[Blogs] Late For Work 11/19: Nike Leaks Unofficial NFL Jersey Sketches?

[BR News]

Nike Leaks Unofficial NFL Jersey Sketches?

When the NFL announced Nike Inc. will become the league’s official uniform provider starting in 2012, Nike’s Brand President Charlie Denson was clear that he wanted to make big changes.

“We plan on changing the NFL jersey dramatically just like we’ve done with the college programs, using new thinking and the greatest technology available,” said Denson. “The NFL program hasn’t had the same type of advancement in recent years.”

If these unofficial and rumored concept sketches are any indication, Denson will have delivered on his dramatic changes promise.

The collection seen below is Nike’s “Pro Combat Uniform” designs – the same series was released for college teams in 2010 – that are rumored to be used for primetime games.

Remember, neither Nike nor the NFL has confirmed these sketches are official and they have not been approved. That said, let’s take a look at the Ravens and their AFC North rivals jerseys.

	Ravens Nike has the Ravens sporting a white helmet, which would eliminate any future “blackout” games if so desired by the team. What are your thoughts? Love it? Hate it? I doubt there will be many middle-of-the-road opinions.
	Steelers A bright yellow helmet with matching pants doesn’t make for an intimidating uniform.
	Bengals I’ve seen several observers bash Cincinnati’s uniform, but for some reason I quite like the black and orange jungle-like pants.
	Browns Cleveland’s jersey has the least amount of change. I’m no designer, but really, how do you get creative with the color brown?

Here is a link to all 32 teams’ jersey designs. Below is my list of the five best and worst team sketches.

5 Best

• Arizona Cardinals
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Atlanta Falcons
• New York Jets
• St. Louis Rams

5 Worst

• New England Patriots
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Minnesota Vikings
• Buffalo Bills
• Jacksonville Jaguars (although there is a black alternate that is much better)

Week 11 Picks: Ravens vs. Panthers

Well, it’s unanimous. I couldn’t find a single analyst willing to predict a Panthers upset on Sunday. Peter King summed the contest up best, “Brian St. Pierre vs. Ray Lewis. Not really a fair fight.”

The Baltimore Sun: Six of six pick Ravens

WJZ’s Mark Viviano: Ravens 31, Panthers 13

ESPN:  Eight of eight pick the Ravens

SI.com’s Peter King: Ravens 33, Panthers 9

USA Today: Eight of eight pick the Ravens

Yahoo! Sports: Three of three pick the Ravens

Sporting News: Six of six pick the Ravens

Pro Football Talk: Two of two pick the Ravens

Total: 35 Ravens picks, 0 Panthers picks

Are Knee Injuries Still A Factor For Webb, Washington?

A fan known as “JimJim” asked The Baltimore Sun’s Jamison Hensley if Lardarius Webb and Fabian Washington’s knee injuries from last season are contributing to their “sub-par” play at corner thus far.

“Webb has brushed off the knee injury as a factor. But I don’t believe him,” wrote Hensley. “Typically, it takes a full year before players are fully recovered from blowing out their knee. Don’t get me wrong, Webb and Fabian Washington can still play now after recovering from their injuries. But they won’t be back to their top form until next season.”

Hensley went on to say that he thinks Josh Wilson and Chris Carr will continue to get the majority of snaps at the corner position, while Webb and Washington will rotate at nickel.

While we’re on the subject of pass defense…apparently, the Ravens aren’t the only team in the AFC North having trouble defending the pass.

While the Ravens are ranked No. 13 in pass defense, the Steelers are much worse at No. 26 and the Browns are No. 24. The Bengals are currently the best the division, edging out the Ravens at No. 12.

Flacco Primed For Another Franchise Milestone

Quarterback Joe Flacco has already set a couple franchise records and he could notch another by throwing two touchdowns against the Panthers this weekend.

If Flacco does throw two more, he would pass Vinny Testaverde for most TD passes in team history. The third-year quarterback has 50 touchdown strikes, while Testaverde posted 51 in his two seasons with the Ravens.

