Why the Seattle Seahawks Cannot Wear Throwback Uniforms

[jlwaters1]

The old uniform sucked, I never want to see seattle in them I prefer what we got.

 

[45Hawker]

Old timer here. I love the silver helmet and pants. I wish they could do an alternate "modern throwback". Something like like this:

I was hoping they would pick the silver helmets for the current uniform.

 

[Hawknballs]

I would love to wear some throwbacks but i wouldn't wanna give up the wolf grey for them. Instead the NFL needs to relax their rules a little bit. Something like this would be simple:

1. Helmet rule is stupid, get rid of it

2, Allow teams to wear a 'road' alternate 1 out of 7 games (in this case, our wolf greys - or better yet make the Wolf Grey our standard road uni and the alternate = something else)

3. Allow teams to wear 'home' alternate 1 out of 7 games

4. If the NFL is so concerned about branding, disallow alternate uniforms in prime time / playoff games, if they must.

gives teams 2 chances a year to bust out something different, while still establishing the 'brand' in 14 games

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Old timer here. I love the silver helmet and pants. I wish they could do an alternate "modern throwback". Something like like this:

I was hoping they would pick the silver helmets for the current uniform.

Thank God they didn't because silver helmets make them look way too much like the Detroit Lions and harken back to when they lost like them also so good riddance to them thank you very much.

 

[Hawkstorian]

Too many of you livin' in the past... (kind of like 49er fans)


Frankly if any message is clear its that these current Seahawks are Allen's regime, his franchise, this is his empire, what he built, and the change of Uniform have been symbolic of that and as he brought the Seahawks into its new age, an era of success.... he has slowly let the past fade away as such... into the past.

You guys should too.

What utter horse shit.

Some of us can enjoy the present and also appreciate the past. We can also walk and chew gum at the same time.

 

[45Hawker]

What utter horse shit.

Some of us can enjoy the present and also appreciate the past. We can also walk and chew gum at the same time.

Agreed.

 

[GeekHawk]

Forget the throwback uniforms - let's get the NFL wearing some throwback Giant Shoulderpads!

 

[grizbob]

What utter horse shit.

Some of us can enjoy the present and also appreciate the past. We can also walk and chew gum at the same time.

Agreed.

:13: X...

 

[taco40]

Good ol' No Fun League. Give me a break. Why does the NFL give a rip if a team wants to honor their past AND have alternate contemporary jerseys? And why is it that the Steelers (as an example) can wear both their standard black AND yellow helmets?

I'm not a fan of many, if any of the other teams' throwback uniforms. They just don't turn out particularly well. There's no guarantee that 'Hawks throwback uniforms would turn out any better than the Pittsburgh uniforms that look like bees escaping from prison. Retro looks good on automobiles, not football uniforms.

 

[hawkfan68]

Guess it's not all on Paul Allen. :?

A friend brought up how the Seattle Seahawks have never worn their throwback uniforms since they gave them up in 2002. I started looking for an answer and it is true, but the answer for why was much more complicated then I thought.

It turns out the NFL changed their uniform rules to allow alternate jerseys in 2002, making them very popular with teams. There is also a rule where the uniforms have to be at least 10 years old before they can be worn as a throwback jersey.
Sometimes that is confused with the rule where a uniform has to be 5 years old before you can change it.

Since the Seahawks first changed their uniforms in 2002, the first time they were eligible for throwback uniforms was in 2012. That was the year they unveiled the current design with the alternate ‘Wolf Grey’ that has been so popular.

In order for the Seahawks to wear their throwback uniforms, they would have to give up the grey alternate and adopt the throwback as their alternate uniform instead.

The dream of the Seahawks wearing silver helmets again was crushed last year when the NFL made a new rule where teams were prohibited,

"The use of alternate colored helmets, eliminating many of the historically accurate throwback uniforms that had been in use up to that point. Teams are still allowed to use alternate decals (or no decals at all) for their throwbacks, but they must use them on the regular helmets.“

When I found that out, I was honestly kind of sad and I hope the league will eventually change their minds.

The time to wear the throwback (to me) has to be when we play old AFC West opponents: the Chiefs, Broncos, Chargers, and Raiders. That happens to be this year, and we have not heard anything about a uniform change, so I think it is going to be a while.

By the way, the picture above is not the original throwback uniform because the face masks are blue, and that didn’t happen until 1983.




