Change is in the Air

The Packers Pro Shop has begun teasing the new merchandise contract on its website:

Packers Pro Shop New Apparel Partners coming soon...

The excitement is building. On April 1, the NFL, Green Bay Packers and Packers Pro Shop will welcome new apparel partners with the addition of Nike, New Era and Forty Seven Brand. Like the Packers, these authentic brands have a proud tradition, inspiring history and championship quality.

Whether you like merchandise for fashion, performance, casual Fridays or simply a way of supporting your Packers, you'll find an outstanding collection to fit your needs.

Fans of the Green and Gold trust the Packers Pro Shop to always carry the newest styles and the largest selection for everyone. With Nike, New Era and Forty Seven Brand joining existing partners VF Licensed Sports Group, Outer Stuff and all our partner brands, the Pro Shop has the top apparel available.

So renew your passion with innovative apparel at the Packers Pro Shop. And stay tuned for Nike's jersey launch later in April.

I myself am particularly looking forward to the '47 Brand caps.

The Nike uniform launch will be held on April 3rd in New York City. I hope to have pictures available shortly thereafter.

Capping Off the New Merchandise Contract

Another piece of 2012 Packer merchandise has been unveiled. '47 Brand (formerly known as Twins Enterprise) is making unstructured caps. Here's their preview of the NFC North, posted today on the company's Facebook page:

I love it. I've never been fond of high-dome structured caps, preferring the soft cotton of an unstructured. Nobody makes them better than '47 Brand does. I have several in my collection, including this beauty, my current favorite:

We can expect to see multiple variations in various colors, as seen by this additional Chicago cap:

Sorry for the Bear-heavy graphics, but they haven't posted any better shots of the Packer caps yet.

If history is any guide, we should also see caps with teams' alternate logos. Perhaps the Holstein Heisman among them. Now if '47 Brand will only produce a Packer version with Vince Lombardi's classic interlocking "GB" logo, I'd be happy to buy twenty or thirty.

We can always hope.

Last Chance for Super Bowl Glory

Today, I received this email from the Packers Pro Shop:

If you haven't yet ordered your shareholder ring, season ticket holder ring or one of the many fan rings created in the wake of the Packers' Super Bowl triumph, this is your last opportunity.

Order now!

After March 31st, the line will be closed. Until the next Super Bowl, whenever that may be.

A Peek at the (Sizeable) Swoosh.

Dolphins cornerback Sean Smith has posted a picture of his team's orange alternate Nike jersey on his Twitter feed.

This is our first look at a Nike jersey under the new league-wide uniform manufacturing contract. And it doesn't show anything groundbreaking. Set-in sleeve, screened stripes (sure hope the Packers opt for something a bit more professional-looking), Nike swoosh logo. The shoosh looks awfully big to me, but that can't be helped by comparison with the very small Dolphins logo patch.

Most notably, it doesn't appear that Nike has altered the sleeve stripe pattern. Compare with the soon-to-be-former Reebok version:

I know that there have been fears expressed that Nike would run roughshod over the current designs of all teams; I have never believed that, and apparently I was right to be skeptical.

Now THIS Is a Draft You Can Dodge

Today, New Era gave us our first look at the Packers' 2012 draft cap:

This is a standard template - all 32 teams will be receiving the same treatment:

The city name is in the same barbed font, superimposed over a halftone representation of the team's logo. I'm all for emphasizing the city name over team nickname, but the halftone just looks off to me. Lavender for the Ravens, baby blue for the Giants, and kelly green for the Packers. They don't all work very well with the team's primary color.

It appears as though there will be multiple variations of these caps, including one with a white front panel and one with the team nickname and smaller, more traditional, logo:

New Era's caps will go on sale on April 1, the first day of its license to provide authentic sideline caps for the entire NFL.

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UPDATED: New Era has unveiled the Packers' versions of all three caps:

"Futuristic and fun", Part II

Not so fast on those concerns about Nike's new Packers uniforms, according to the Journal Sentinel's Tom Silverstein:

Manufacturer switch won't result in Packers uniforms changing

A lot has been made about the NFL's switch in uniform manufacturers from Reebok to Nike and what changes that might bring.

Here's one thing you can take to the bank: The Packers' colors aren't changing.

I've been assured that by someone in the league who has been briefed on the switchover to Nike. It is true that some teams will make drastic changes to their uniforms in the name of marketing dollars, but the only difference you'll see in Packers uniforms is the material from which they're made.

Nike is known for its futuristic color combinations and mesh look (see University of Oregon), so you can anticipate some change when the uniforms roll out April 3, as ProFootballTalk.com has reported. But most of it will only be noticeable from close up I'm told and from the stands or TV it shouldn't look that different.

Of course, that's from someone who hasn't seen the Packers' new uniforms but is going on what basic knowledge on the switch is around the league.

One could only imagine GM Ted Thompson's hair going from snow white to on fire if he was presented with a uniform that bore any difference than the one the Packers are wearing now, let alone a flourescent green one like Oregon's. He's such a devoted traditionalist that he would never stand for anything but the most minor of changes - if any.

Back in 1993, word got out that then-GM Ron Wolf was considering changing the base color of the Packers uniform from green to blue, but that created a firestorm of criticism from many different directions and the change wasn't made. Neither Thompson nor president Mark Murphy want any part of that.

The technological changes Nike is instituting should make the uniforms appear a little different, but the word is things will be as status quo as possible for the Packers. We'll know in a matter of weeks what Nike's interpretation of green and gold is, but if you see Thompson's head on fire between now and April 3 you'll know something has gone wrong.

Makes sense. The construction of the Packers' classic uniform will change, as we already know, but I'd be surprised if they allow anything more than the minor aesthetic changes resulting from that.

I think Mr. Silverstein is misremembering Ron Wolf's proposed 1993 change, though. While it was indeed rumored in the year leading up to it that the Packers would change team colors to blue and gold, by the time the Packers announced their new design they had scrapped that plan and instead designed a simplified green and gold uniform.

Green jersey, metallic gold helmet and pants, white numbers outlined in gold. Packer logo on sleeves, and no stripes anywhere. Ironically, the kind of design that would fit Nike's template perfectly, had Wolf followed through twenty years ago.

"Futuristic and fun"?!

Uh, oh.

Matt Barrows, who covers the 49ers for the Sacramento Bee, tweeted this about an hour ago:

Big unveil: April 3. RT @Aaron_Nagler: Got an email from someone who has seen the new Packers unis. They are "futuristic and fun" Gulp.

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) March 9, 2012

My initial reaction is skepticism. Unnamed sources are about as reliable as Wikipedia. But we'll see.

Got to try to wrangle an invitation to the unveiling....

Mark Your Calendars

Nike announced today that it will unveil its new NFL uniforms at a media event in New York on April 3.

The teams themselves will receive their uniforms on April 1, the first day of the new league-wide manufacturing contract.

Can't wait to see what they have in store for our Pack.

A Peek Into Nike's Future

Kansas City Chiefs Insider Josh Looney tweeted this today:

One of the few things Nike will let me show u before they take over NFL apparel. Pretty cool.

Interesting look at upcoming Chiefs merchandise. Is that "Just Do It" under "Chiefs" on that tshirt?

We'll likely see something very similar for the Packers, although I'm wondering if the jacket is black because that's a Chiefs color or because Nike will be making black jackets for all teams the way Reebok did gray in recent seasons.

Rodgers Tops Jersey Sales List

At least on the NFL's online shop, in the period from April 1, 2011 – February 29,2012.

Two Packers in the top ten - nice.