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Sports Then and Now



When it Comes to Uniforms, Old is New Again 12

Posted on June 28, 2011 by A.J. Foss

For the 2011 season, the Buffalo Bills will go back to using white helmets.

This past weekend, the Buffalo Bills unveiled their new uniforms, royal blue jerseys and white helmets with the charging buffalo logo on the helmet. The “new” uniforms are actually similar to the uniforms the Bills wore from 1974-1983, before they switched to red helmets beginning in 1984.

The Bills are the latest pro sports team to update their uniforms by going back to their “throwback” uniforms.

The trend of throwback uniforms began in 1994 when the NFL celebrated its 75th anniversary by having every team wear a simulated uniform from their past.

The throwback uniforms were very popular with fans, especially in New York where both the Jets and the Giants went back to their 1960s uniforms to be used as their regular uniforms.

Since then, most teams have used throwback uniforms as their third or “alternate” jersey, wearing them once or twice a year, with the exception of the San Francisco 49ers, who went back to their 1980s uniforms in 2009 and the San Diego Chargers, who have gone back to a white helmet like the team had when it was in the AFL, but has not made the powder blue jersey as the regular home jersey, but continuing to use it as their “alternate” jersey. Read the rest of this entry →

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