I like the wolf grey. But I don't know if it's enough to sacrifice the throwbacks. :3-1:

http://hot975online.com/time-to-break-o ... -seahawks/

As Aros' mentioned above the NFL cares about enforcing rules for petty stuff. This sums up the NFL under Goodell era well. Busy making stupid rules about what a team can use and wear. Teams should be able to wear what they want, whether they be alternate, throwback, or whatever. Jerseys don't give a team an unfair advantage over another team. This is one of the things I hate about the NFL. It's stupid policies like this. Implement rules that improve the game, safety of the players, and personal conduct not ones that dictate if the players can celebrate, what uniforms teams should wear, etc.

 

[253hawk]

The one thing about our old uniforms I hated was that silly stoned seagull. It was almost as bad of a logo as Tampa Bay's gay pirate.

Hey there thailor...wanna thwab my poop deck? *winks*

 

[Osprey]

The helmets really shouldn't be an issue. With the decal wrap technology these days they can be made to look any color / pattern you want. It will cost money, but I don't think that's a big issue for Mr. Allen.

I'd take an updated 'throwback' uniform over the wolf grey as the alternate in a heartbeat. You should be able to balance tradition / honoring the past with team swoosh style with a little effort from the designers.

 

[scutterhawk]

What utter horse shit.

Some of us can enjoy the present and also appreciate the past. We can also walk and chew gum at the same time.

I agree 100 degrees.

 

[akscoundrel]

Good ol' No Fun League. Give me a break. Why does the NFL give a rip if a team wants to honor their past AND have alternate contemporary jerseys? And why is it that the Steelers (as an example) can wear both their standard black AND yellow helmets? That right there seems to contradict this rule.

Thanks for the explanation all the same Bruce. I've often wondered what the exact terms and limitations are when it comes to throwbacks.

I agree, I would dump the Wolf Grey's in a heartbeat if it meant we could wear our throwback uniforms from time-to-time. Although it defeats the purpose if we couldn't wear the silver helmets. Geez NFL. :34853_doh:

The short answer: Money.

Through NFL Properties, the marketing arm of the league which licenses all the merchandise sold by the league, there are scores of contracts with vendors and manufacturers like Nike of everything from clothing to coffee cups, and in these contracts, there are specific provisions that are inserted in order to protect the vendor from having their contracts compromised by individual teams that for one reason or another, want to do something different that would limit the sales opportunities of the item the vendor paid good money for.

There are also rules designed to protect us customers. For example, a team cannot replace their base jerseys, such as our Nike blue home jersey, every few years so that you and me don't go out and buy a game jersey one season only to have it become obsolete the following season.

So while these rules may seem nonsensical to us, they make perfect sense to some accountant or lawyer within the league office. I can almost guarantee you that Roger Goodell couldn't change policy regarding the use of uniforms even if he wanted to unless it had something to do with player safety.

True. But also, if there is anything I have learned this year, its roger goodell will do whatever the hell he wants, regardless if he is 'allowed' to or not.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Good ol' No Fun League. Give me a break. Why does the NFL give a rip if a team wants to honor their past AND have alternate contemporary jerseys? And why is it that the Steelers (as an example) can wear both their standard black AND yellow helmets? That right there seems to contradict this rule.

Thanks for the explanation all the same Bruce. I've often wondered what the exact terms and limitations are when it comes to throwbacks.

I agree, I would dump the Wolf Grey's in a heartbeat if it meant we could wear our throwback uniforms from time-to-time. Although it defeats the purpose if we couldn't wear the silver helmets. Geez NFL. :34853_doh:

The short answer: Money.

Through NFL Properties, the marketing arm of the league which licenses all the merchandise sold by the league, there are scores of contracts with vendors and manufacturers like Nike of everything from clothing to coffee cups, and in these contracts, there are specific provisions that are inserted in order to protect the vendor from having their contracts compromised by individual teams that for one reason or another, want to do something different that would limit the sales opportunities of the item the vendor paid good money for.

There are also rules designed to protect us customers. For example, a team cannot replace their base jerseys, such as our Nike blue home jersey, every few years so that you and me don't go out and buy a game jersey one season only to have it become obsolete the following season.

So while these rules may seem nonsensical to us, they make perfect sense to some accountant or lawyer within the league office. I can almost guarantee you that Roger Goodell couldn't change policy regarding the use of uniforms even if he wanted to unless it had something to do with player safety.

True. But also, if there is anything I have learned this year, its roger goodell will do whatever the hell he wants, regardless if he is 'allowed' to or not.