As the franchise quarterback, many have wondered if Flacco’s leadership style is growing like the statistics are.

After seeing receiver Anquan Boldin fire up teammates on the sidelines last Thursday, a reporter asked Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron if it’s OK that someone other than a quarterback takes charge.

“Leadership is leadership. And Joe does it in his own way, too,” Cameron told reporters. “We’re going to watch that evolve and grow. Just like any human being would grow into a leadership role. Just watch. He’s going to continue to grow.

“That’s what veteran players do. The Todd Heaps, the Derrick Masons, the T.J. Houshmandzadehs, the Anquan Boldins, the Matt Birks. We’ve got a lot of veteran leaders. This is a collective group of men looking to achieve a common goal. If you’re feeling it, let it come out. There’s no pecking order on leadership on our offense.”

Flacco told Mike Duffy of BaltimoreRavens.com that he does motivate and fire up his teammates, but he’ll usually does it in a more private setting.

Quick Hits

• KingSerg2: Wuz da deal world? long time, no tweet!! ya boy out here get’n it don. wait til next season…yal gon see, STR8 UP!!! KING SERG [Twitter]
• jamisonhensley: When it looks like a head coach is blatantly trying to get himself fired during the season, they should say he pulled “a St. Pierre.” [Twitter]
• RavensInsider: Dawan Landry on Brian St. Pierre: ‘I don’t remember him too much. He just got there this week? Wow. At least he’s a veteran guy.’ [Twitter]
• jamisonhensley: For 2nd day, 10 players on Panthers’ injury report. MLB Jon Beason (knee), Carolina’s 2nd leading tackler, was upgraded to limited practice. [Twitter]
• In the AFC North offensive coordinators rankings, Cam Cameron leads the group with the Steelers’ Bruce Arians, Browns’ Brian Daboll, and Bengals’ Bob Bratkowski to follow. [ESPN]
• RavensInsider: Looks like tight end Todd Heap was moving around better today after taking that hit in the chest last week against Atlanta. [Twitter]

[url=http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/2010/11/19/nike-leaks-unofficial-nfl-jersey-sketches/]View the full article[/url]

[ruggerhead]

Love the new Jersey and I love the Helmet even more. Wish I could buy some now!!!

[jus'_crAzy]

Brief history lesson: "Testaverde to Alexander.... TOUCHDOWN!!!"

On new jerseys: ... No. Just no.

On KingSerg2: We all waitin, kid!

[NYravens52]

White helmet with a backwards ravens head? H*ll NO!

[berad]

No, those are by no means "official" or even "rumored", they're [size="4"][b][u]FAN-CREATED[/u][/b][/size].

[url="http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=416261&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60"][color="#0000FF"]LINK[/color][/url] - Scroll about halfway down and you'll see a post saying his [i]"friends"[/i] made them with all 32 teams and some college squads. That's the original post, and then blogs [i](like this)[/i] took it and ran.

These were all made by some guy and his friends, not Nike or anyone affiliated with the company. Not shooting anyone down, it's just false to believe Nike "leaked" it somehow. A quick google search will tell you as much.

So, while it's true Nike may make some alterations to the NFL jerseys, to put their own stamp on the league and earn some revenue, these will [b]not[/b] be the designs.

[KEHeartbreak]

Whoever is modeling those uniforms needs to work on his calves, hopefully it's just a sketch. Tough to part with the black helmets for me.

[ESRaven]

WHITE helmets?????

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[PurPlePaiN10XLV]

Loving the new jerseys. I would love the helmet more if it was black, but bring it on, man. I think we need a uniform makeover.

did you see the Steelers and Patriots? BAHAHAHA they look terrible!

GO RAVENS!

