform was the NFL's 50th Anniversary. For the 1969 season, all players wore a commemorative patch on their left shoulders:

A long uniform-patch drought would follow: the next anniversary to be so noted was the Packers' 75th Season, which was celebrated in 1993.

The 75th Anniversary logo was too complicated to embroider, so the jersey patch was a simplified version of the logo, minus the banner:

For the first time, the patch was worn on the left breast (television numbers had moved to the shoulders in the years since 1969, fleeing from the players' arms in advance of the retreating sleeves).

I really like this one. It's simple and elegant (although the Starter-jacket-ish speed lines above the diamond do speak to the era in which it was designed). Again, we wait for details on the 90th Birthday patch. But I'm guessing that the logo was designed to be simple enough to translate on a jersey and won't need another version.

The following season, in 1994, the entire league celebrated its 75th Anniversary. It was commemorated with a patch just slightly less elegant than that of the Packers' diamond anniversary:

This one was also placed on the left chest (click for larger):

I suppose it could have been an attempt to put them over a player's heart, like a soccer team's crest or police officer's badge. Or maybe it could just be the only couple square inches of real estate left on the uniforms.

The NFL 75 patch was also featured during the special League-wide throwback uniform promotion, on my own personal favorite Packer uniform:

Which means, of course, that the patch lives on with throwback jerseys you can buy today:

And after tribute patches in consecutive seasons, that would be it until the NFL added Super Bowl logo patches, beginning with Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego:

About which game I have nothing more to say.

The next commemorative patch would worn for the first two home games of 2003, marking the rededication of Lambeau Field following a three-year, $295-million renovation.

Four years later, in 2007, Lambeau Field celebrated another milestone: its 50th birthday. That inspired another logo:

and another jersey patch:

This time, the patch was only worn on the green home jerseys, not the road whites. When the Packers travelled to Dallas for their Week 13 matchup, the Cowboys elected to wear their own navy throwbacks, meaning the Packers would dress in their road whites (unlike most games in Texas Stadium, when the Cowboys' white home jerseys force visitors to wear their colored jerseys). Had the Packers worn green in that game, the Lambeau Field patches would have been removed and sewn back on for the next game in Green Bay.

We've already discussed the over-the-top Gene Upshaw memorial patch from last season. And that rounds up the list of commemorative patches on Packers uniforms.

If this "90th Birthday" is any indication, it looks like they're sticking with this new honoring scheme, years instead of seasons, which results in nice round numbers (1957-2007, 1919-2009).

Let's hope the Packers have something special planned for 2019.