Today's column comes from SDB regular and guest columnist Marc Swanson. Marc is best known for his witty comments, love of all things Cleveland and a true love and appreciation of sports design. Marc thought it would be good to take a look at the other side of the ball today and give his thoughts on the Super Bowl uniform match-up from the Colts' perspective.
By Marc Swanson
The Colts are back in the Super Bowl. Big surprise (wink). This will mark the fourth time the franchise has appeared in the Super Bowl, their second as the Indianapolis Colts (it only hurts a little less now, eh Ravens fans?)
The team has had one constant through their Super Bowl appearances -- from 1969’s Super Bowl III to next Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV -- and that is their uniform. A simple two-color scheme, the Colts’ blue and white goes back to the very beginning of the franchise when they rose from the ashes of the last NFL team to go out of business, the Dallas Texans (not to be confused with Lamar Hunt’s Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL) in 1953. The Colts’ logo has it’s origins in Baltimore. Home of the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel in the Triple Crown, Baltimore has deep roots in horse racing and breeding. Displayed prominently on their helmet, the Colts’ horseshoe is an excellent representation of this tradition… and now they’re in Indianapolis. C’est la vie.
The Colts have managed to maintain their style over the years and have made only minor alterations since the 1950s. Changing the facemask color from grey to white (and back again) and varying the arrangement of the sock stripes are about the only adjustments the Colts have made to their timeless uniforms. The Colts have definitely learned that you don’t fix what ain’t broke. There is one thing that I do think they broke. The Colts -- like most NFL teams –- have had to make adjustments for the cut of today’s jersey style. Unfortunately, sometimes these changes are not for the better, for instance the shoulder striping that appears on most NFL jerseys. Players today prefer a tighter cut around the shoulder and uniform designers have altered the cut of the jersey while trying to maintain the team’s identity. Compare Unitas’ shoulder stripe to Manning’s. The older style, though it doesn’t wrap completely around the arm, looks much better, IMHO, than the new style. The current jersey looks as though the stripes were an after-thought and were just kinda plopped onto the shoulders at the last minute. I don’t know why the designers had to abbreviate the stripes, but judging from the shot of Manning, it appears they could have gone the same route as the designers of Unitas’ jersey without much difficulty. Every time I see that half-stripe it irks me. I dunno… what do you think? Is it a concession to the constraints of the cut or a dumb oversight? Personally, I miss the days of the longer sleeve jersey. I like that it gave the opponent something to grab onto making it somehow feel more tangible for the fan. Maybe it’s just me…
As an aside, I have to say that as a fan of a smaller market team (Go Browns!), I absolutely LOVE the fact that Super Bowl XLIV will be a matchup/parity-fest of the two top seeds in the NFL… from the 14th and 59th largest cities in America. In your face, MLB!



