OT - Nike tried to sell Pro Combat unis to Penn St.
Don't know why they wasted their time....
Full story here.... http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday
October 14th, 2010 at 7:33 PM ^
This is why I was never particularly worried about what Nike would do to our uniforms had we not receive the Godfather offer from Adidas. We had the ability to say no, and I'm pretty certain that we'd have done so.
October 14th, 2010 at 11:15 PM ^
The uniforms they'd propose to us would look.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:35 PM ^
As much as I like SOME of the ridiculous jersey side shows, it's really nice to see the traditional schools not giving into this jersey craze.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:36 PM ^
ridiculous for PSU. PSU uni are traditional and looks good. You don't mess with traditions. I'm sure that PSU administrator realize this(at least I hope they do).
October 14th, 2010 at 7:37 PM ^
They wanted to make their helmets blue? I don't usually do this but: WTF?!
October 14th, 2010 at 9:37 PM ^
...that's what she said.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:42 PM ^
So they wanted to turn one of the more recognizeable looks in the country into . . . a BYU clone?
Incidentally, if these Pro Combat jerseys are indeed more technologically advanced than the old ones, why do teams only wear them one week a year?
October 14th, 2010 at 7:40 PM ^
That guy has some really big leg pads.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:52 PM ^
My first thought was "gross, malignant tumor."
October 14th, 2010 at 8:02 PM ^
glad to see i wasnt the only one who noticed those monsters
October 14th, 2010 at 9:32 PM ^
That's What She Said...
October 14th, 2010 at 7:43 PM ^
Besides Michigan, Penn States uni's are by far my favorite in college football, especially the all white road uniforms. Clean and Simple.
October 15th, 2010 at 8:31 AM ^
Throw in Alabama for me -- and Auburn.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:43 PM ^
I am glad to see that there are still traditional schools not messing around with these new alternates. I think that they take away from the programs tradition and just show that the schools are willing to try anything to gain extra revenue.
What schools (outside of Michigan, Penn State, and Bama) do you think would never mess with these new concept style jerseys?
October 14th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
Actually, Bama is wearing Pro Combats this year. Theirs are pretty tame compared to most of them, but they will have a houndstooth motif on the numbers and on the shirts worn under the uniform. Not earth-shattering, but they are willing to go to a certain point.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:06 PM ^
You know we've become desensitized to Nike's insanity when a houndstooth motif on Alabama's uniform is "not earth-shattering."
October 14th, 2010 at 8:46 PM ^
The mere fact that the phrase houndstooth motif is even uttered in the same breath as football makes me weep.
October 14th, 2010 at 9:02 PM ^
Houndstooth is the pattern from Bear Bryant's famous hat.
October 14th, 2010 at 9:10 PM ^
Yes, but putting it on the uniform is just obnoxious faux-retro garbage.
October 14th, 2010 at 9:49 PM ^
I agree it doesn't belong on the uniform, though I kind of have a soft spot for faux-retro in general
October 14th, 2010 at 9:11 PM ^
So it is. I stand corrected; my knowledge of houndstooth is limited to the fact that it's made quite the comeback in fashion.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:08 PM ^
I stand corrected sir, as you're correct. At least they are staying within their same color scheme and not trowing their tradition out the window.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:47 PM ^
Why would Nike expect them to answer any differently when that is what they offer? Those are fugly uniforms.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:47 PM ^
What kind of crack are they smoking up there in Beaverton?
October 14th, 2010 at 8:36 PM ^
But I wanna try some of that crazy stuff one time... What a crazy trip that would be.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:55 PM ^
For one game and one game only to rock maize unis with white pants...maybe donate the proceeds of the jersey sales to the livestrong foundation or something.
October 15th, 2010 at 9:30 AM ^
Ew. I know its a matter of personal taste, but those maize jerseys are an abomination.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:58 PM ^
Making Penn State's helmet blue is like inverting the colors of the winged helmet - maize helmet with blue stripes. It just seems, well, wrong.
October 14th, 2010 at 11:24 PM ^
Sort of like OSU's helmet dark red instead of grey?
October 14th, 2010 at 8:04 PM ^
I'm glad PSU said no, and even more glad that we wear Adidas.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:05 PM ^
It would be damn near impossible to beat PSU's current uni design, but you'd think nike's best and brightest could come up with something better than that. Bizarre.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:18 PM ^
Um, does maize and blue and winged helmets ring any bells?
October 15th, 2010 at 12:31 AM ^
Good point. Should have included that. Sort of thought it went without saying. But it's good to put it in writing.
It would be damn near impossible for anything other than the Maize and Blue to beat PSU's uni design.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:20 PM ^
PSU is in my top 5 jerseys of all time. I am glad they did not do this.
In case you were curious, my top 5.
Michigan, PSU, ND, Alabama, Texas (all white)
October 14th, 2010 at 8:22 PM ^
Im with you, I like the all whites Texas wears... Also the all whites Penn State wears, they look so good!
October 14th, 2010 at 8:46 PM ^
I thought you've worn adidas for a few years?
October 14th, 2010 at 9:12 PM ^
Those are not as good as the classic ND uniforms, but they do prove you can make something decent out of green & yellow--which makes utterly unbelievable the fact that Oregon still has those atrociously bad uniforms.
October 14th, 2010 at 9:55 PM ^
These are just some guy's photoshops. ND is an adidas school. There's a Michigan photoshop out there as well, but it's so awful that it's not even worth posting.
October 15th, 2010 at 12:55 AM ^
you wouldn't happen to have a link... I'm curious now.
October 15th, 2010 at 7:24 AM ^
October 15th, 2010 at 7:43 AM ^
October 14th, 2010 at 8:44 PM ^
This wasn't in the article, but the rumor is that it was all set to happen until Nike mandated Paterno don circa 1988 Oakley Blades rather than the iconic coke bottles.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:44 PM ^
What I would have given to hear that conversation between Paterno and Penn State reps and the Nike executives.
October 14th, 2010 at 9:26 PM ^
from a Penn State fan, but
A few years ago Penn State's AD had a group of representatives head out to Beaverton to meet with Nike reps to discuss the relationship and such. The topic of uniforms came up and Nike explained they had a scale of 1-10 for uniform flashiness and were using Oregon essentially as their Guinea pig to show what a "10" looks like.
The Nike official went on to explain that Penn State was a "1" on their scale almost seemingly expecting that Penn State would be embarrassed by this.
One of the main PSU representatives gave a pretty simple response (paraphrasing). "So, how do we become a zero?"
October 14th, 2010 at 9:26 PM ^
Not saying Nike didn't approach PSU about the Pro Combat unis, but those pics were concepts created by some random guy on a message board a year ago, not Nike:
http://boards.sportslogos.net/index.php?showtopic=70902
He did a hideous Michigan one as well, for what it's worth.
October 14th, 2010 at 10:00 PM ^
Actually, I liked most of those. Even the Michigan one. Not for actual use by Michigan, but as an alternate-universe kind of thing I liked it.
October 14th, 2010 at 10:21 PM ^
You've got to be kidding. It looks like one of those "jerseys" they sell at TJ Maxx, with "WOLVERINES" in the nameplate.
October 14th, 2010 at 10:28 PM ^
I wonder who would win in a fight between a Wal-Mart Wolverine and a TJ Maxx Wolverine?
I would definitely root for the TJ Maxx Wolverine though.
October 15th, 2010 at 1:59 AM ^
FWIW, TJ Maxx sells old Nike uniforms for like $15. I got my #7 Nike jersey there.