How Many NFL Jerseys Per Player per Year?

[saintsfan]

Does anyone have specific information from a NFL team as to how many jersey each player goes through per year?

I was able to view dozens of Saints jerseys a while back and the most number I saw for a given player was two of the same color. Saints had a guy named Terry Wagner, he played one game and was cut. I saw all four of his jerseys. I'm sure Reggie Bush and Breese probably go through more . . . . . like printing money for charities.

Anyone have specific info from your NFL team?

Thanks!
Tom

[Eric]

In this story about the Jaguars equipment manager, it sounds like they use a lot FEWER jerseys than you'd think.

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=8572&highlight=equipment+manager

[aeneas01]

last month i had long chat with "red" batty, equipment manager of the green bay packers. as a matter of fact, after our phone conversation i emailed him to thank him for his generous time and to also ask if he would, should he ever get a free moment, mind participating in a q&a that i would share with this forum - i included 10 questions in my email. so far no response to my email/questions but i'm still holding out hope!

anyway, "red" is a great guy and he's extremely aware of the enormous amount of fraud going on when it comes to "game used" and "game issued" items. he also seems very eager to do whatever he can by happily answering any questions posed by concerned collectors. when i spoke with him i got the distinct feeling that he gets phone calls like mine all of the time - i also got the distinct feeling that he doesn't at all consider such phone calls a bother.

i had called "red" to ask him about four "game issue" favre tb helmets listed on ebay by gridironauthentics - four favre tb helmets which ga claimed were the only ones like this to be "ever released" (when pressed, ga later told me that these helmets "were released" by so-and-so reconditioner and didn't come from the packers). "red" told me than none of favre's helmets are in circulation.

anyway, and to the question of this post, "red" touched on other things including jerseys. he told me that he issues exactly 6 jerseys to each player at the start of the year as follows: 2 practice, 2 home and 2 away. he also said that 2 jerseys per player are always packed for every game so that a backup is available if a jersey tears or if a player wants to change at halftime because it is soaked from rain or covered with mud. he went on to say that the far majority of players use the same jersey throught the year.

[whatupyos]

It might depend on the team too. Doesn't game exclusives have deals with the Redskins, Cowboys, Bears and one other team. I was looking at one players jersey I was thinking of buying and remember seeing you could order a jersey from just about every week that the team played last year, so it made me think those teams issue out a jersey a game. Can someone confirm this?

[G1X]

Here are a few of my experiences and observations.

Prior to the 1995 season, I visited the Atlanta Falcons locker room courtesy of the team's equipment manager. The Falcons were introducing a slight style change on their white jerseys that season by adding a black neck collar. The equipment manager was showing me the new style and pulled a Jeff George jersey off the rack. As he did so, I noticed that there were easily a half dozen more white Jeff George jerseys on the rack.

When the late-1990 Tampa Bay Buccaneers jerseys flooded the market a few years back, I ended up with a dozen Trent Dilfer jerseys, over a half-dozen Hardy Nickerson jerseys, and multiples of a few other Bucs as well. It appeared that some of the players were wearing a new jersey quite often during that era.

I attended a Washington tent sale when they had their throwback 2002 70th Anniversary jerseys for sale. I was especially interested in an Otis Leverette jersey as he played college ball at my alma mater, UAB. Leverette only played in one regular season game in 2002, but there were three of his throwback jerseys available (keep in mind that the 'Skins wore the throwbacks in some of their preseason games). In observing other 2002 throwback jerseys at the sale, there appeared to be three jerseys for a number of the players.

Looking at the jerseys that have been for sale on the Atlanta Falcons website, it appears that some of the star players are wearing a new jersey quite often during the season.

I toured the Birmingham Barracudas (CFL) locker room after they folded and noted that there was only one set of each jersey used in their lone season of existence in 1995. They had some blank jerseys available which I assumed were to be numbered if a new player was added or a jersey was damaged beyond repair. When I made a buy of Las Vegas Posse (CFL 1994) jerseys from the team after it folded, there were no duplicates, but there were some blanks available. In a bulk buy I made from the WLAF for jerseys from the 1991 and 1992 seasons, they was only one jersey for each player, but they had plenty of spare jerseys that were numbered but did not have plates.

It probably varies from team to team, especially over the past decade where it appears that more jerseys are being worn. Prior to that, it appears that teams would at least get a new set of jerseys each year with the previous season's jerseys "recycled" for use if needed. But even back then, some teams were probably ordering two sets. When my hometown team, the Birmingham Americans of the WFL folded after the 1974 season, there were two sets of each player available at the bankruptcy sale (two sets of both the fishnet and mesh styles that they wore). In 1975, they reformed as the Vulcans only to fold again. This time, they only had one set of each style.

The bottom line is that I can only speculate and have no firm answer based on my experiences. The previous poster probably said it best in that it probably depends on the team.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange

[EndzoneSports]

...
anyway, and to the question of this post, "red" touched on other things including jerseys. he told me that he issues exactly 6 jerseys to each player at the start of the year as follows: 2 practice, 2 home and 2 away. he also said that 2 jerseys per player are always packed for every game so that a backup is available if a jersey tears or if a player wants to change at halftime because it is soaked from rain or covered with mud. he went on to say that the far majority of players use the same jersey throught the year.

In my past conversations with several former Broncos' equip. managers, nearly the same sentiment was expressed... Two each home and road jerseys were "typically" issued--one (of each) regular game jersey and one back-up, for a total of four. In many cases, depending upon the amount of wear and tear, the "back-ups" would never see game use; for certain players, where the jerseys were extensively tailored, it would not be unusual for a player to wear the same jerseys (1 each home and away) for multiple seasons. Conversely, there were also players who changed jerseys more frequently. I've heard that, at the beginning of the season, players would have the option of purchasing as many "extra" jerseys as they desired, be it for game wear or "other purposes".


Best regards,

[jonschuette]

aeneas01-

Can you send me your email? I have a couple of questions to ask you regarding your conversation with "Red".

Thanks
Jon

[aeneas01]

aeneas01-

Can you send me your email? I have a couple of questions to ask you regarding your conversation with "Red".

Thanks
Jon

sure - you can reach me at livie@horizoncable.com...

[cards-bats]

I was told by a Kansas City Chiefs player last summer that he has a new jersey for every game, but uses the same one (1 home, 1 road) for the entire year. He said that he gives the rest away to family members.
He's an offensive lineman, so that may be why he has a new one per game.