That's My Motto

More details about Nike's impending takeover of the league-wide uniform contract are leaking out. On the Chris Creamer Sports Logos board, Redskins fan DeFrank posted this tidbit:

At a "chalk talk" tonight with Redskins GM Bruce Allen, the Redskins 80th Anniversary was brought up. It was briefly mentioned by the GM that the Redskins will have the words "Team Effort Tradition" on the inside collar of each jersey in coordination with Nike taking over. He said all teams will have their own motto. So, there we go. Thought I'd share...

Interesting.

Nike has been doing this for years with their soccer shirts. Take for example this beautiful kit, designed by Nike for Arsenal's 125th Anniversary this season.

Inside the shirt, on the back of the crest, is the club motto.

This is fairly common in world soccer these days, and Nike has a major presence there. I don't know if Nike originated the practice, but looks like they're bringing it to the NFL.

I like it. I've never been fond of the overly-detailed uniforms Reebok designed for the Vikings, Cardinals and Falcons, with all their extraneous piping and paneling. This, however, is different. A nice little detail that can be appreciated by the players (but let's be honest, far more by the fans who'll buy these things) that doesn't impact the team's classic design.

So what do you think the Packers' motto should be? Personally, I'm rather partial to "Go! You Packers Go!", although I could see a Lombardi quote working there. Just please, not "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

How about these, from VinceLombardi.com's quote page?

"Winning is not a sometime thing…it’s an all the time thing."
"If you don’t think you’re a winner, you don’t belong here."
"If we chase perfection, we can catch excellence."

Or maybe something from this sign, erected in New City Stadium's tunnel by Coach Lombardi early in his tenure:
What would you suggest?

So Close... The NFL's "Evolution" Commercial

The NFL's highly-touted safety commercial made its debut in the during the Super Bowl, backed with a very cool website.

It encapsulates the history of the NFL, and its safety innovations, by following a punt return that runs forward through the decades from the sport's early days to the modern era.

If you haven't seen it, YouTube can oblige:



The Packers make two appearances in the commercial, once on offense and once on defense.

The first appearance spans the 1940s:

That's an actor playing Hall of Famer and Packer legend Tony Canadeo with the ball. Nicknamed the "Gray Ghost" for his prematurely graying hair, Canedeo joined the Packers in 1941, and played through 1952, making him a perfect pick to run with the ball through this decade.

He's wearing Curly Lambeau's classic blue and gold uniform, with the shoulder yoke.

The camera tracks "Canadeo" and booms up, giving us a great look at his uniform.

Anybody notice the problem yet? The shoulder yoke is a bit pointy at the end, but that's forgivable. The inaccuracy I'm looking at is much larger. Think about it. and we'll come back to it in a few minutes.

As he runs towards the end of the decade, the leather helmet falls away to reveal a plastic shell (adopted by the Packers in 1950).

It sprouts a chinstrap, and away we go into the dawn of the 1950s. CUT TO: a ground-level shot of the Gray Ghost as he runs into, and over, a Philadelphia defender.

Note the green stripe on his gold helmet. Our runner puts his hand to the dirt to steady himself, and when he takes his next step, it's a new era and a new player, as Canadeo is replaced with a Los Angeles Ram.

And there we have it, the latest appearance of the Lambeau-era Green Bay Packers on the screen.

It's a clever commercial, but how accurate is it in terms of the Blue and Gold? The answer is: fairly, but not completely. Did you notice the historical error in Canadeo's uniform?

If not, I'll give you a clue: stripes.

Lambeau's 1940s uniform never included stripes on the gold pants.

Note also the rounded end on the shoulder yoke.

Now let's look at the second uniform, the plastic-helmeted 1950s-era blue, gold and green.

I don't know that the Packers ever wore these pants in the post-Lambeau era, but I'm not quite so comfortable saying "never" as the 1950s were such a back and forth, mix-and-match era in Green Bay's history.

I am pretty confident that they wore the green-striped gold lid with their blue uniform tops (but perhaps not those tops; Curly's solid-blue alternate (introduced in 1949) definitely saw occasional use in the following seasons, but I'm not sure about the gold yokes.

So there you have it. Two Packer uniforms, one from the 1940s and one from the 1950s, each with a generally decent sense of authenticity that misses a few details. Really, guys, you could have just called me.

Next up, we'll take a look at the second Packer appearance in this commercial, featuring defense, green jerseys and a very frustrated Coach Lombardi.

The Future's So Bright, Part II

Before the Super Bowl, we learned that the Giants' regular metallic-sheen helmets were going to be replaced by a custom paint job from Oregon-based Hydro Graphics Inc., Nike's go-to subcontractor for custom helmet finishes.

The move was reportedly motivated by problems maintaining the metallic-blue finish over the course of a game:

The Giants staff has been actively seeking out ways of improving the performance and durability of their helmet coatings for quite some time and were interested in how the HGI HydroSkin® technology might be able to help them.

If that was the intention, HGI fumbled.

The finishes looked great at the beginning of the game. I've been a fan of the Giants' helmet since it was unveiled in 2000, and in the beginning it appeared as though HGI got it just right.

Deep royal blue with metallic flake. Perfect.

As the game went on, the repeated impacts started to show.