Goodell does exactly what the owner's want not himself he's just the face and the fall guy for when things hit the fan.

 

[Hasselbeck]

From my understanding, the reason the helmet rule is in place is many players are still wearing helmets that aren't really produced anymore.. or at least in the quantity that it would take to fulfill alternate/throwback uniforms for all 32 teams.. because let's face it, owners would gladly sell throwbacks and alternate unis to their respective fan base (cha ching)

It's more of a player safety issue, and result of the concussion lawsuit, than anything else.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Good ol' No Fun League. Give me a break. Why does the NFL give a rip if a team wants to honor their past AND have alternate contemporary jerseys? And why is it that the Steelers (as an example) can wear both their standard black AND yellow helmets? That right there seems to contradict this rule.

I don't believe the Steelers have worn the yellow helmets since this rule came about.

And when they do wear the bumblebee throwbacks.. the helmet doesn't change



When the Packers wear their throwbacks, they simply remove the decal off their regular helmet

Basically the Seahawks could wear the throwback uni, but they couldn't change the helmet color.. so it'd look pretty ridiculous.

 

[akscoundrel]

Good ol' No Fun League. Give me a break. Why does the NFL give a rip if a team wants to honor their past AND have alternate contemporary jerseys? And why is it that the Steelers (as an example) can wear both their standard black AND yellow helmets? That right there seems to contradict this rule.

Thanks for the explanation all the same Bruce. I've often wondered what the exact terms and limitations are when it comes to throwbacks.

I agree, I would dump the Wolf Grey's in a heartbeat if it meant we could wear our throwback uniforms from time-to-time. Although it defeats the purpose if we couldn't wear the silver helmets. Geez NFL. :34853_doh:

The short answer: Money.

Through NFL Properties, the marketing arm of the league which licenses all the merchandise sold by the league, there are scores of contracts with vendors and manufacturers like Nike of everything from clothing to coffee cups, and in these contracts, there are specific provisions that are inserted in order to protect the vendor from having their contracts compromised by individual teams that for one reason or another, want to do something different that would limit the sales opportunities of the item the vendor paid good money for.

There are also rules designed to protect us customers. For example, a team cannot replace their base jerseys, such as our Nike blue home jersey, every few years so that you and me don't go out and buy a game jersey one season only to have it become obsolete the following season.

So while these rules may seem nonsensical to us, they make perfect sense to some accountant or lawyer within the league office. I can almost guarantee you that Roger Goodell couldn't change policy regarding the use of uniforms even if he wanted to unless it had something to do with player safety.

True. But also, if there is anything I have learned this year, its roger goodell will do whatever the hell he wants, regardless if he is 'allowed' to or not.

Goodell does exactly what the owner's want not himself he's just the face and the fall guy for when things hit the fan.

Well that's a thought, my fellow tin foil hat conspiracy theorist

But I would agree for most cases. You could be 100 percent right, I dunno, I just think there is also an element of goodell wanting to keep his job, and doing shady stuff to save face (specifically rice to Peterson fiasco).

I think the element that most are forgetting is its a business, and brand recognition is very important in maximizing profits.

 

[Osprey]

Basically the Seahawks could wear the throwback uni, but they couldn't change the helmet color.. so it'd look pretty ridiculous.

Seriously, the helmet is not an issue. The existing helmets can be decal wrapped completely and appear any color you want and actually look good with the current technology. Would be a bit of a logistic nightmare given the limited window of time, but throw enough $$ at it and problem solved.

 

[AROS]

Too many of you livin' in the past... (kind of like 49er fans)


Frankly if any message is clear its that these current Seahawks are Allen's regime, his franchise, this is his empire, what he built, and the change of Uniform have been symbolic of that and as he brought the Seahawks into its new age, an era of success.... he has slowly let the past fade away as such... into the past.

You guys should too.

What utter horse shit.

Some of us can enjoy the present and also appreciate the past. We can also walk and chew gum at the same time.

Amen brother. What a pile of crap. Sorry, no offense Pandion but really?

I freaking LOVE our new uniforms (the greys I only tolerate because we win in them). I also happen to think we had awesome throwbacks. The royal blue, silver helmets and pants...The BIG Hawk on the sleeves...It's not about honoring the losses (and there were many in those uniforms), it's about honoring our past and all the greats that wore the uniform that never got to see the success this current team enjoys (Largent, Easley, Green, Krieg, Brown, etc, etc, etc, etc...).

If you can't understand that well there's nothing more to say.