[Wacko 4 Flacco]

@ NYraven52 That goes double for me too, I prefer the adidas jerseys over these new nike ones

[TSizzle00]

The Patriots one looks horrible! LOL

[ravens626]

im diggin the new jersey, i think purple or black plants would look better with a black helmet..... LOL the pats and bengals look TERRIBLE. Bengals pants look like tye-dye pants. And ravens lets go put a beating on the panthers. Run up the score etc, I think the fans deserve a "pick me up" game after that ravens loss.

[jus'_crAzy]

That's another thing!

@NYravens52 - you dead on! The Raven is backwards! THE RAVEN IS BACKWARDS!!!

[RayvenRay]

Link for Jag's uniform is messed up. Here's the correct link:

http://lulzimg.com/i8/86095f56.png

[thecaptainzap]

@berad - I hope you're right. Those things are hideous! And I don't mean just the Raven's "new jersey". EVERY SINGLE ONE!!

[RayvenRay]

Players might appreciate a white helmet during those hot early games.

[RavensFanoftheCentury]

They look like soccer shirts to me, just over pads. Not a fan, glad this is fake. additionally, the new helmet style is beast, I think the white shows off its styling which reminds me of a crotch rocket helmet more then a football helmet, which is a plus. But we are the Ravens, that helmet needs to be black even if white looks good.

[berad]

[quote name='thecaptainzap' timestamp='1290179624' post='544902']
@berad - I hope you're right. Those things are hideous! And I don't mean just the Raven's "new jersey". EVERY SINGLE ONE!!
[/quote]

I'm right but it might have been an intentional "oversight" by Ellison to gain some blog hits.

[Guest Mr. Nobody]

come on man, whoever did this can't use photoshop, these are terrible designs, and white helmet? anyways feel so good about sunday, don't forget 41-13 win yoohoo

[coreyadams]

Watz the deal with the backwards Ravens head on the Helmet?

[B0nez]

I like the Raven's sketch that look bad. Better then the what we have now. Cause realistic The Raven bird has Black,Purple tint to it. And have have some nasty purple crap. and white. like that's a Raven Color....COM'ON MAN!

[RavensFanThick&Thin]

Lol, the comments are very representative of that old mantra, "people are resistant to change." I'd be a fool to think that regardless of who makes the design (Nike or random fans) that they will be the same with marketing and businesses involved. Whether they look like these college-like jerseys or not all I care about is the W's...

[JimA3_3]

HATE...HATE...HATE... the Helmet. No way to the backwards Raven. and it should stay Black n Purple !

[alaskadog]

Hate the white helmet. hate the striped socks. hate that the Maryland badge is gone. and Carolina is going to play their best football so the Ravens better do the same. we've been letting teams score in the fourth quarter to often.

[berad]

[quote name='B0nez' timestamp='1290180640' post='544912']
I like the Raven's sketch that look bad. Better then the what we have now. Cause realistic The Raven bird has Black,Purple tint to it. And have have some nasty purple crap. and white. like that's a Raven Color....COM'ON MAN!
[/quote]

Because lions are blue, panthers are cyan, jaguars are teal, broncos are orange, eagles are green, and falcons are red - right?

[sportster3291]

I like the Ravens jersey but the helmet could use a few tweaks. Like the Raven symbol should face forward, not backwards. And maybe instead of white, do a dark silver, that would look pretty sheik in combo with black or purple or white uniforms

P.S. I would love to see the Patriots have to wear those uniforms! Haha they'd look like a team of Captain Americas

[scrock]

Why do the Bengals look like the Broncos??

[DeezBirdz]

Zibby runs the opposite way the Raven is facing when returning a punt, so this could be a new strategy...

[JohnnyRaven]

I really, really DISLIKE that concept for the Ravens uniform.. I always favored our all black alternates. Wish they'd go for something darker...

[theblackdog]

Thumbs down on any new design if they don't incorporate the Ravens shield on it. Though if it will change I guess this means I'll be buying new jerseys in a few years :-P

[PuRock]

[quote name='coreyadams' timestamp='1290180514' post='544910']
Watz the deal with the backwards Ravens head on the Helmet?
[/quote]

It looks more aerodynamic?