On many players, particularly Manning and his receivers, the helmets continued to shine:

Linemen and other players who sustained repeated impacts throughout the game, however, were another matter. HGI's vaunted finsh showed every scrape and chip:

Whatever problems the Giants were having with their helmets before, surely they weren't this bad.

I guess this means we won't be seeing new metallic Packer helmets anytime soon. Back to the drawing board.

MVP!

In a landslide, Aaron Rodgers has been named the National Football League's Most Valuable Player for 2011.

The award was presented to him in during the NFL's new television award show, the "NFL Honors", broadcast from Indianapolis the night before the big game.

This show was the NFL's attempt to bring its regular-season awards into the Super Bowl marketing machine, with a touch of Hollywood glamour provided by host Alec Baldwin.

The league similarly tried to fold the Pro Bowl into the Super Bowl buildup two years ago by scheduling it in the Super Bowl city during the bye week between league championship games and the Super Bowl. The new location didn't last—the game was returned to its traditional Hawai'i location the following year—but the new date has remained.

Personally, I think this is an inspired move by the NFL. In previous years, the MVP was announced on Super Bowl Sunday, but by incorporating all major awards into a televised special the night before it enhances and elevates what was already a monster TV event.

While this individual award might be scant comfort for Packer fans still smarting from the playoff loss to the Giants, there is still merchandise to be bought.

Within minutes of the trophy presentation, I received this email from the Packers Pro Shop:

They sure don't waste much time. Packer backers hungry for a little postseason glory will have to satisfy themselves with these:

The new trophy design is interesting, but that's a subject for another time. Until then, enjoy your moment in the spotlight, Aaron, and hopefully next year when you travel to the New Orleans for the Super Bowl you'll have to bring your uniform along.

The Future's So Bright. Well, Sparkly, At Least.

Hydro Graphics Inc., the people behind those super-shiny commemorative helmets given to the Jaguars' former owners, will have a hand in the Super Bowl.

HGI HydroSkin® Technology Adds Finishing Touch to New York Giants Helmets

While every football fan around the country has been making plans for watching the Super Bowl this weekend, HGI has been busy working on supporting one of the teams that is playing in the game: the New York Giants.

The New York Giants project has actually been in the works since early October 2011 when HGI was approached by the Giants staff regarding the HGI HydroSkin® technology. The Giants staff has been actively seeking out ways of improving the performance and durability of their helmet coatings for quite some time and were interested in how the HGI HydroSkin® technology might be able to help them.

Although HGI would have loved to add some spice to the Giants traditional blue helmet, our charter at this time was to match the existing Giants blue helmet using HGI HydroSkin® technology to improve the durability of the final finish to the helmets.

We at HGI are extremely excited to be working with the Giants and supporting one of the teams that will be playing in the 2012 Super Bowl. And although the helmets HGI finally provided to the Giants were not a visual update, we are confident that this is only beginning for future opportunities.

I'm certainly glad that the Giants aren't willing to let them "add some spice".

HGI has given us a peek at the process of applying the "HydroSkin® technology", posting these photos on its Facebook page:


I don't watch enough Giants games to realize that they've been having problems with the durability of their helmet finishes. I will watch this one, however, so it should be interesting to see what HGI can do.

If successful, the Packers might well use this technology to reproduce the pearlized finish they've worn since 2001.

A Super Bowl Ad Worth Watching

National Football League

The N.F.L.'s Super Bowl commercial includes an actor portraying the Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, whose career was cut short by knee injuries.

The New York Times is reporting that the NFL will be running a commercial on player safety during the third quarter of the upcoming Super Bowl.

The concept sounds interesting:

The commercial, directed by Peter Berg — who created the TV program “Friday Night Lights” — will be shown during the final commercial break of the third quarter. It uses one long kick return as a way to take viewers through the evolution of the game’s rules and equipment, from the sport’s beginnings on a muddy field in Canton, Ohio, when players wore no helmets or pads, to the present in a brightly lighted Soldier Field.

At one point, a leather helmet peels back to reveal a more modern one made of plastic. Later, a player grabs an opponent’s face mask, a violation of current rules.

Only the most devoted fan would recognize all the references. The flying wedge, a blocking technique that is believed to have made its debut in 1892 but was banned soon after, is shown briefly in the opening seconds. Near the end, a horse-collar tackle, only recently forbidden, is featured.

But nobody, particularly the casual fan at whom the commercial is primarily aimed, will miss its closing message, delivered by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis: “Here’s to making the next century safer and more exciting. Forever forward. Forever football.”

I'm a little uneasy making Ray Lewis a spokesman for anything related to saving lives, but that's beside the point.

There's also been some criticism leveled at the NFL that, after years of ignoring the problem, it took lawsuits for them to actually address it. And that's very fair, but again a little beside the point. Yes, they waited too long to address the problems inherent in the game. But they are addressing them, even if reluctantly. And the fact that they feel compelled to spend their valuable Super Bowl face time on this is a huge step forward. You may recall that last year they ran a much less hard-hitting ad, if you'll pardon the pun.

I'm intrigued to see the ad. Even if that screenshot's the closest our Packers will get to the game this year. The re-created mid-1960s uniforms look pretty good, although I'll have to check those 5's.